DeGette, a Denver Democrat, and Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., are sponsoring a bill that would add new ethical standards and increase the number of lines of embryonic stem cells available for federally funded disease research. The bill is expected to come up for a vote in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

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University of New South Wales (UNSW) researchers are running two new studies on hepatitis C, which could revolutionise treatment for the virus.

It is hoped that one study could lead to cure rates of almost 100 percent in those who have just been infected with the virus. The US-funded Australian Trial in Acute Hepatitis C (ATAHC) study involves giving people the drug Pegylated interferon within six months of being diagnosed.

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All along my life I had wondered how South-Indian, especially Madrasis (aka Chennaites) can eat ravenously (at least my friends) and still manage to maintain a stick like figure.

Now I know.
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Simple Thoughts is an aggregation of several member blogs like The Diabetes Blog, The Java Software Blog etc.

Each of the blogs are unique in focus and content, except aggregation blogs like The Health Blog or The Technology Blog.

Today I will describe the idea and hope behind The Diabetes Blog. Millions of people worldwide suffer from diabetes. It is a major killer and it drastically reduces the quality of life.
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Korean Scientists lead by Woo Suk Hwang and Shing Yong Moon of Seoul National University in Korea have successfully generated new lines of human embryonic stem cells that are exact genetic matches for individual patients, according to a new study.

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Research by Endocrine Institute in Israel provides the tantalizing possibility of curing diabetes by transplanting the patient's own cells. This will mean treatment without immunosuppression therapy and hence without complications associated with islet transplantation (Edmonton protocol etc.).

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Valsartan, commercially known as Diovan, a drug that controls blood pressure and reduces heart risk, also appears to protect against diabetes, especially in high-risk people, according to new research presented at the American Society of Hypertension's Twentieth Annual Scientific Meeting and Exposition (ASH 2005) by a University of Michigan physician who helped lead the study.

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A Japanese research team has developed a fuel cell that runs on blood without using toxic substances, opening the way for use in artificial hearts and other organs.

The biological fuel cell uses glucose, a sugar in blood, with a non-toxic substance used to draw electrons from glucose, said the team led by Matsuhiko Nishizawa, bio-engineering professor at the graduate school of state-run Tohoku University.

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Beta-Blockers (like Atenolol) are used for heart failure treatment. Beta-blockers are also often prescribed for diabetic and renal (kidney) transplant recepients as adjunct anti-hypertensive (blood pressure) medications.

Beta-blockers help restore the heart to a more typical shape and size and improve heart function.
Some patients tolerate them well while others have difficulty and suffer adverse reactions such as shortness of breath, ankle swelling (edema) or fluid retention in the lungs, fatigue and reduced ability to tolerate exercise or even worsening of their heart failure symptoms.
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Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX) Announces Positive Interim Results From Phase 2 Clinical Study For KRX-101 (Sulodexide Gelcaps) For Treatment Of Diabetic Nephropathy.
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