MilitaryHealth

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., March 30, 2009 - Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki opened the 23rd annual National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic here last night, encouraging more than 400 participants he said had found their way "to the top of the mountain in search of miracles."

In May, PBS television stations across the country will air Fighting for Life, a great 2008 documentary about military medicine directed by Oscar-winner Terry Sanders.

Air Force docs use alternative methods of relieving pain.

That's the message from Marine officials, who are ready to enforce the Corps' new Body Composition and Military Appearance programs with little mercy now that a 120-day grace period, put in place as a heads-up for Marines who needed to lose weight, is over. Male Marines who are 26 and younger will be assigned to the program if they can't keep their body fat at or below 18 percent of their total body weight, while women 26 or younger must be at or below 26 percent.

From now on, military health workers will shove that needle a little deeper when administering anthrax vaccinations - but that extra pinch should prevent more pain later.A study that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association in October found that injecting the vaccine into a muscle rather than into the fat just under the skin greatly reduced side effects, including warmth, itching, redness, inflammation or nodules. Itching went from 23 percent of male volunteers to 5 percent when they were injected intramuscularly. Redness and inflammation went from 74 percent of male patients to 29 percent of male patients. Pain, however, went up about one percent.

The Defense Department is launching a new program soon that's designed to assist transitioning service members in accessing help for mental health issues, a U.S. Public Health Service officer announced in Washington, D.C., Mar. 23. The Transitional Support Program is "designed to bridge potential gaps in psychological health services that can occur during periods of transfer," when service members complete military service and re-enter civilian life, according to Cmdr. Guy Mahoney, who is detailed to work with the Defense Department.

Army's official site for Battlemind Training

A Study Suggests Some Patients Could Loosen Up Strict Surgery Fasting Rules

The Army has dropped Lariam - the drug linked to side effects including suicidal tendencies, anxiety, aggression and paranoia - as its preferred protection against malaria because doctors had inadvertently prescribed it to people who should not take it. Lariam, the brand name for mefloquine, should not be given to anyone with symptoms of a brain injury, depression or anxiety disorder, which describes many troops who have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Keesler Medical Center is the only emergency department in the Air Force that is using electronic medical records.

Casscells introduced a new communications strategy for the Military Health System that uses Web 2.0 technologies to improve patient outcomes, family conn

After discovering that water pumps for colonoscopies were not properly cleaned, the VA said there is a slight risk of HIV or hepatitis infection.

Charlottesville-VA, members of the military live together who are learning how to live with tbi.

Innovative therapies that have assisted previously comatose patients regain consciousness may be incorporated on a greater scale to treat troops diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries, a brain injury expert said here today.

MHS's own Dr. Kilpatrick, will serve on HHS' Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research

The U.S. Army is using a mobile application and SMS to make sure that soldiers returning home from duty get the healthcare services they need.

Humana Military Healthcare Services, TRICARE contractor for the South Region, is partnering with the University of Louisville to jointly sponsor a new continuing medical education course (CME) for physicians. Civilian providers throughout the country will have access to an online course on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

U.S. Army Europe's only airborne surgical team is headed to Afghanistan this spring to provide quick, lifesaving surgeries for U.S. troops during the upcoming "surge."