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VA RESEARCH PUTS EMPHASIS BACK ON VETERANS'
ISSUES -- "The researchers develop new
therapies
and refine existing ones."
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EWS02/705210314/1003/NEWS02
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Research puts emphasis back on veterans' issues
By Stephen Seitz Herald Staff
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs does more
than take care of the nation's veterans. It has a research arm as well,
and each year the department recognizes its researchers during National
VA Research Week.
Building 44 at the VA complex in White River Junction is devoted to
research. The department marked Research Week on May 18 with
presentations by two of the researchers using its facilities.
"VA research has a number of missions, including medical education and
medical research," said Dr. Brooks Robey, the associate chief of staff
for research and development. "The researchers develop new therapies and
refine existing ones."
The VA offers a resource available to few researchers — the veterans
themselves, many of whom are willing to volunteer as test subjects.
Frank Berry, 58, of Springfield, participated in a study to determine
whether lowering the amount of accumulated iron in the body helps
patients with arterial diseases.
"They did blood work on me every six months for six years," said Berry.
"They were looking for reduction of our iron levels. They wanted me
because I had arteriosclerosis, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and
my age was a factor. Even though I was a participant, it has taken me a
long time to find the results. The information will be used by my
primary care physician here at the VA hospital and they'll give me
options."
The study was conducted by Dr. Leo Zacharski. Overall, Zacharski found
that reducing the body's stored iron did not significantly reduce
mortality, although it produced a benefit to the study's younger
participants.
"This was the first study of its kind," Zacharski said. "Nobody has set
up a study like this over time with subjects as uniform as we can make
them. But now that we have a start, we can get ideas of what to do
next."
Paula Schnurr, working with Dr. Matthew Friedman, studied how effective
"prolonged exposure" psychotherapy was in treating post-traumatic stress
disorder in female veterans. Prolonged exposure therapy, in essence,
requires the patient to tell her story in an intense manner so as to
process her emotions.
Schnuur said that small studies had been done on this therapy's
effectiveness, but that hers was one of the first done on a larger
scale.
"A lot of women have post-traumatic stress disorder," Schnuur said.
"Some of them have it coming into the military. We had 12 sites across
the VA system."
The result?
"The short answer is, it worked," Schnuur said. "What is so great about
the VA is not only can you do research, you can do something about it.
We'll be training several hundred therapists and create teaching within
the system so that we can have VA people teaching VA people. In the
civilian sector, you don't get this kind of chance."
The VA conducts biomedical, rehabilitation, clinical, and health
services research – as well as large, multi-center clinical trials – at
more than 100 medical centers across the country.
The White River Junction VA Medical Center is also researching HIV;
cancer treatment and prevention; immune response as it relates to
autoimmune disease, cancer, arthritis and heart disease; the effects of
environmental contaminants on the liver; patient safety, and oxidative
stress as a possible cause for atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease.
Contact Stephen Seitz at
stephen.seitz@rutlandherald.com.
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Larry Scott
