Depression is one of the dark demons of adolescence. Up to 1 in 12 American teenagers is affected, according to the National Institute of Mental Health , and three times as many will experience depression at some point by age 18. Studies show that at least 20% of teenagers with clinical depression will go on to develop chronic cases that will haunt them throughout adulthood. That is, if they reach adulthood. Suicide is a significant risk for depressed adolescents ...

President Obama nominated a Republican U.S. congressman from New York on Tuesday to be secretary of the Army. Obama's nomination of Rep. John M. McHugh, ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, must be reviewed and voted on by the Senate. The president announced his choice at a news conference. McHugh, who lives in Pierrepont Manor, New York, was elected to the House in 1992 and has served on the Armed Services Committee since 1993. He was a state ...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received a candidate vaccine virus for swine flu from one institution Friday, spokesman Thomas Skinner said in an e-mail. The CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have also created a candidate vaccine virus for swine flu, also known as 2009 H1N1, using reverse genetics, he said. "Suitable viruses will hopefully be sent to manufacturers by end of next week," Skinner wrote. Once that happens, vaccine makers will tweak the virus ...

Eighteen-year-old Juan Gonzalez was dying alone in hospital, thousand of miles from his Guatemalan home. He was separated from the family he had traveled to the United States to help support. Diagnosed with a chronically weak heart, without much money and lacking resources, Gonzalez seemed bound to die without ever seeing his parents again. That changed after CNN aired a story about his plight. Thanks to the help of a compassionate hospital staff, a U.S. congressman and a ...

The success of energy drinks like Red Bull, Monster and Rockstar have proven that consumers are constantly thirsting for a boost. But will they ever want to come back down and reach for a nonalcoholic drink that will help them chill out? According to the recent sales figures from Innovative Beverage Group, a Houston-based drink distributor and maker of a "relaxation beverage" called Drank, there's strong demand for the anti–Red Bull too. The company's revenues, though small, were up 198% in 2008, to $2.2 ...

There had been no confirmed deaths in the United States related to swine flu as of Tuesday afternoon. But another virus had killed thousands of people since January and is expected to keep killing hundreds of people every week for the rest of the year. That one The regular flu. An outbreak of swine flu that is suspected in more than 150 deaths in Mexico and has sickened dozens of people in the United States and elsewhere has grabbed the ...

Although many people think of a heart attack as a painful, sometimes fatal event, there are some heart attacks that go entirely unnoticed. Undiagnosed, or "silent," heart attacks affect nearly 200,000 people in the United States annually. As many as 40 to 60 percent all of heart attacks are unrecognized, studies show. By definition, a heart attack usually happens when a clot gets in the way of blood flow from a coronary artery to the heart. This may cause ...

Amidst the tranquility of a fishing trip at the Rose River Farm in Madison County, a wounded warrior says he almost feels "semi-normal again." The amputee is one of about 1,000 servicemen and veterans who have reaped the benefits of the therapeutic art of fly-fishing, with the help of retired Navy Capt. Ed Nicholson. "The demons of war, you just don't set them aside," says Nicholson, 67. "But once you get out on the river, the serenity is ...

Thousands of veterans in South Florida may have been exposed to hepatitis and HIV because of contaminated equipment after getting colonoscopies at the Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, officials announced Monday. Two Florida lawmakers are asking for an inspector general's inquiry. "The VA is a model of the type of health care we provide our veterans, and when mistakes like this occur, it undermines the efficacy of the entire system," said Rep. Kendrick B. Meek, D-Florida, in a news release. ...