In This Issue

New Research

Only 10 patients have ever received a hand transplant in the U.S. It's a staggeringly complex operation that can take up to 16 hours...

Trial tests therapies for chronic, disabling grief

The disorder affects about one in ten people after bereavement. It's not yet a formally recognized condition in its own right—it shares symptoms of depression, anxiety and PTSD...

Can the Internet help smokers kick the habit?

A study based at the Durham (N.C.) VA Medical Center is testing whether an Internet-based program can help Veterans quit smoking ...

VA, NIH fund new studies on substance abuse

VA has partnered with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to award $6 million in grants for research on substance abuse in relation to military deployments...

Journal Scan

Social factors may explain race gap in use of heart procedures

Past research has shown that blacks are less likely than whites to receive invasive cardiac procedures. The reasons for the disparity remain unclear...

Immune-system genes linked to Parkinson's

Researchers with several institutions, including the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, found that a group of genes that help control the body's immune response may figure in the development of Parkinson's disease ...

Military sexual trauma

A VA study looked at the records of 125,729 Veterans who received VA primary care or mental health services between 2001 and 2007 and found that 15 percent of women and .7 percent of men reported military sexual trauma ...

Glutamine pathway in bowel disease

Researchers with Ohio State University and the Cincinnati VA Medical Center have identified a small RNA segment that blocks a gene that makes glutamine, ...

Key Findings

Studies find intriguing link between PTSD, dementia

Study results reported this month in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggest that Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a higher risk for dementia ...