New game to encourage children to monitor their diabetes

Children are to be given a helping hand to control their diabets with the launch of a new computer console game 

At present, around 25,000 youngsters in the UK alone suffer from diabetes, with many in the position where they are required to test their blood levels every few hours 

As such, the new Didget system, which is set to be rolled out on the Nintendo DS, is aimed at encouraging children to stay on top of their condition by making testing fun 

Users are able to download the results of their blood tests to their handheld consoles and then are rewarded with extra points, with Karen Addington of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation welcoming the role such technology is now playing in promoting a greater awareness of diabetes among both children and adults 

'It is incredible how much improvement there has been, and things are still being developed

Healthcare organisations are due to join forces to mark World Diabets Day on 14th November, with self-management to be the central theme of this year's event.

Men still 'bottling up' work-related stress issues

November 2009

Many more men could be suffering from stress in the workplace than is currently believed, it has been claimed 

Recent research carried out by the consultancy firm Mercer found some 11.4 million working days are lost each year in the UK as a result of stress or depression 

Furthermore, the company's report also noted that rates for stress-related illnesses are twice as high among female professionals as they are among their male counterparts 

However, according to the International Stress Management Association (ISMA), this could just be part of the picture, with many men still refusing to admit to being stressed-out, despite the fact that employers are becoming increasingly understanding about the mental welfare of their workers 

'Men notoriously are used to being able to manage, there's a problem of pride - they find it difficult to express the words and seek help, there's a lot of issues," explained the ISMA's director Jenny Edwards 

'Men bottle it up a lot more, there's the macho image of being expected to cope. They don't want to look feeble. They're almost in a no-win situation 

This comes after the latest Labour Force Survey found that as many as 415,000 UK workers are now experiencing work-related stress at a level that is making them ill

Female cancer victims 'more likely to be left by partners

Women who are informed that they have cancer or another serious illness are seven times more likely to become separated or divorced than men who receive similar news, the findings of a new study suggest 

Writing their findings up in the journal Cancer, a team of specialists based at the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute have reported that, on average, 12 per cent of patients ended up divorced or separated over the five years to December 31st 2006 

While this average was deemed to be generally in line with the US average as a whole, looking closer the team discovered that men who become critically ill only have a three per cent chance of seeing their marriage break down 

In comparison, 21 per cent of women who are diagnosed with cancer or another serious condition end up separated or divorced, with an average of six months passing between diagnosis and a split 

Lead researcher Dr Marc Chamberlain, who is a practicing oncologist, conceded that the state of marriages prior to illness was not known 

He added, however: 'But the striking part is with life-threatening illness, how often women are abandoned compared to men. That does not speak very well of my gender 

Earlier this month, experts at Imperial College London reported that they have made a breakthrough in the fight against cancer, having identified a means of stopping cells forming around cancerous tumours

Lung cancer breakthrough drug very encouraging

Despite the fact that it has only been tested on animals so far, charities have widely welcomed the news that a potential new drug for treating one of the most virulent forms of lung cancer has been identified by London scientists 

The team from Imperial College London has reported that the drug PD173074 was successful in destroying 50 per cent of tumours in mice genetically engineered to suffer from small cell lung cancer 

While the researchers now intend to follow up their animal testing with full clinical trials, the treatment is still a long way off being made available for people with lung cancer 

Even so, the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation has welcomed the development as a great step forward 

The charity's chief executive Rosemary Gillespie said: 'We're always very encouraged and very pleased to see potential new drugs in the pipeline, particularly as there are so few treatments for lung cancer and because at the moment the outcomes for people who are affected by the disease generally are poor 

'The drugs that join production and development today are going to be the treatments of tomorrow,' she added 

According to the latest figures from Cancer Research UK, lung cancer is the second most common form of the disease in the UK