Brenda Mooney

Editorial Director at U.S. Medicine

Featured in: Favicon

usmedicine.com Favicon

reliasmedia.com

Articles

Determining What Weight Loss Medications Are Best for Veterans

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Brenda Mooney

Unlike those who depend on Medicare, Medicaid in many states or most commercial insurance, patients at the VHA—as well as those covered by TRICARE—can receive covered weight-loss drugs, if they meet certain criteria. Studies have looked at the drugs, including incretin mimetics such as semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide, to determine the benefits and safety related to their usage.
Obesity Increases the Complexity of Plaque Psoriasis Treatment

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Brenda Mooney

Obesity is linked not only with the risk of developing plaque psoriasis, it also can complicate treatment of the condition, which is more common among U.S. veterans than nonveterans. Biologic therapy often is the first choice for those patients, and some agents show higher rates of efficacy and safety in plaque psoriasis sufferers with comorbid obesity. DURHAM, NC — Obesity not only increases the risks for some conditions, it also can complicate treatment.
RSV Infection Can Lead to Serious Risks, Including Cardiac Events

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Brenda Mooney

A recent VA study established that respiratory syncytial virus was not as likely to cause severe effects as COVID-19 and influenza. But those and other researchers also have demonstrated that RSV can create difficulties, including a 14% hospitalization rate in veterans and novel cardiac issues in older patients in general. That’s why the authors are calling for higher vaccination rates.
MHS Expands Efforts to Prevent Unintended Pregnancies in Servicemembers

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Brenda Mooney

About 6% of active-duty servicewomen have an unintended pregnancy each year, which not only potentially damages their careers because of physical fitness limitations but also has a detrimental effect on overall military readiness. In response, the MHS is improving access to emergency contraception and other family planning tools.
What Factors Link Bipolar Disorder So Strongly to Veteran Suicidality?

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Brenda Mooney

Veterans have an increased prevalence of mental illness, and the VA treats more than 160,000 patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder. That is especially concerning, because of the strong link between the condition and suicide attempts by veterans. The question explored by several recent studies is what factors cause veterans with bipolar disorder to be more likely to try to take their own lives.
Risk of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Is Dramatically Greater in Veterans

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Brenda Mooney

Military veterans face a significantly higher risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), with both prevalence and cumulative incidence especially greater among Air Force personnel compared to other service branches and among tactical operation officers and health care workers compared to general and administrative officers. While ALS, formerly Lou Gehrig’s disease, remains a dire diagnosis with no cure, survival and quality of life have improved in recent years.
Women Veterans Less Adherent with Lung Cancer Screening Follow-up

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Brenda Mooney

FARMINGTON, CT — Although the 2021 update to the United States Preventive Services Task Force guidelines for lung cancer screening (LCS) called for a reduction in disparities related to sex, race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, few studies have looked at LCS adherence among female veterans. A new study published in Women’s Health sought to do that, evaluating differences in adherence to LCS by sex.
Historic p87 Is Promising for Earlier All-Type Lung Cancer Diagnoses

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Brenda Mooney

DETROIT – With lung cancer the most common cancer worldwide, low-dose computed tomography (CT) scanning has been disappointing for early diagnosis due to the high false positive rate. That is especially concerning because lung cancer often has poor prognosis despite personalized treatment regimens, according to a report in Cancers (Basel).1“Other non-invasive means of testing need to be developed that offer both timely diagnosis and predict prognosis,” wrote researchers from the John D.
Data on SCLC Incidence from 2000-2019 Sets Baseline for Post-Immunotherapy Era

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Brenda Mooney

ANN ARBOR, MI — From the late 1980s to 2000, small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) made up a decreasing proportion of lung cancer cases in the United States. At the same time, survival outcomes in SCLC did not improve due to few treatment advances. A new review from the University of Michigan-Michigan Medicine sought to determine whether these trends continued into more recent decades, prior to the Food and Drug Administration approval of immunotherapy for SCLC in 2019.
Recent Women Veterans Have Higher Cancer Mortality Than Similar U.S. Cohort

1 month ago | usmedicine.com | Brenda Mooney

BETHESDA, MD — Female veterans consistently have higher cancer rates than women who have never served in the military. A research letter recently revealed that their risks for specific cancers are affected by whether they suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Overall, about 10% of U.S. military veterans who served after Sept. 11, 2001, (9/11), and deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan experienced TBI, which has been linked to a heightened risk of central nervous system (CNS) cancer and mortality.