Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Veterans / Ex-Servicemen News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/veterans/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172178.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172178.php The International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) recently honored Dartmouth Medical School (DMS) faculty members Matthew J. Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., and Paula P. Schnurr, Ph.D., for their work as co-founders of the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Friedman, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology & toxicology and executive director of the national center at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in White River Junction, Vt. Psychology / Psychiatry Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171498.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171498.php "The Senate on Tuesday adopted the latest in a continuing series of major budget increases to provide medical care for veterans. The move came as the Senate passed, by a rare 100-0 vote, a $134 billion spending bill for veterans programs and military construction projects" the Associated Press reports. Veterans / Ex-Servicemen Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171369.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171369.php A landmark, 25-year review of cases in which surgeons had to remove the lower portion of the body from the waist down for severe pelvic bone infections shows the therapy can add years and quality of life to survivors, say researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center. The rarely performed surgery is called a hemicorporectomy or translumbar amputation, and involves removing the entire body below the waist, including legs, pelvic bone and urinary system. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170999.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170999.php NPR profiles retired General Eric Shinseki, the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and his efforts to measure the scope of veterans' mental health issues. In his first nine months in this position, he "has spent hours just listening to veterans talk. Shinseki tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that he feels a strong obligation to 'give back' to the men and women he once served with. Veterans / Ex-Servicemen Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170862.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170862.php Don't Forget About The Other Determinants of Health Kaiser Health News After months of discussion and debate, the House has passed its version of health care reform. But as many observers, including me, have already noted, health care reform has primarily become health insurance reform over the course of the year (Gail Wilensky, 11/12). Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170714.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170714.php Congressional Quarterly: "Senate Democratic leaders reached a tentative agreement with Tom Coburn, R-Okla., on Tuesday night that averted the necessity of filing cloture on a veterans' health care omnibus measure and could lead to passage of the bill early next week. ... On Monday, Coburn said he objected to the bill because its five-year, $3.7 billion cost was not offset" (Oliveri, 11/10). Veterans / Ex-Servicemen Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170627.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170627.php Since the Vietnam Era, the American psychiatric community has recognized the returning war veterans' affliction of what is now commonly known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). While there has been much research and advancements in the treatment of PTSD, the focus has always been on the veterans themselves. What has never been addressed or understood, until now, is how the stress from distant battlefields has affected the families of veterans. Veterans / Ex-Servicemen Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170574.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170574.php The Associated Press/The Houston Chronicle reports that Texas lawmakers will add $5 million to expand mental health services - specifically veteran-to-veteran peer support groups - in the state. "Gov. Rick Perry on Monday announced the plan that calls for directing money from the state Health and Human Services Commission budget toward mental health treatment programs for veterans and their families" (11/9). Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170589.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170589.php A research team at Harvard Medical School estimates 2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care. That figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001. Veterans / Ex-Servicemen Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170514.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170514.php Mental Health America announced it is partnering with Prescription Audio, a Philadelphia-area based firm (Voorhees, N.J.), to make the company's scientifically based sound therapy available without charge as a download to veterans, active duty servicemen and women, their family members and health care providers. "We applaud Prescription Audio for making this therapy available for free and are proud to partner with them," said David Shern, Ph.D. Mental Health Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170375.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170375.php Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) estimates there are over 750,000 Canadian Forces (CF) veterans in Canada. Through different veteran services programs, VAC works in partnership with government health care authorities and health care providers to ensure eligible veterans and other clients (veterans' spouses, for example) receive appropriate health care benefits including audiology and speech-language pathology services. Veterans / Ex-Servicemen Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170389.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170389.php The events at Fort Hood highlight the military's struggle to provide mental health care for soldiers, veterans and the therapists who treat them. The Veterans / Ex-Servicemen Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170304.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170304.php Veteran's Day has a new meaning for a Geisinger team of clinicians and researchers who recently launched the Reaching Rural Veterans Initiative (RRVI). Utilizing financial grants from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Health Resources and Services Administration, the team is focused on developing a model to improve the way healthcare providers identify and care for combat stress-related injuries in returning veterans and their families. Veterans / Ex-Servicemen Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169966.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169966.php In a special guest editorial, Bass and colleagues discuss the limitations of current estimates of the prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) veterans. Since these estimates often determine the allocation of resources, the authors urge decision makers to understand the limitations of these prevalence estimates. Veterans / Ex-Servicemen Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169980.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169980.php Research examining issues surrounding homeless veterans and the types of relationships they had with their fathers was presented Nov. 4 at the VA Veteran Homelessness Summit in Washington, D.C. The research was a collaboration between Gary Dick, associate professor of Social Work at the University of Cincinnati, and Brad Schaffer, social worker for the Veterans Administration Cincinnati Medical Center. The summit, organized by the U.S. Veterans / Ex-Servicemen Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169916.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169916.php The Veterans Health Administration was at the avant-garde of electronic medical records in the 1980s, and more recently, it's blazed the trail for exchanging health information between providers, the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World reports in the third of a 3-part series on EMRs. IT / Internet / E-mail Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169572.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169572.php As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue, more servicemen and women are experiencing physical and emotional wounds. The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF) and the Tug McGraw Foundation (TMF) know that increased civilian/military partnerships can accelerate the pace of scientific advancements that will improve the identification and treatment of these wounds. Veterans / Ex-Servicemen Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168977.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168977.php Today's Scientific Program, 2009 American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) - Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO) Joint Meeting, includes a Veterans Administration study that indicates that Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with vision loss from traumatic brain injury have significantly poorer quality of life than comparable civilian patients, and a Harvard doctor's insights on how to best evaluate and care for Eye Health / Blindness Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168609.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168609.php President Obama signed a law Thursday to grease the Veterans Affairs Department's troubled budgeting process by changing the schedule to allocate funds a year in advance, the Washington Post reports. The Veterans Health Care and Budget Reform and Transparency Act "means timely, sufficient and predictable funding from year to year. Veterans / Ex-Servicemen Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168538.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168538.php NBCSL President, Rep. Calvin Smyre (GA), applauds the Obama Administration's efforts to improve health care for veterans. Today, President Barack Obama signed the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, which provides one year of advance funding for veterans' medical programs. The VA now has one year to plan how to best allocate funds and deliver care to returning veterans. Veterans / Ex-Servicemen Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168262.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168262.php In the first study to look at sex-specific pain prevalence in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) Veterans, researchers from the VA Connecticut Healthcare System and the Yale University School of Medicine found women Veterans had a lower prevalence of pain than male counterparts returning from the conflicts. Approximately 60% of OEF/OIF Veterans were assessed with pain during the study period. Women's Health / Gynecology Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168158.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168158.php Depression, anxiety disorders and sexual trauma have all been implicated as risk factors in lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) such as incontinence and overactive bladder. The exact nature of these associations is unknown. Women's Health / Gynecology Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168033.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168033.php Veterans classified as superobese and those with a higher chronic disease burden appear more likely to die within a year of having bariatric surgery, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Currently, 165,000 veterans who use Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities have class III obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or greater, according to background information in the article. Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167997.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167997.php Some veterans provided health care on and off the battlefield, treating serious physical injuries or mental trauma. Others served in combat and sustained injury. On Friday, Oct. 23, they come together on one panel to publicly share their stories, as the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) presents The Wounds of War: Healthcare On & Off the Battlefield, the latest event in UMDNJ's President's Lecture Series. Veterans / Ex-Servicemen Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167327.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167327.php Physical therapists are calling for definitive vestibular screenings and assessment measures for US military service members with blast-induced traumatic brain injuries (BITBI). Rehabilitation / Physical Therapy