Veteran

Burn pits are a method of open-air waste management that was common during military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other regions in Southwest Asia. Veterans returning from deployment have reported respiratory symptoms, potentially from exposure to burn pit smoke, yet comprehensive assessment of such exposure on pulmonary health is lacking. We have previously shown that exposure to condensates from burn pit smoke emissions causes inflammation and cytotoxicity in mice. In this study, we explored the effects of burn pit smoke condensates on human airway epithelial cells (HAECs) to understand their impact on cellular targets in the human lung...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the background, methodology, and results of the congressionally mandated Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Veterans Health Registry. SETTING: Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA). PARTICIPANTS: A total of 441 639 Veterans of post-9/11 conflicts who exhibited symptoms associated with TBI and sought care or benefits from the VA between September 2001 and September 2021...

BACKGROUND: Severe hypertriglyceridemia (sHTG) is associated with an increased risk of acute pancreatitis. Prompt recognition and treatment of sHTG is key for prevention of acute pancreatitis and its associated life-threatening complications. LOCAL PROBLEM: Patients with sHTG at a primary care clinic within the Veterans Affairs Eastern Colorado Health Care System were receiving suboptimal treatment that did not align with evidence-based guidelines. METHODS: We initiated a quality improvement (QI) project to improve the management of sHTG in an outpatient primary care clinic...

OBJECTIVES: People living with HIV (PWH) may have an increased burden of penile cancer. We aimed to evaluate the risk of penile cancer in PWH compared to that of the general population. DESIGN: We conducted a nationwide retrospective matched cohort study of penile cancer incidence among veterans living with HIV (VWH) compared to veterans without HIV. METHODS: We compared penile cancer incidence rates in 44,173 VWH to those of veterans without Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (N = 159,443; 4:1 matched in age...

BACKGROUND: Iodine nutrition is critical for fetal neurodevelopment in the first trimester of pregnancy, a period associated with dramatic changes in thyroid function. The aim of this study was to evaluate iodine nutritional status and thyroid function reference ranges in the first trimester in Taiwan. METHODS: Pregnant women aged 20 years and above in the first trimester were recruited in Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan from March 2019 to July 2022. Each participant provided a spot urine sample for measurement of urinary iodine concentration (UIC) and a blood sample for check-up of thyroid function and thyroid autoantibodies...

Serving military personnel and veterans are known to be at elevated risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and some veterans have been shown to respond poorly to current standard treatments. Evidence so far suggests that according to the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems guidelines, complex PTSD (CPTSD) may be of higher prevalence in the general population than PTSD. The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of CPTSD compared to PTSD in serving and ex-serving military populations...

BACKGROUND: Suicidal thoughts and behaviors are elevated among active-duty service members (ADSM) and veterans compared to the general population. Hence, it is a priority to examine maintenance factors underlying suicidal ideation among ADSM and veterans to develop effective, targeted interventions. In particular, interpersonal risk factors, hopelessness, and overarousal have been robustly connected to suicidal ideation and intent. METHODS: To identify the suicidal ideation risk factors that are most relevant, we employed network analysis to examine between-subjects (cross-sectional), contemporaneous (within seconds), and temporal (across four hours) group-level networks of suicidal ideation and related risk factors in a sample of ADSM and veterans ( participant n = 92, observations n = 10 650)...

Effective treatment of failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) remains challenging despite urgent medical attention requirements. Depression is a contributing factor to the development and poor prognosis of FBSS, and vice versa. We report the case of a patient with FBSS and major depressive disorder (MDD) treated with graded exercise combined with motion-style acupuncture therapy (MSAT). A 53-year-old male veteran who had undergone lumbar discectomy and laminectomy with instrumented fusion was admitted to the hospital with re-current back pain and radiative pain in the left leg...

OBJECTIVE: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), which are prevalent conditions among post-9/11 veterans, increase risks of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and degenerative synucleinopathy. Rates and predictors of RBD symptoms were investigated by screening post-9/11 veterans for RBD with a validated questionnaire. METHODS: In this cross-sectional analysis, consecutive patients in the Houston Translational Research Center for TBI and Stress Disorders (TRACTS) were screened with the English translation of the RBD Questionnaire-Hong Kong (RBDQ-HK)...

