Veterans Health Administration

About: Veterans Health Administration is a government organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Veterans Affairs. The organization has 63820 authors who have published 98417 publications receiving 4835425 citations. The organization is also known as: VHA.

Attention and memory dysfunction in posttraumatic stress disorder.

Abstract: Attention and memory performances were studied in Persian Gulf War veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnoses. Veterans diagnosed with PTSD showed relative performance deficiencies on tasks of sustained attention, mental manipulation, initial acquisition of information, and retroactive interference. Their performances were also characterized by errors of commission and intrusion. The tendency toward response disinhibition and intrusion on cognitive tasks was correlated positively with reexperiencing symptoms and negatively with avoidance-numbing symptoms. These cognitive deficit patterns are consistent with models of PTSD that emphasize the role of hyperarousal and implicate dysfunction of frontal-subcortical systems. Results suggest that intrusion of traumatic memories in PTSD may not be limited to trauma-related cognitions but instead reflects a more general pattern of disinhibition.

The Risk for and Severity of Bleeding Complications in Elderly Patients Treated with Warfarin

Abstract: Objective: To determine whether increasing age is associated with an increased risk for bleeding during warfarin treatment. Design: Combined retrospective and prospective cohort studies. Setting: 6...

Childhood physical abuse and combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder in Vietnam veterans

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Early trauma in the form of childhood physical or sexual abuse has been associated with adult psychopathology. The purpose of this study was to compare rates of childhood abuse in Vietnam veterans with and without combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHOD: Premilitary stressful and traumatic events including childhood abuse and other potential predisposing factors were assessed in Vietnam combat veterans who sought treatment for PTSD (N = 38) and Vietnam combat veterans without PTSD who sought treatment for medical disorders (N = 28). Stressful and traumatic events including childhood physical abuse were assessed with the Checklist of Stressful and Traumatic Events and a clinician-administered interview for the assessment of childhood abuse. Level of combat exposure was measured with the Combat Exposure Scale. RESULTS: Vietnam veterans with PTSD had higher rates of childhood physical abuse than Vietnam veterans without PTSD (26% versus 7%). The association between childhood abuse and PTSD persisted after controlling for the difference in level of combat exposure between the two groups. Patients with PTSD also had a significantly higher rate of total traumatic events before joining the military than patients without PTSD (mean = 4.6, SD = 4.5, versus mean = 2.8, SD = 2.9). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that patients seeking treatment for combat-related PTSD have higher rates of childhood physical abuse than combat veterans without PTSD. Childhood physical abuse may be an antecedent to the development of combat-related PTSD in Vietnam combat veterans. Language: en

Vascular endothelial growth factor. A cytokine modulating endothelial function in rheumatoid arthritis.

Abstract: Angiogenesis is important in the proliferation of inflammatory synovial tissue. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an endothelial cell mitogen that is also angiogenic in vivo. We examined the potential role of VEGF in mediating chemotaxis and proliferation of endothelial cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using samples of synovial tissue and synovial fluid from 55 arthritic patients. Synovial fluid VEGF by ELISA was higher in RA synovial fluids (386 +/- 122 ng/ml) (SE) compared with osteoarthritis (OA) synovial fluids (< 0.8 ng/ml) (p < 0.05) or synovial fluids from patients with other arthritides (6.6 +/- 2 ng/ml). In addition to its known mitogenic properties, we found that human rVEGF was chemotactic for HUVECs at concentrations above 0.02 nM. Incubation of RA synovial fluids with neutralizing anti-VEGF resulted in 23 to 66% (mean 53 +/- 4%) inhibition of HUVEC chemotaxis. Conditioned medium from four of five RA synovial tissue explants was mitogenic for bovine adrenal capillary endothelial cells. Anti-VEGF neutralized from 19 to 42% (mean 28 +/- 4%) of this mitogenic activity. To determine the cellular source of VEGF in synovial tissue, we employed immunohistochemistry. VEGF+ cells were rarely (< 1%+) found in normal synovial tissues. In contrast, RA and OA synovial tissues exhibited VEGF+ lining cells (8% and 13%, respectively). A few synovial tissue macrophages were VEGF+ in both RA and OA (5% and 2%, respectively). These results elucidate a newly described function for VEGF as a potent chemotaxin for endothelial cells as well as a role for VEGF in RA-associated endothelial migration and proliferation.