CongressDaily on Tuesday published two articles on issues related to the fiscal year 2008 budget. Summaries appear below.CDC: The FY 2008 budget proposed by President Bush would not increase funds for the [click link for full article]

An international study involving 467 hospitals in 12 countries found that doctors do a good job of aggressively treating the early stages of heart attacks - even before laboratory tests confirm the diagnosis.”There has always been a concern that patients may be treated less aggressively when they present with heart attack symptoms before laboratory tests are able to confirm the diagnosis,” said Chadwick Miller, M.D. [click link for full article]

“The time has come for a more balanced view of early detection” for breast cancer and other forms of cancer, which should include research to find the best screening method for breast cancer, H. Gilbert Welch, Lisa Schwartz and Steven Woloshin, all physician researchers at the VA Outcomes Group and faculty members at Dartmouth Medical School, write in a [click link for full article]

A new mouse model is providing valuable insight into the biochemical pathways that are associated with development of renal cysts and renal cell cancer. The research, published in the April issue of the journal Cancer Cell, published by Cell Press, provides new information about the relationship between hypoxia and cancer progression. In addition, it is likely that this mouse model may prove to be a useful tool for testing therapeutic strategies for renal cell cancer. [click link for full article]

A number of advocacy groups, such as the Medicare Rights Center, have begun to lobby Congress to revise a law that requires a two-year waiting period to become eligible for Medicare after they begin to receive Social Security disability benefits, USA Today reports. An estimated 400,000 uninsured U.S. [click link for full article]

A mouse model for synovial sarcoma has enabled scientists to make tremendous progress toward understanding the origin and pathogenesis of this highly aggressive soft-tissue malignancy. The research, published in the April issue of the journal Cancer Cell, published by Cell Press, provides new information about the timing and environment required for initiation and progression of synovial sarcoma. [click link for full article]

Although much of the “resistance” to state efforts to mandate vaccination against human papillomavirus is “misguided,” mandating the vaccine would be a “mistake at the present time,” Arthur Allen — a Washington, D.C.-based writer and author of the book “Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver” — writes in [click link for full article]

A diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts, referred to as a Mediterranean diet, appears to reduce the risk of developing allergies and asthma in children. A recent study…

Legislation that would provide equal insurance coverage levels for mental and physical illnesses “sounds like a good idea,” but the mandate would “not be as benign as it appears,” Maia Szalavitz, a senior fellow at media watchdog group Stats, writes in a New York Times opinion piece. [click link for full article]

Virologists in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM) at Virginia Tech are looking at how a genetically modified variant of Avian Newcastle disease virus (NDV) can treat human prostate cancer.Dr. Elankurmaran Subbiah, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, was awarded a prestigious research grant by the Department of Defense. [click link for full article]