While sleep problems are widespread in active-duty U.S. military servicemembers, Army personnel appear to have the most problems.
Lawmakers Seek to Expand VA Coverage Related to Fertility Issues
Veterans who have service-connected infertility issues should have access to the full range of fertility services science now available, especially in vitro fertilization, without the constraints imposed by antiquated and sometimes nonsensical regulations, legislators and veterans’ advocates argued last month.
New Veterans Health Care Act Seeks to Improve Women’s Healthcare at VA
One of the last pieces of legislation to make it through the 116th Congress was the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, MD Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020.
OIG Questions Wilkie’s Response to DCVAMC Sexual Assault Allegation
VA Secretary Robert Wilkie and other high-ranking VA officials actively worked to discredit the complainant in a sexual assault investigation at the DC VA Medical Center, according to a recent VA Office of Inspector General report.
How Uterine Cancer Manifests Differently in Black, White Women
Black women are more likely to die of uterine cancer than white women, even though the incidence rate is the same between the two groups.
Severe Mental Illness Tied to 50% Less Overall Mortality in Female Veterans
Exact Reasons Why Remain Mysterious MIAMI—Since 2008, approximately 6,000 veterans have died from suicide every year. In 2017, that averaged out to just under 17 suicides among previously activated former service members each day.* “Suicide is a national public health...
Once Used to Keep Women from Top Ranks, Menopause Now Managed Within VA, Military Health Systems
When President Harry Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act into law in 1948, it was touted as opening full military service and veterans’ benefits to women, but many restrictions remained in place. Women were not allowed to fly aircraft engaged in...
A Third of Women Treated in VA System Perceive Gender-Based Discrimination
PITTSBURGH—Almost 492,000 women veterans used the VA health care system in fiscal year 2017, a nearly 150% increase since fiscal year 2003, according to VA statistics. Those numbers are only expected to increase. While the Veteran Population Projection Model 2016, the...
VA Mental Healthcare Being Used by Depressed, Pregnant Vets
WORCESTER, MA—While depression screening is recommended for all pregnant veterans, it had remained unknown how often symptomatic women received care, how depression treatment presented in practice, and whether women veterans were utilizing treatment during the...
Hormone Therapy Appears to Affect Heart Fat Deposition
PITTSBURGH—While heart fat deposition has been linked to atherosclerosis—with both accelerating after menopause—hormone therapy might be able to change how that occurs. A study published in the journal Menopause examined how hormone therapy differentially slowed heart...
Survey of VHA Use of Chemoprevention for Breast Cancer
INDIANAPOLIS—Although clinicians now have tools to reduce the risk of breast cancer, most eligible women in the United States aren’t offered either personalized screening or chemoprevention. That is despite breast cancer being the most common cancer diagnosed among...
Processes to Evaluate, Care for Military Sexual Trauma Patients Improve
WASHINGTON—With an increase in the number of servicemembers coming forward to report their experience with sexual assault during active duty, VA is slowly making progress in implementing best practices for how to evaluate and care for survivors of military sexual...
TRICARE Covers 3D Mammograms Under Provisional Program
WASHINGTON — As of the beginning of the year, TRICARE is offering 3D mammograms to screen for breast cancer for eligible patients. Previously, Tricare only covered digital breast tomosynthesis in special case (i.e., after a physician order for at-risk patients or...
VA Opts Against Charges in Alleged DC VAMC Assault of Congressional Staffer
Wilkie’s Characterization of ‘Unsubstantiated’ Challenged by VA IG WASHINGTON — Following an investigation by the VA Office of the Inspector General, federal authorities have decided not to file any charges based on a reported assault at the DC VAMC this past fall. A...
Women Veterans With PTSD Have More Risk Factors for Heart Disease
LOS ANGELES—While post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans previously has been linked to heart disease, the cohorts used in those studies were overwhelmingly mail. Now, a new study took a close look at PTSD’s effect on heart health in women veterans—and the news...
