A study in the February 25 issue of JAMA reveals that low- income diabetic women who are pregnant or new mothers, have almost double the risk of suffering from depression during and after pregnancy, than women without diabetes.

After all standard treatments had failed, a new cancer treatment has stopped the growth of aggressive sarcomas in two recent patients. These results are similar to the new protocol’s previous success against several cancers, including melanoma, pancreatic, colon, mesothelioma and other sarcomas. One of the patients is an 18-year-old with malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) that arose in the largest bone of his leg.

A new statistical model could be used to predict an individual’s lifetime risk of stroke, finds a study from the Children’s Hospital Informatics Program (CHIP). Using genetic information from 569 hospital patients, the researchers showed that their predictive model could estimate an individual’s overall risk of cardioembolic stroke — the most common form of stroke — with 86 percent accuracy. The findings are reported in the March issue of Stroke.

A new study found that the rate of new cases of diabetes in the UK rose by 74 per cent between 1997 and 2003, and has now overtaken the rate in North America, which has one of the highest incidences of diabetes in the world. The study’s lead author is Elvira Massó González of the Spanish Centre for Pharmacoepidemiologic Research in Madrid, and is to be published this week in the online issue of Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has today (25 February) issued a new guideline on best practice for the diagnosis and treatment of early and locally advanced breast cancer. Early breast cancer is diagnosed when the cancer is only found in the breast and the lymph nodes nearby (most often under the arm), and has not spread to other parts of the body.

Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced the Company has enrolled its first subjects in its once-daily topical diclofenac sodium patch Phase III program. The program consists of three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase III clinical studies with Cerimon’s diclofenac patch.

Parents do not know that their children may risk serious health problems in later life due to a sedentary lifestyle and an unhealthy diet, warn leading health charities British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and Diabetes UK. Results from a survey of over 800 parents of children aged up to 11 were released today as the partnership of charities launches a brand new and hard-hitting advertising campaign (pictured) to support the Government’s Change4Life campaign.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has today (25 February) issued a new guideline on best practice for the diagnosis and treatment of advanced breast cancer. There are approximately 40,500 women diagnosed with breast cancer and 10,900 deaths recorded in England and Wales each year, making it the most common cancer affecting women. Although rare, breast cancer can also affect men, with about 260 cases diagnosed and 68 deaths each year.

Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PARD), a biopharmaceutical company focused on innovative oncology therapies, announced the presentation of new efficacy and safety data from its ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial of picoplatin in combination with docetaxel and prednisone as first-line therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).

The detailed structure of a protective ‘jacket’ that surrounds cells of the Clostridium difficile superbug, and which helps the dangerous pathogen stick to human host cells and tissues, is revealed in part in the 1 March issue of Molecular Microbiology. Scientists hope that unravelling the secrets of this protective layer’s molecular structure might reveal possible targets for new drugs to treat C. difficile infections. C. difficile cell.