Congress and the Biden Administration took an important step by passing and enacting legislation (the PACT Act) to expand healthcare and disability for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.
By enacting this law, Congress and the White House formally acknowledged that burn pits have caused serious health issues for veterans and that steps need to be taken. For far too long, veterans’ concerns about burn pits were ignored by lawmakers and the military.
Now it’s time for the healthcare system to do its part. Doctors and hospitals must innovate to better diagnose and treat these veterans’ lung diseases more effectively.
Lung disease is hard to diagnose and treat in the current healthcare system. Lungs have a remarkable capability to compensate for disease and the tools and methods currently used to detect lung disease are limited. Breathing tests and CT scans currently used to assess respiratory symptoms often come back normal despite veterans’ suffering with severe symptoms. When abnormalities are detected, it usually isn’t until the late stages of the disease.
Lung diseases are generally irreversible, so early detection is critical to ensuring the patient maintains a higher level of lung function for a longer period.
Fortunately, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are being leveraged to help doctors effectively detect, diagnose, and treat lung diseases. It will be critical for the healthcare system to leverage these innovations to better detect, diagnose and treat lung diseases.
These veterans risk their lives and health deserve state-of-the-art medical surveillance and regular screenings for lung diseases. Adopting new technology for early detection and treatment is critical.
Burn pits are just the tip of the iceberg. A 2016 study of 760,621 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans found that nearly 5 percent (roughly 35,000) had at least one diagnosis of serious respiratory conditions. Given the limitations of current diagnosis technology, there are likely a significant number who go undiagnosed.
There are an untold number of veterans like Retired Major General Linda Lee Singh. She returned from deployment in areas with toxic air with a host of respiratory related health issues despite never having burn pit duties.
The full health effects of repeated, intense smoke and pollution exposure remain largely unknown, but evidence increasingly shows that the consequences of exposure to particulate matter are quite severe. It’s time to adopt better ways to test these veterans to better pinpoint the cause of their life-altering symptoms. Congress has taken an important, first step. Now it is time for the healthcare system to step up and adopt new technologies to serve America’s heroes.
A Win for Veterans’ Lung Health, but Much More Work Ahead
A Win for Veterans’ Lung Health, but Much More Work Ahead
Congress and the Biden Administration took an important step by passing and enacting legislation (the PACT Act) to expand healthcare and disability for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.
By enacting this law, Congress and the White House formally acknowledged that burn pits have caused serious health issues for veterans and that steps need to be taken. For far too long, veterans’ concerns about burn pits were ignored by lawmakers and the military.
Now it’s time for the healthcare system to do its part. Doctors and hospitals must innovate to better diagnose and treat these veterans’ lung diseases more effectively.
Lung disease is hard to diagnose and treat in the current healthcare system. Lungs have a remarkable capability to compensate for disease and the tools and methods currently used to detect lung disease are limited. Breathing tests and CT scans currently used to assess respiratory symptoms often come back normal despite veterans’ suffering with severe symptoms. When abnormalities are detected, it usually isn’t until the late stages of the disease.
Lung diseases are generally irreversible, so early detection is critical to ensuring the patient maintains a higher level of lung function for a longer period.
Fortunately, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are being leveraged to help doctors effectively detect, diagnose, and treat lung diseases. It will be critical for the healthcare system to leverage these innovations to better detect, diagnose and treat lung diseases.
These veterans risk their lives and health deserve state-of-the-art medical surveillance and regular screenings for lung diseases. Adopting new technology for early detection and treatment is critical.
Burn pits are just the tip of the iceberg. A 2016 study of 760,621 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans found that nearly 5 percent (roughly 35,000) had at least one diagnosis of serious respiratory conditions. Given the limitations of current diagnosis technology, there are likely a significant number who go undiagnosed.
There are an untold number of veterans like Retired Major General Linda Lee Singh. She returned from deployment in areas with toxic air with a host of respiratory related health issues despite never having burn pit duties.
The full health effects of repeated, intense smoke and pollution exposure remain largely unknown, but evidence increasingly shows that the consequences of exposure to particulate matter are quite severe. It’s time to adopt better ways to test these veterans to better pinpoint the cause of their life-altering symptoms. Congress has taken an important, first step. Now it is time for the healthcare system to step up and adopt new technologies to serve America’s heroes.