Why Do Women Veterans Report More Symptoms Following Mild TBI?
WASHINGTON—Following a mild traumatic brain injury or concussion, female veterans report more neurobehavioral symptoms, use more outpatient services and are more often diagnosed with depression than their male counterparts, according to a recent VA study.1 But why?...
Menstrual Suppression Could Help Deployed Women Avoid Discomfort, Inconvenience
The role of women in the military is changing. Whereas they may have acted as support personnel in earlier conflicts, they now play an active part in combat support and counterinsurgency operations.1 As of September 2010, there were 208,271 women on active duty in the...
Advocates Square Off Against VA on Women’s Veterans Task Force’s Role
WASHINGTON—It’s been nearly six months since the House VA Committee launched its bipartisan Women Veterans Task Force, and the result is a legislative docket filled with bills geared toward ensuring VA has the resources it needs to care for the growing number of...
Women, Chronically Ill Veterans Value Veterans Choice Access Most
HINES, IL—Women and veterans with multiple comorbidities used and valued the Veterans Choice Program (VCP) more than other veterans, according to recent research by the VA.1 To help these veterans and others, the VA has taken steps under the MISSION Act to improve...
Menopausal Symptoms Increase Long-Term Opioid Use Risk
Unrecognized by many in healthcare is that the greatest increases in long-term opioid use and opioid-related overdose mortality in recent years have been among women in midlife.
Year Supply of Contraceptives Prevents More Unintended Pregnancies
Birth Control Pill Change Could Save VA $2 Million Annually PITTSBURGH—What if there was a method to prevent nearly 600 unintended pregnancies and save the VA about $2 million a year in prenatal, birth and newborn care costs while also bolstering the reproductive...
A Fourth of Female Veterans Report Stranger Harassment at VAMCs
WASHINGTON—Women veterans regularly experience harassment by male veterans at VA facilities, and that harassment has a direct and lasting impact on their healthcare, VA researchers reported recently. Investigators from the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System and...
VA Struggles to Overcome Women’s Healthcare Disparities
WASHINGTON—VA is straining its capacity and struggling against a culture that can sometimes be hostile to women as it responds to what VA officials consider a “tsunami wave of women veterans” over the last decade. Today, women make up more than 16% of active-duty...
History of Abuse, PTSD Worsen Menopausal Symptoms
SAN FRANCISCO—Emotional abuse from a partner or spouse can increase the risk of heightened menopause symptoms, as can post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a VA-led study. Little is known about the prevalence of traumatic exposures among midlife and older women...
Military Women Face Barriers to Getting, Using Contraception
CAMBRIDGE, MA—Past studies have shown that the unintended pregnancy rate is higher among U.S. servicewomen than the general population and that servicewomen sometimes face barriers to contraceptive use. Yet, according to a study in Military Medicine, little research...
Fibromyalgia Presents Differently in Male, Female Veterans
Research on fibromyalgia, a poorly understood, chronically disabling pain syndrome, generally has focused on its clinical presentation and treatment.
DoD Study Finds That Type 2 Diabetes Increases Breast Cancer Mortality
Having Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM-2) increases mortality risk in breast cancer patients, regardless of whether diabetes was diagnosed before or after breast cancer, according to a recent study.
Women’s Health Initiative at VA Increases Use of Point of Care Testing
NEW YORK — From 2000 to 2014, the number of women veterans receiving care through the VA doubled. Today, approximately 750,000 women are enrolled in the VHA healthcare system and about half a million use it each year.
Chiropractic Helpful for Female Veterans with Back Pain
BUFFALO, NY — Does chiropractic management create clinically significant improvement in low back pain for female U.S. veterans? That was the question investigated by a study published recently in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapy.1 For the...
Mental Health Diagnoses Increase Coronary Artery Disease Risks in Women Veterans
BOSTON — Depression and anxiety can be debilitating on their own. For women veterans, the conditions raise an additional concern: They significantly increase the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD)—the leading cause of death in the United States.