OBJECTIVE: Increased suicidality and suicide deaths among veterans of the Australian Defence Force have gained recent prominence. A systematic scoping review was conducted to identify, summarise and synthesise the existing literature relating to Australian veteran suicide and suicidality, with the objective of identifying future research priorities. METHODS: We conducted a PRISMA-compliant systematic search on PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase and CINAHL databases for all manuscripts reporting primary data on suicide and suicidality in Australian veterans...

OBJECTIVE: To assess injured military veterans' experiences, beliefs and daily physical and psychosocial functioning in relation to food and nutrition. DESIGN: We used a convergent mixed-methods study design, and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health to operationalize the core constructs and influencing factors related to physical and psychosocial functioning, and food and nutrition. SETTING: Three Veterans Affairs Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers...

We investigate a historical experience to measure the long-term effect of malaria on lifespan among infected survivors and identify a factor that mitigates malaria's effect. Using a sample of Union Army veterans born during the mid-19th century and their lifetime records, we show that exposure to high risk of malaria at birth or in early life substantially shortened their lifespan. The legacy of exposure to malaria is robust while controlling for lifetime socioeconomic and health conditions, fixed effects, and considering selection bias...

BACKGROUND: US military veterans who have experienced homelessness often have high rates of housing transition. Disruptions caused by these transitions likely exacerbate this population's health problems and interfere with access to care and treatment engagement. Individuals experiencing homelessness increasingly use smartphones, contributing to improved access to medical and social services. Few studies have used smartphones as a data collection tool to systematically collect information about the daily life events that precede and contribute to housing transitions, in-the-moment emotions, behaviors, geographic movements, and perceived social support...

IMPORTANCE: Limited evidence exists on the association between initiation of antihypertensive medication and risk of fractures in older long-term nursing home residents. OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between antihypertensive medication initiation and risk of fracture. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This was a retrospective cohort study using target trial emulation for data derived from 29 648 older long-term care nursing home residents in the Veterans Health Administration (VA) from January 1, 2006, to October 31, 2019...

BACKGROUND: Surgeon performance has been investigated as a factor affecting patient outcomes after orthopaedic procedures to improve transparency between patients and providers. PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this study was to identify whether surgeon performance influenced patient-reported outcomes (PROMs) 1 year after arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM). It was hypothesized that there would be no significant difference in PROMs between patients who underwent APM from various surgeons...

Genome instability is a hallmark of cancer and are driven by mutations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Despite successes seen with select targeted therapeutics, this type of personalized medicine is only beneficial for a small subpopulation of cancer patients who have one of a few actionable genetic changes. Most tumors also contain hundreds of passenger mutations that offered no fitness advantage or disadvantage during tumor evolution. Mutations in known pharmacogenetic (PGx) loci for which germline variants encode variability in drug response can cause somatically acquired drug sensitivity...

Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 have an increased risk of developing psychiatric symptoms associated with post-COVID-19 syndrome. We aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 hospitalization on neuropsychiatric healthcare utilization as well as new-onset depression and dementia. This nationwide, retrospective, observational cohort study included hospitalized COVID-19 patients aged 18 years or older across the Veterans Health Administration database from January 1st, 2020 through January 1st, 2022. The COVID-19 group consisted of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 with a positive test within seven days of the hospitalization...

AIMS: Evaluate the social determinants of health (SDOH) associated with suicidality among female Service Members and Veterans (SMV) in Arizona. METHODS: Used data from a statewide Arizona Veteran Survey (n = 1,134) to analyze SDOH associated with suicidality (any self-report of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, or calling a crisis line). Response data were cross-tabulated and analyzed for statistical significance using a chi-square test with a p-value of p < 0...

RATIONALE: Exposure to burn pit smoke, desert and combat dust, and diesel exhaust during military deployment to Southwest Asia and Afghanistan (SWA) can cause deployment-related respiratory diseases (DRRDs) and may confer risk for worsening lung function after return. METHODS: Study subjects were SWA-deployed veterans who underwent occupational lung disease evaluation (n=219). We assessed differences in lung function by deployment exposures and DRRD diagnoses. We used linear mixed models to assess changes in lung function over time...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a major health concern which causes long-term neurological disability particularly in war veterans, athletes and young adults. In spite of intense clinical and research investigations, there is no effective therapy to cease the pathogenesis of the disease. It is believed that axonal injury during TBI is potentiated by neuroinflammation and demyelination and/or failure to remyelination. This study highlights the use of naturally available cinnamein, also chemically known as benzyl cinnamate, in inhibiting neuroinflammation, promoting remyelination and combating the disease process of controlled cortical impact (CCI)-induced TBI in mice...