Gulf War Newsletter - 2019
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MESSAGE FROM DR. LOREN ERICKSON
Welcome to VA’s 2019 Gulf War Newsletter. As Chief Consultant for VA’s Post Deployment Health Services and as a Veteran, I thank you for your service to our nation. I am happy to share with you this newsletter, available online.
Post Deployment Health Services is excited to inform you that to better serve Veterans, we will update and combine the Gulf War and Post-9/11 Vet Newsletters beginning with the next edition of the newsletter. Many of the issues faced by Veterans served by these two newsletters are similar. This allows future newsletters to have more articles, including research overviews, benefits updates, and general information. Also, Post Deployment Health Services will be able to publish the newsletters for Veterans online twice a year instead of only once a year.
This issue of the newsletter features VA programs for Gulf War Veterans, information about yoga classes and treatment, research on Gulf War illness and balance, links to helpful benefits resources, and more. Also, this issue highlights how VA is working to be innovative with emerging technology by using telehealth to provide environmental health registry exams from the Orlando, Florida, VAMC to Veterans in other nearby VA locations. We encourage you to participate in an environmental health registry, such as the Gulf War Registry and the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, and to obtain an exam by contacting an environmental health coordinator near you.
In this issue...
National Academy of Medicine Releases the Latest Report in the Gulf War and Health Series
On November 28, 2018, the National Academy of Medicine released the report, Gulf War and Health: Update 2018, Generational Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War.
VA Gulf War Program
VA serves Gulf War Veterans through registries, research, education, and more.
VA Orlando Pioneers Telehealth Technology for its Environmental Health Registry Exams
The Orlando VA Medical Center uses telehealth to offer virtual environmental health registry exams for Veterans in different locations in Central Florida.
WRIISC Research Highlight: Veterans with Gulf War Illness/Reduced Balance Function Can Improve
To examine if vestibular function and balance could be improved in Veterans with Gulf War illness, a WRIISC reserach team developed a novel electrical stimulator that, unlike traditional neurostimulators, provides very low levels of a type of random electrical signal that cannot be felt by the patient. It improved balance in 100 percent of the Veterans with Gulf War illness in the study.
WRIISC: Educating Providers Leads to Optimal Health for Gulf War Veterans
WRIISC collaborates with VA's Employee Education System to develop online training modules for VA and non-VA community health providers.
Yoga Shows Promise in Reducing Pain for Veterans with Gulf War Illness
WRIISC researchers conducted the study “Comparative Efficacy of Yoga vs. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Treating Chronic Pain in Gulf War Illness” to see if yoga could treat chronic pain in Veterans with GWI.
Improved Access to Special Programs: Yoga "Sleep" Guided Meditation Class Available from Home
The WRIISC offers yoga "sleep" guided meditation classes by phone for Veterans across the country.
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