In This Issue

Key Findings

VA program shown effective in helping Veterans with PTSD get back to work

An approach known as "individual placement and support" enabled 3 in 4 study participants to gain competitive employment...

Probing war's effects on women Service members

A VA and Department of Defense study affirms that women are being exposed to combat at a significantly higher rate than ever before—and finds that the mental health needs of women who have experienced combat are not significantly different from those of men...

Lab Notes

Stopping tumors by cutting off their blood supply

The connection between cancer and excess blood clotting is still largely a mystery to scientists. But it is an intriguing clue for researchers who think the pathways involved in blood clotting may point to an important target for new cancer drugs...

Author Interview

Inside PTSD: VA researcher's book offers compelling account through Veterans' stories

The work of VA researcher and medical anthropologist Erin Finley, MD, MPH, has taken her to one of the United States' hubs for military personnel and Veterans: San Antonio...

Journal Scan

In pilot study, Veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injury benefit from prolonged exposure therapy

In a small pilot study at the Tampa and Minneapolis VA medical centers, Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder plus mild to moderate traumatic brain injury showed substantial benefit from prolonged exposure therapy...

Marijuana less harmful than tobacco—at least to lungs

A 20-year study of more than 5,000 Americans by researchers with VA, Kaiser Permanente, and several universities found that people who occasionally smoke marijuana do not suffer lung damage the same way cigarette smokers do...

Overactive bladder responds well to behavioral therapy

Researchers with the Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center at the Birmingham (Ala.) VA Medical Center found that behavioral therapy works as well as a commonly used drug treatment to help men with overactive bladder, a condition in which the bladder muscles have spasms, resulting in incontinence...

Transcranial magnetic stimulation shows promise for PTSD

A pilot study at the White River Junction (Vt.) VA Medical Center found that Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder benefited from a treatment known as transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS...