New DNA reader to bring genetics to clinics

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A new DNA reader could bring genetics to medical clinics. After years of predictions that the "$1,000 genome" -- a read-out of a person's complete genetic information for about the cost of a dental crown -- was just around the corner, a U.S. company is announcing Tuesday that it has achieved that milestone and taken the technology several steps ahead. The new genome-sequencing machine from Ion Torrent, a division of Life Technologies Corp., in Guilford, Connecticut, is 1,000 times more powerful than existing technology, says CEO and chairman Jonathan Rothberg. Taking up about as much space as an office printer, it can sequence an entire genome in a single day rather than six to eight weeks required...

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Posted in: HEALTH

Aspirin guidelines need overhaul, researchers say

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Healthy people shouldn't be taking aspirin to prevent heart disease, researchers say in a new report that casts doubt on recommendations from U.S. health officials. Medical guidelines currently urge people to take low doses of the drug if they are at high risk of heart disease but have never had any symptoms, or if they have already suffered a heart attack. But the first piece of advice, known as primary prevention, has come under attack from more and more doctors because aspirin therapy can also be harmful. "What we need to focus on is lifestyle, smoking cessation, and statin and blood pressure medications," said Dr. Kausik Ray, who studies heart disease prevention at St. George's University...

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Posted in: HEALTH

Statin use tied to more diabetes in women

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cholesterol-lowering drugs may be linked to an increased risk of diabetes, according to a new study of middle-aged and older women. But researchers said that shouldn't dissuade people with heart disease -- or at risk of it -- from taking so-called statins. Instead, statin users should try to reduce their risk of diabetes in other ways, such as by losing weight, and should have their blood sugar regularly monitored, they said. "The conclusion still stands that overall, those people who've got existing heart disease or have had previous strokes, they still would get vast benefits from statins," as would those at high risk for heart disease, said Naveed Sattar, a metabolism and diabetes researcher...

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Posted in: HEALTH

Acupuncture little better than 'sham' for migraine

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Traditional Chinese acupuncture seems little better than a "sham" version of the procedure when it comes to preventing migraines, a study published Monday suggests. The findings, reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, add to a pattern commonly seen in studies on acupuncture and migraines. Many have found that people with migraines can get relief from acupuncture. But often, "true" acupuncture has worked no better than "sham" acupuncture -- where the needles are inserted only to a superficial depth in the skin, or into sites that are not considered acupuncture points in traditional medicine. That raises the question of whether acupuncture works by "non-specific" effects, according...

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Posted in: HEALTH