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A majority of teenagers treated for major depression show lasting improvements, though it may take several months for the benefits to appear, a new study suggests.

A historical viral infection gave some insects new tools with which to parasitise their caterpillar hosts, a new study finds.

Influenza has arrived in New York City, so if you and your family have not been vaccinated against the disease this season - now is the time to do it. Surveillance systems indicate that influenza is now spreading among New Yorkers, the Health Department reported today. There is plenty of vaccine available this year and there is still time to get vaccinated, so the Health Department is urging all New Yorkers to get vaccinated and reduce their risk.read more

The national youth smoking-prevention campaign known as truth®, likely prevented 450,000 adolescents from initiating smoking, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International. 'Given the substantial lifetime health and economic burden of smoking, preventing adolescents and young adults from beginning to smoke is a smart investment in public health,' said Matthew Farrelly, Ph.D., senior director of RTI's public health Policy Research Program.

The number of Canadian seniors using a common drug therapy to prevent bone deterioration due to osteoporosis increased significantly over the past six years, but a new study shows men are far less likely than women to be using the drugs. The study, published today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), examines trends in public drug claims among seniors for bisphosphonates, a class of drugs used to treat osteoporosis and prevent fractures.

Inscrutable Intelligence?In “The Search for Intelligence,” Carl Zimmer relates the search for evidence of genetic influences on intelligence by Robert Plomin of the Institute of Psychiatry in London and others. Plomin’s many genetic studies have so far found only one plausible candidate for an “intelligence gene,” and it explains less than 1 percent of the variance on IQ tests. After such an extensive search, it seems likely that absence of evidence is evidence of absence. [More]

Study results to be published in the April 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society show that computerized brain exercises can improve memory and lead to faster thinking.

Songbirds fly faster and further than anyone has realised, according to scientists who have tracked their migration routes for the first time. The researchers said they were 'flabbergasted' by the findings, which will help biologists predict how climate change and habitat loss will affect the birds.Songbirds are the most common type of bird, but until now little has been known about their annual journeys because they are too small to carry satellite-tracking devices. Instead, the scientists strapped tiny backpacks that record sunrise and sunset times onto wood thrushes and purple martins, and this data allowed them to plot the birds' flights between Pennsylvania and South America.The researchers found the birds could fly more than 300 miles per day. In contrast, previous studies had put their daily range at under 100 miles per day. The study also discovered that the birds flew much faster on their journey home in spring: one purple martin, a type of swallow, took 43 days to reach Brazi

Recent studies conducted at Cornell University suggest negative environmental effects can and do have a marked influence on your childs cognitive and developmental growth...