{"id":7845,"date":"2025-07-11T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845"},"modified":"2025-07-11T13:30:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T13:30:00","slug":"va-research-wrap-up-new-findings-on-toxic-exposures-community-care-and-leukemia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845","title":{"rendered":"VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on toxic exposures, community care and leukemia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published:<\/strong> 2025-07-11T13:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n

This week, VA\u2019s Office of Research and Development published three\u00a0News Briefs<\/a>\u00a0highlighting research findings on the effects of Gulf War exposures on heart disease risk, increasing non-VA prescriptions, and a potential new leukemia treatment.<\/p>\n

Gulf War exposures led to higher heart disease risk<\/h2>\n

Researchers with the\u00a0VA Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness, and Safety<\/a>\u00a0led a team that linked toxic exposures during deployments to an increased risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD) in Gulf War Veterans. ASCVD are a group of medical conditions caused by a buildup of plaque along artery walls. The researchers analyzed data from more than 900 Veterans who deployed to the Persian Gulf between August 1990 and July 1991. Eleven percent reported one or more ASCVD conditions. Exposure to oil well fire smoke increased the odds of ASCVD by 295%; pyridostigmine bromide pills, which were given to troops to protect against nerve agent attacks, increased the odds by 237%; and exposure to chemical\/biological agents increased the odds by 418%. The data suggests clinicians should discuss these exposures and the risk they carry for ASCVD with their Gulf War Veteran patients. View the full study from \u201cCardiovascular Toxicology.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Facilities outside VA give Veterans more prescriptions<\/h2>\n

VA Pittsburgh researchers found the number of prescriptions from non-VA, urgent care facilities to Veterans increased dramatically between 2019 and 2023, raising concerns about safety and compliance. The study used the newly available Community Care Reimbursement System to analyze non-VA, urgent care prescriptions for nearly 84,000 Veterans from July 2019 to March 2023. Overall, 9% of their prescriptions were potentially non-compliant with prescribing recommendations. Of the 270,000 prescriptions filled, 43% were antimicrobials and 16% were hormones or steroids, raising concerns about safety and potential adverse reactions between drugs. The findings highlight the need for improved support and coordination to monitor and enhance Veterans\u2019 medication safety when receiving community care. View the full study from \u201cHealthcare.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Possible new leukemia treatment found<\/h2>\n

VA researchers from the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center and the University of Colorado proved blocking a protein called STAT3 can lead to the death of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells, a rare but aggressive blood and bone marrow cancer. Researchers discovered that when the STAT3 production is inhibited, the leukemia cells lose viability. The researchers also found lowering STAT3 levels can enhance the effectiveness of certain drugs used to treat AML, suggesting this could be a promising new genetic treatment for leukemia. View the full study from \u201cHaematologica.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

For more Office of Research and Development updates, visit\u00a0ORD online<\/a>\u00a0or go to https:\/\/www.research.va.gov\/news_briefs\/.<\/p>\n

\n

Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, VA\u2019s Office of Research and Development published three\u00a0News Briefs\u00a0highlighting research findings on the effects of Gulf War exposures on heart disease risk, increasing non-VA prescriptions and a potential new leukemia treatment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-health-care","category-medical-research"],"yoast_head":"\nVA Research Wrap Up: New findings on toxic exposures, community care and leukemia - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This week, VA\u2019s Office of Research and Development published three\u00a0News Briefs\u00a0highlighting research findings on the effects of Gulf War exposures on heart disease risk, increasing non-VA prescriptions and a potential new leukemia treatment.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on toxic exposures, community care and leukemia - Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week, VA\u2019s Office of Research and Development published three\u00a0News Briefs\u00a0highlighting research findings on the effects of Gulf War exposures on heart disease risk, increasing non-VA prescriptions and a potential new leukemia treatment.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-11T13:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7845#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7845\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\"},\"headline\":\"VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on toxic exposures, community care and leukemia\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-11T13:30:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7845\"},\"wordCount\":479,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7845#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-37.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Health & Care\",\"Medical Research\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7845\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7845\",\"name\":\"VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on toxic exposures, community care and leukemia - Its Veterans\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7845#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7845#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-37.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-11T13:30:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"This week, VA\u2019s Office of Research and Development published three\u00a0News Briefs\u00a0highlighting research findings on the effects of Gulf War exposures on heart disease risk, increasing non-VA prescriptions and a potential new leukemia treatment.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7845#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7845\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7845#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-37.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-37.png\",\"width\":831,\"height\":831},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7845#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on toxic exposures, community care and leukemia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"description\":\"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"width\":2172,\"height\":724,\"caption\":\"Its Veterans\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on toxic exposures, community care and leukemia - Its Veterans","description":"This week, VA\u2019s Office of Research and Development published three\u00a0News Briefs\u00a0highlighting research findings on the effects of Gulf War exposures on heart disease risk, increasing non-VA prescriptions and a potential new leukemia treatment.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on toxic exposures, community care and leukemia - Its Veterans","og_description":"This week, VA\u2019s Office of Research and Development published three\u00a0News Briefs\u00a0highlighting research findings on the effects of Gulf War exposures on heart disease risk, increasing non-VA prescriptions and a potential new leukemia treatment.","og_url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845","og_site_name":"Its Veterans","article_published_time":"2025-07-11T13:30:00+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668"},"headline":"VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on toxic exposures, community care and leukemia","datePublished":"2025-07-11T13:30:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845"},"wordCount":479,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-37.png","articleSection":["Health & Care","Medical Research"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845","name":"VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on toxic exposures, community care and leukemia - Its Veterans","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-37.png","datePublished":"2025-07-11T13:30:00+00:00","description":"This week, VA\u2019s Office of Research and Development published three\u00a0News Briefs\u00a0highlighting research findings on the effects of Gulf War exposures on heart disease risk, increasing non-VA prescriptions and a potential new leukemia treatment.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-37.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-37.png","width":831,"height":831},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7845#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on toxic exposures, community care and leukemia"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","name":"Its Veterans","description":"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization","name":"Its Veterans","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","width":2172,"height":724,"caption":"Its Veterans"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com"],"url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/54"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}