(September 8, 2008 - Insidermedicine) From Washington - According to research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Breast Cancer Symposium, women newly diagnosed with breast cancer who get an MRI end up delaying cancer treatment by weeks. In a study of 577 patients, those who received an MRI had a three-week delay in the start of treatment, and were also more likely to have a mastectomy than those that did not have an MRI.

From Toronto - According to research in the Lancet, the once-weekly diabetes drug Byetta may control blood sugar better than twice-a-day drugs. In a study of 259 patients with type 2 diabetes, those who received Byetta once a week saw their HbA1C levels falls to an average of 6.4%, compared to 6.8% in the twice-daily group. However, the FDA has cautioned that there may be a link between Byetta use and pancreatitis, and is in the process of drafting stronger labeling for the drug.

And finally, from Chicago - According to research in the Archives of Internal Medicine, older women who do not get enough sleep are at higher risk of falling. In a study of nearly 3,000 women aged 70 or older, those who slept 5 hours or less per night were more likely to experience two or more falls in a year than those that slept more than 7 hours per night. In other terms, those with a sleep efficiency of under 70% were 1.36 times more likely to experience a fall.

For Insidermedicine in 60, I'm Dr. Susan Sharma.