Others

IT gadgets and cervical disc hernia

By Lee Sung-hun A recent survey revealed that today’s average Korean uses their smartphone for about three hours a day.Those in their 20s use their smartphones a lot more at four hours nine minutes per day, which is about a quarter of the day apart from sleeping.Looking at the phones for such long periods is a bad habit for the health of the cervical vertebrae.If we consider the fact that quite many of us use other IT devices such as computers and tablets as well as smartphones on a daily basis, the strain that we put on the neck and shoulders while using an electronic gadget can seriously add up.In fact, there has been a sharp increase of cervical disc herniation patients among people in their 20s and 30s, who are the heaviest users of smartphones.According to 2014 data from the National Health Insurance Service, the number of people suffering from cervical disc herniation is approximately 900,000, a 30 percent increase from five years ago, and the increase was the sharpest in patients among their 20s and 30s.Between the vertebral bones in the back are round, flat discs t

Beating post-vacation blues

Ellen, left, and Ann follow mom and dad into the grocery store after getting off a nine-hour flight home.By Jane Han                                                 So here we are, back in the Texas heat, as I sit here trying hard to recall the very best moments of our month-long vacation in Hawaii.Playing with sand on the beach, cooling off with the ocean breeze and hearing the palm trees sway, taking afternoon dips in the pool, getting spoiled like crazy by grandma and grandpa, and simply living every day like a vacation without obsessing over naptimes and house chores ― the past month was true paradise, especially for the kids.I intended to share more details about the trip, but jetlag has invaded my brain yet again.And so I’ll just stop bragging and move on to life back at home.Ah yes, the post-vacation blues.Jetlag is nothing new, but cooking three meals a day though.Was it this hard? Really, this hard?The morning we arrived, I managed to drag m

DAILY FORTUNE - AUGUST 17, 2016

 

DAILY FORTUNE - AUGUST 16, 2016

 

DAILY FORTUNE - AUGUST 15, 2016

 

Golden time in healthcare industry is ticking fast

/ Korea Times photo by Jung Min-ho‘Korea should not waste its hard-won opportunity for global leadership’By Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulKorea’s healthcare industry is enjoying its good days. Its hospitals are packed with foreign patients, its doctors are speaking at the podiums of international conferences and its pharmaceutical companies are increasing their research and development (R&D) investment like never before.There has never been a better time for the country’s healthcare industry in terms of financial gains and global reputation. But if you believe it will continue to thrive, you are an optimist, says Professor Chung Hyun-cheol at Severance Hospital.The noted oncologist reckons that Korea today is in a position where it has to resolve some complicated questions in order to move forward. The next five years, he said, will be critical for the nation’s healthcare industry and future.“If Korea misses the opportunity it has now, I think there won’t be any better ones for a long time,” Chung said in an interview. “As industri

DAILY FORTUNE - AUGUST 13, 2016

  

(336) Time and numbers

By Janet ShinWestern epistemology considers them very important by saying that all objects and even our own selves can only be cognized through time and space.  Time, above all, is regarded as continuous and eternal whereas only our presence, nature and things are changing within it. The cognition of time, therefore, is such an important priority that makes our awareness of all objects and the universe including our own beings possible. In Oriental philosophy, the word universe is translated not only as a spatial but a temporal concept. ‘U-ju (宇宙)’ literally stands for both the change of time (Ju) and directionality including up and down (U). Yin, yang and the five elements are the conceptual tools to comprehend the principles of their changes and structures. Accordingly the study of the Great Void and generation of the world including all creation are the uppermost themes in human philosophy. A great legacy was found in a book, written by Shao Yong (1011-1077), a Chinese philosopher and cosmologist during the Song Dynasty. In his book, Huangji Jingshi (Boo

DAILY FORTUNE - AUGUST 12, 2016

DAILY FORTUNE - AUGUST 11, 2016