BOSTON - Vitamin D supplementation did not result in a significant difference in knee pain or cartilage volume loss in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis compared to a placebo group, according to a study from Tufts Medical Center in Boston.1

When Is a Patient Too Old to Benefit?
SAN FRANCISCO - A handful of new studies on the harms and benefits of mammography screening for older women give VHA physicians more information but no easy answers.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the U.S. (Siegel 2012) with more than 12,000 new diagnoses per year among veterans in Veterans Health Administration (Zullig 2012).

HOUSTON - The prevalence of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) increased twofold to threefold among VA users between 1998 and 2009, although the incidence of the disease, known collectively as inflammatory bowel disease, has either decreased or remained stable during that time period.

KANSAS CITY, MO - Obesity is no barrier to effectiveness for proton pump inhibitors (PPI) in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), according to a VA database study.

DURHAM, NC - Gastroenterologists often urge repeat colonoscopy for colonic polyp surveillance more frequently than recommended by the U.S. Multi-Society Task Force Colorectal Cancer and the American Cancer Society guidelines, according to a recent VA study warning that “overuse of colonoscopy for polyp surveillance poses a significant economic burden, may contribute to decreased colonoscopy capacity for initial screening, and increases the risk of complications.”1

WASHINGTON - The president’s proposed fiscal year 2014 budget is "a strong budget" that will allow VA to continue to make progress in some key longterm goals, Secretary Eric Shinseki told lawmakers last month.

Survey Finds 'Information Overload'
HOUSTON - Almost a third of primary care providers missed test results received through VA's electronic health record (EHR) notification system, possibly because of "information overload," according to a survey conducted by researchers from the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston.

Opinion poll: Is VA’s electronic health record notification system an effective way to get test result information to healthcare providers? Please click here to participate in this month's U.S. Medicine readership poll.

WASHINGTON - Assurance that VA is on track to eliminate its backlog on reviewing disability claims is being meet with skepticism by lawmakers as well as military and veteran service organizations.

ATLANTA - An intensive weight loss program involving dieting, counseling and physical activity offers the promise of diabetes remission, especially in patients who are recently-diagnosed, not on insulin and have lower hemoglobin A levels