Others

Insomnia: sleeping without pills

Joh Byung-jinBy Joh Byung-jin The recent earthquake made many people wary and sleepless. A middle aged lady visited my clinic a few days after the incident. She had been using sleeping pills for over a year, and it became harder to fall asleep after the earthquake. Her medication use had increased from half a pill a day to a whole pill to no avail. She wanted sleep, but she also wanted to get off the sleeping pills since it made her feel foggy all day.According to Korean medical diagnosis, she lacked “eum” due to internal heat, and I performed acupuncture and prescribed herbal medicine accordingly. After six treatments, her medication use has dropped to half a pill every two or three days. She is getting more sleep, and has more energy during the day.Patients like her are quite common, especially among the aged. In many instances, it’s hard to get off the medication on one’s own due to their addictive nature. The drugs can cause common side effects such as dullness, headaches and dizziness to rarer but much more severe ones like sleepwalking and suicidal

Lesson for mom with 3 sick kids

 Youngest Lauren, right, who introduced the stomach virus to the family contemplates a treatment plan for her sisters, Ann, center, and Ellen. Playing hospital feels a whole lot different when the kids are sick in real life. / Courtesy of Jane Han  By Jane HanI remember reading somewhere that having three kids meant the chance of parents losing sleep due to someone being up at night goes up by 33.3 percent. Well, that scary statistic also applies to sickness.The past week, my house has been hit by a nasty stomach virus that’s turned this place pretty much into a warzone.Norovirus or rotavirus, we’re still not exactly sure what bug is getting every single person in this house sick except me. But whatever it is, it’s been brutal.The household epidemic first began with my youngest Lauren one week ago at precisely 2 a.m.Ever wonder why kids get sicker ― or in my case, sick all of a sudden ― at night?Experts suggest all kinds of elaborate reasons.But when you’re bone tired and not exactly in a state of mind to think clearly, it’s

DAILY FORTUNE - OCTOBER 15-16, 2016

(340) The road not taken

By Janet Shin Have you ever stood at a fork in the road hesitating about which way to go? Have you ever regretted as you had selected one while the other road looked more attractive or because you realized later that the other would have ended with a better result? It is needless to say all of us have has faced or will face this situation. ‘Regret’ may be the most likely emotion in this kind of experience rather than satisfaction. I used to recite a poem, “The Road Not Taken” written by American poet Robert Frost (1874-1963). In the last stanza, it says,I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood and I ― I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.This poem is about the aspirations and retrospect of life and regret for the decision not to have chosen the alternative. Frost said later that this poem was about his friend Edward Thomas, who, according to Frost, “would be sorry he didn’t go the other, whichever road he went.” Let me put it the other

DAILY FORTUNE - OCTOBER 14, 2016

 

Monks to promote Korean Buddhism in Paris

Representative Korean Buddhist monks, including Ja Seoung, executive chief of the Jogye Order, will visit Paris to promote Korean Buddhism in Europe.Some 50 monks from the country’s largest Buddhist sect will leave Korea on Oct. 24 to take part in a five-day event to be held under the theme of “1,700-year Korean Buddhist tradition and life of practitioners” in Paris.It is the monk’s second visit to Paris after one in 2011. The visiting monks will meet France’s former Culture Minister Jack Lang on Oct. 25 and hold a temple food reception with 200 invited guests on the following day.Books titled “Korean Buddhism,” written by Ja Seoung, will be donated to the Paris Diderot University, and a special lecture and cultural events to spread the religion will take place between Oct. 27 and 28.“If the 2011 visit had been to introduce Korean Buddhism, this year’s event will focus more on the life and enlightenment of its tradition-following practitioners, in other words, the true ways toward happiness,” said a Jogye Order official.

DAILY FORTUNE - OCTOBER 13, 2016

 

DAILY FORTUNE - OCTOBER 12, 2016

DAILY FORTUNE - OCTOBER 11, 2016

How to treat constipation

By Lee Sung-hun It is said that everyone experiences being constipated at some point in life.While the old adage of “You are what you eat” represents how important the food we consume is for our health, how well our body disposes of the consumed food is also important for the general well-being.Stool is the discharging of the undigested food usually eaten 24 to 48 hours beforehand, and typically consists of 70 percent water and 30 percent solid waste.Most adults have bowel movements once a day, but some have them more often and others may have one every two or three days.As long as the bowel movement is not discomforting, and there are no feelings of incomplete evacuation, the frequency can be deemed normal for that person.In contrast, even with regular bowel movements, if the person complains of difficulty in discharging and stomachache along with harder stool, the symptoms are indicative of constipation.Generally, a patient is diagnosed with constipation if two or more of the following symptoms are experienced by the patient.You have to strain severely to squeeze o