When human heart muscle cells derived from embryonic stem cells are implanted into a rat after a heart attack, they can help rebuild the animal’s heart muscle and improve function of the organ, scientists report in the September issue of Nature Biotechnology. The researchers also developed a new process that greatly improves how stem cells are turned into heart muscle cells and then survive after being implanted in the damaged rat heart. [click link for full article]

Aperts syndrome is a condition caused by a mutation that produces fused fingers and toes, and alters cranial development in affected children. It arises spontaneously, but why the mutation that causes this syndrome appears so frequently has been a mystery. [click link for full article]

Development of an itchy pustular rash over the torso, head, and face of patients treated with inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)—a type of targeted drug that is increasingly used to treat several types of cancer—may actually indicate the treatment is working well, according to an analysis of two phase III trials published in Clinical Cancer Research last month (Clinical Cancer Research 3913 2007;13(13) July 1, 2007). [click link for full article]

The American Cancer Society’s most recent estimate showed that more than 10.5 million Americans with a history of cancer are still living, and the total cancer deaths in the United States declined for the second straight year in 2004 (the most recent year for which statistics are available). Improved cancer survival rates reflect early diagnosis, improved treatments and new treatments for some kinds of cancer. [click link for full article]

Jeroen de Munter and colleagues found that, in women in the US Nurses’ Health Studies, whole grain intake was inversely associated with risk of type 2 diabetes. The association was stronger for bran than for germ. Citation: de Munter JSL, Hu FB, Spiegelman D, Franz M, van Dam RM (2007) Whole grain, bran, and germ intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: A prospective cohort study and systematic review. PLoS Med 4(8): e261. [click link for full article]

In order to cut the childhood death rate in South Africa, research on how to increase the number of children who receive vitamin A supplementation should be the top research priority according to a new study in PLoS Medicine. Vitamin A supplements have been previously shown to reduce the childhood death rate in parts of the world where malnutrition is widespread, such as South Africa. [click link for full article]

The first step in the treatment of allergies is identifying what you’re allergic to. This is typically accomplished through skin testing. Once your triggers are known, there are essentially three…

Hospitals and physicians in Illinois are fighting “last-minute” legislation that would implement a pilot program in which Medicaid beneficiaries in two counties would be required to join HMOs, the Chicago Tribune reports. The program, which began in 1990, so far has been voluntary, and less than 160,000 beneficiaries have enrolled in HMOs. [click link for full article]

Yuan Weijing, the wife of human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng, was prevented by Chinese authorities on Friday from leaving China to visit the Philippines to accept an award from the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation on behalf of Chen, according to AIDS advocate Hu Jia, the [click link for full article]

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Cleland last week approved a settlement in a federal lawsuit between child advocacy groups and the Michigan Department of Community Health that will increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for physicians and dentists who treat children and expand access to the program, the [click link for full article]