A round up of today's other stories in brief...
Less cancer screening among obese
Obese women, particularly white obese women, are less likely than their thinner peers to be screened for breast and cervical cancers, researchers have reported.
In a review of 32 previously published studies, researchers found that obesity was consistently linked to lower rates of breast and cervical cancer screening among white women. Fourteen studies focused on cervical cancer, 10 on breast cancer and eight looked at colorectal cancer.
Sarah S Cohen and colleagues at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, report the findings in the online edition of Cancer.
Robot in full operating order
British researchers are developing a medical robot which can work out the intentions of a surgeon performing an operation, making surgery easier and more precise.
They hope new software will lead to less invasive operations, for example when conducting a cardiac bypass or tumour removal, allowing patients to recover more quickly. The improvements have been made to the most advanced robotic surgeon on the market, the Da Vinci.
'Problem anger' in UK is endemic
"Problem anger" is ignored, yet is endemic in society, according to a report published today in Britain.
Despite widespread concern about family breakdown and mental health problems, not enough is being done to intervene at an early stage, the Boiling Point report said.
The study was produced by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF), which defines problem anger as that which is "held on" to for too long or which produces inappropriate aggression.
An accompanying survey of 1,974 people found 64 per cent believe people are getting angrier in general.
About a third (32 per cent) said they had a close friend or family member who has trouble controlling their anger while 28 per cent worried about how angry they sometimes felt.
Terminally ill get experimental drugs
Experimental drugs are to be given to terminally ill cancer patients in Britain in efforts to halve the amount of time it takes to develop new medication.
The British Department of Health has given approval for a new unit at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, where patients with no other hope of recovery will be given drugs previously untested on humans.
It currently takes an average of 10 years to get a new drug approved, but doctors are hoping to halve that length of time for cancer medication.
Prof John Gribben from Barts and the London NHS Trust said: "We're not talking about cutting any corners in terms of patients' safety.
"We would argue that for patients who've got cancer, 10 years is too long to wait and we've got to try to cut that period down as much as possible."
Blood samples will be analysed within a day and the treatment only continued if it proves effective.
Patients will be given a tiny dose at first to minimise the risk, and only those who have failed to respond to existing medication will take part.
Diabetes link to cognitive function
Impaired cognitive function at age 11 appears to be associated with an increased risk of developing type-two diabetes later in life, a study indicates.
Researchers in Sweden analysed the general ability and reading comprehension at 11 years of age of some 9,000 members of a 1958 UK birth cohort in relation to a subsequent diagnosis of type-two diabetes.
The subjects with type-two diabetes by 42 years of age had significantly lower assessment scores at age 11 years, the investigators found.