Funded by the MBF Foundation, the second phase of the project will test whether using the G-SCF hormone to stimulate the release of blood vessel-forming stem cells can alleviate the condition, improve heart function and increase quality of life for people with severe heart disease. [click link for full article]

The mortality rate for heart bypass surgery patients in New Jersey decreased by 12% from 2003 to 2004, according to the ninth annual state Cardiac Report Card released on Wednesday, the Bergen Record reports. The report, compiled by the state [click link for full article]

Officials in the Mozambican government are considering legalizing abortion in an effort to reduce maternal deaths resulting from illegal, unsafe abortions, IRIN News reports. According to the Ministry of Health, unsafe abortion is the third-leading cause of death among pregnant women in the country, which has one of the highest maternal death rates worldwide. [click link for full article]

Residents in southwestern China’s Guangxi province on Tuesday protested the government’s one-child-per-family policy and called for the refund of fines issued for having more than one child, Reuters AlertNet reports (Reuters AlertNet, 5/31). China’s one-child-per-family policy seeks to keep the country’s population, now 1.3 billion, at about 1.7 billion by 2050. [click link for full article]

The following highlights recent news of state actions on abortion-related legislation.Georgia: Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) on Wednesday signed into law an amended version of a bill (HB 147) that requires women seeking abortions to be offered the option of viewing an ultrasound or sonogram image of the fetus, the [click link for full article]

Jaswinder K. Sethi and Antonio J. Vidal-Puig review current knowledge on how fat tissue works in our bodies. They describe the biochemicals released by fat tissue and how they help keep the internal environment of the body stable by either storing fat or burning it to produce energy.The scientists also review the latest research showing how too much fat tissue can lead to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and some cancers. [click link for full article]

President Bush on Wednesday called on Congress to double current funding levels for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to $30 billion for five years after the program’s original mandate expires next year, the [click link for full article]

New research to be presented at the British Cardiovascular Society’s Annual Scientific Conference on 5 June 2007 shows that many heart attack patients are more likely to survive if paramedics take them directly to specialist heart attack centres for emergency primary angioplasty, rather than local accident and emergency departments for traditional clot-busting (thrombolysis) treatment. [click link for full article]

Researchers have shown that key chemicals that carry cholesterol and fats in the blood accumulate in people with type 2 diabetes, which may help improve treatment of this disease.Type 2 diabetes is a condition in which blood sugar is higher than it should be and too much insulin is produced to counter this blood sugar increase. [click link for full article]

A natural substance secreted by fat cells can protect blood vessels from the damaging effects of inflammation, one of the factors that contribute to heart disease. Researchers at Jefferson Medical College have shown for the first time in an animal model that the substance - a protein called adiponectin - helps prevent immune system white blood cells from binding to the inside of blood vessel walls. [click link for full article]