Veterans Affairs News and Research

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20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffer from PTSD or major depression

Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan - 300,000 in all - report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slight more than half have sought treatment, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

17 Apr 2008

Plastic surgeons to develop groundbreaking therapies for war injury research

Members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) will play a pivotal role over the next five years developing groundbreaking therapies to better treat U.S. soldiers critically injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

17 Apr 2008

Young macho men with serious injuries often abuse alcohol

Men with serious injuries, such as traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury, must deal with a range of emotions.

11 Apr 2008

Cholesterol in Parkinson's disease

In 2006, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers published a study that found people with low levels of LDL cholesterol are more likely to have Parkinson's disease than people with high LDL levels.

7 Apr 2008

Genetic mutations tied to immune comeback during therapy for HIV-1

Researchers with the Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program (IDCRP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) here and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio have published a patient outcome study in the March 30 online edition of Nature Medicine that may signal a need for a change of thought in the management of HIV.

3 Apr 2008

Gene mutations tied to immune comeback during therapy for HIV-1

A new study by U.S. scientists provides compelling evidence that two genes are linchpins in defining the course of immune restoration in HIV-positive individuals undergoing virus-suppressing therapy.

31 Mar 2008

Post-traumatic stress disorder associated with more, longer hospitalizations

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) have found post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with more hospitalizations, longer hospitalizations and greater mental healthcare utilization in urban primary care patients.

31 Mar 2008

Near-infrared light used to detect signs of Alzheimer's disease

A team of researchers in Bedford, Mass. has developed a way of examining brain tissue with near-infrared light to detect signs of Alzheimer's disease.

20 Mar 2008

Past child abuse plus variations in gene result in potent PTSD risk for adults

A traumatic event is much more likely to result in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults who experienced trauma in childhood - but certain gene variations raise the risk considerably if the childhood trauma involved physical or sexual abuse, scientists have found.

19 Mar 2008

Psychological stress resulting from the traumatic stress may damage this brain

Individuals who experience military combat obviously endure extreme stress, and this exposure leaves many diagnosed with the psychiatric condition of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

19 Mar 2008

Study examines changes in quality of life after head and neck cancer treatment

In the year following their first treatment, patients with head and neck cancer report declines in their physical quality of life but improvements in their mental health quality of life, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

18 Mar 2008

Near-infrared light used to detect signs of Alzheimer's disease

A team of researchers in Bedford, Mass. has developed a way of examining brain tissue with near-infrared light to detect signs of Alzheimer's disease.

17 Mar 2008

Weight-loss more effective than intensive insulin therapy for type 2 diabetics, according to expert

Weight-loss and major lifestyle changes may be more effective than intensive insulin therapy for overweight patients with poorly controlled, insulin-resistant type 2 diabetes, according to a diabetes researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

11 Mar 2008

Cell therapy for rejuvenating aged brain by injection of human umbilical cord blood

When human umbilical cord blood cells (UCBC) were injected into aged laboratory animals, researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) found improvements in the microenvironment of the hippocampus region of the animals' brains and a subsequent rejuvenation of neural stem/progenitor cells.

11 Mar 2008

Pesticides and nerve agents explain health problems in Persian Gulf war veterans

A study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows there is increasing evidence that high rates of illness in Persian Gulf War Veterans can be explained, in part, by exposure to certain chemicals, including pesticides and nerve agents.

11 Mar 2008

Colorectal cancer not always easy to detect by colonoscopy

According to a new study by researchers in the U.S. colonoscopies do not detect all colorectal cancers; they say that flat lesions can be easily overlooked during a colonoscopy.

9 Mar 2008

Worried about your cholesterol?

You may want to schedule a few appointments with a registered dietitian, to get some sound advice about how to shape up your eating habits, according to a new national study led by University of Michigan Health System researchers.

6 Mar 2008

Flat, non-polypoid colorectal neoplasms linked to colorectal cancer

Flat, non-polypoid colorectal neoplasms (NP-CRNs), which may be difficult to detect, appear to be relatively common and may have a greater association with cancer compared with the more routinely diagnosed type of colorectal polyps, according to a study in the March 5 issue of JAMA.

6 Mar 2008

Hormones produced by the heart eliminate pancreatic cancer in mice

Hormones produced by the heart eliminated human pancreatic cancer in more than three-quarters of the mice treated with the hormones and eliminated human breast cancer in two-thirds of the mice, according to researcher David Vesely, a doctor at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa and a professor at the University of South Florida (USF).

27 Feb 2008

Spinal cord injury may not increase risk of heart disease

Americans who live with spinal cord injury do not appear to be at greater risk of developing carbohydrate and lipid disorders such as insulin resistance, diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, and high or low blood cholesterol levels - risk factors for heart disease - than able-bodied persons, according to a new evidence review by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

27 Feb 2008