Veterans Affairs News and Research

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Heart patients with gastrointestinal complications should use low doses of aspirin combined with drugs that treat stomach ulcers

Physicians are challenged in treating heart patients who may be at high-risk for gastrointestinal bleeding from aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Factors that place patients at high-risk include a history of ulcers or gastrointestinal complications such as bleeding, increased age and congestive heart failure.

20 Jan 2005

Scientists identify fat gene

UCLA/VA scientists have identified a new gene that controls how the body produces and uses fat. Called lipin, the gene may provide a new target for therapies to control obesity, diabetes and other weight-related disorders. The first issue of the new journal Cell Metabolism publishes the findings in its January 2005 edition.

19 Jan 2005

Lowering health care costs overall seen as top U.S. health priority

The public favors reducing jury awards in malpractice lawsuits and allowing drugs to be imported from Canada, but ranks them relatively low on a list of 12 health care priorities for President Bush and Congress to address this year, according to a new post-election survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.

12 Jan 2005

Recent study correlates human cord blood cells with reduced animal heart attack damage

Researchers from the University of South Florida (USF) and James A. Haley Veterans Hospital have reported in the journal "Cell Transplantation" that stem cells from umbilical cord blood effectively treated heart attacks in an animal study.

12 Jan 2005

Key genetic factor determines HIV/AIDS risk

People with more copies of a gene that helps to fight HIV are less likely to become infected with the virus or to develop AIDS than those of the same geographical ancestry, such as European Americans, who have fewer copies of the gene, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

10 Jan 2005

Discovery could lead to a screening test that identifies people who have a higher or lower susceptibility to HIV/AIDS

6 Jan 2005

Stem cells from umbilical cord blood effectively treated heart attacks

When injected into rats' hearts soon after a heart attack, stem cells taken from human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) greatly reduced the size of heart damage and restored pumping function to near normal. This improvement occurred without the need for drugs to prevent the rats' immune system from rejecting the human cells.

5 Jan 2005

Study is the first to track changes in the rate of ICD utilization among blacks and whites

Racial disparities in the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) declined during the 1990s as use of the devices spread into communities with larger African-American populations, according to a new study in the Jan. 4, 2005 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

4 Jan 2005

For uncomplicated colds antibiotics are not necessary

If a runny nose and congested chest have you thinking of antibiotics, think again.

3 Jan 2005

Information submitted via new drug applications could easily be made accessible to the public

A researcher at Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center is calling upon the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to share more information provided by pharmaceutical companies regarding their clinical drug trials.

28 Dec 2004

Indian curry may be the next Alzheimer's weapon

A dietary staple of India, where Alzheimer's disease rates are reportedly among the world's lowest, holds potential as a weapon in the fight against the disease.

28 Dec 2004

Gulf War report confirms link between lung cancer and combustion products

The available evidence is too sparse or of insufficient quality to determine whether the majority of health problems that may be experienced by Gulf War veterans could be associated with exposures to fuels for military vehicles, propellents in Scud missiles, or substances given off by combustion sources such as oil-well fires, exhausts, and tent heaters

21 Dec 2004

Living alone, financial difficulties, excessive use of alcohol associated with the onset of depression among outpatients with heart failure

Living alone, financial difficulties, excessive use of alcohol and poor results on a heart failure questionnaire were associated with the onset of depression among outpatients with heart failure, according to a new study in the Dec. 21, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

21 Dec 2004

The costs of caring for elderly patients hospitalized for colon surgery are not reduced by Medicare HMOs

The costs of caring for elderly Florida patients hospitalized for colon surgery are not reduced by Medicare HMOs, report University of South Florida researchers in the December issue of the Archives of Surgery.

21 Dec 2004

Interactive talking books delivered to Afghanistan

The United States Department of Health and Human Services has announced the delivery of thousands of interactive women's health books built with the LeapPad learning system technology to Afghanistan and an additional $6 million in aid to improve the health of the Afghan people.

13 Dec 2004

Study supports the use of the internal mammary artery in coronary artery bypass grafting

Long-term follow up with heart bypass patients treated in Veterans Affairs hospitals shows that 85 percent of left internal mammary artery grafts and 61 percent of vein grafts remain open (patent) after 10 years, and that these grafts are more likely to offer long-term success when they are attached to larger arteries on the heart, according to a new study in the Dec. 7, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

8 Dec 2004

Benefits of weight loss may depend on alignment of affected leg, study suggests

A painful and sometimes crippling disease characterized by progressive cartilage loss, osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee affects an estimated 6 percent of adults over age 30.

2 Dec 2004

Long-term use of opioid prescriptions by veterans

Veteran patients who receive long-term opioid prescriptions generally are treated with modest and stable medication dosages, according to an article in the November 22 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

23 Nov 2004

Research shows that even bacteria don't put their eggs in one basket

Diversification helps reduce overall risk by putting your eggs in more than one basket and is a strategy that strengthens groups of all kinds -- from forests challenged with environmental stress to stock market portfolios in uncertain times. Findings from University of Iowa researchers show that even bacteria have learned this important lesson.

16 Nov 2004

Financial impact of diabetes on the American economy

Sick days, disability, early retirement, and premature death of diabetic Americans born between 1931 and 1941 cost the country almost $133.5 billion by the year 2000, according to a new estimate by researchers with the University of Michigan (U-M) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

16 Nov 2004

Veterans Affairs News and Research

Heart patients with gastrointestinal complications should use low doses of aspirin combined with drugs that treat stomach ulcers

Scientists identify fat gene

Lowering health care costs overall seen as top U.S. health priority

Recent study correlates human cord blood cells with reduced animal heart attack damage

Key genetic factor determines HIV/AIDS risk

Discovery could lead to a screening test that identifies people who have a higher or lower susceptibility to HIV/AIDS

Stem cells from umbilical cord blood effectively treated heart attacks

Study is the first to track changes in the rate of ICD utilization among blacks and whites

For uncomplicated colds antibiotics are not necessary

Information submitted via new drug applications could easily be made accessible to the public

Indian curry may be the next Alzheimer's weapon

Gulf War report confirms link between lung cancer and combustion products

Living alone, financial difficulties, excessive use of alcohol associated with the onset of depression among outpatients with heart failure

The costs of caring for elderly patients hospitalized for colon surgery are not reduced by Medicare HMOs

Interactive talking books delivered to Afghanistan

Study supports the use of the internal mammary artery in coronary artery bypass grafting

Benefits of weight loss may depend on alignment of affected leg, study suggests

Long-term use of opioid prescriptions by veterans

Research shows that even bacteria don't put their eggs in one basket

Financial impact of diabetes on the American economy

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

Global and Local Efforts to Take Action Against Hepatitis

Addressing Important Cardiac Biology Questions with Shotgun Top-Down Proteomics

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