Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Holistic treatment helps fight depression

By Lee Sung-hunToday’s Koreans are under constant and severe stress for a variety of reasons.According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of patients seeking medical help for depression has increased by 12 percent from 534,800 in 2011 to about 601,000 in 2015.Of those patients in 2015, females numbered around 406,000, slightly more than double that of males at 194,700.Depression is common but serious mood disorder causing symptoms that affect how you think, feel and act, and should not be dismissed lightly.As the Korean media has shown over the past decade, a number of well-known celebrities who tookhave taken their own lives after battling depression for many years, . it It is an illness that can lead to serious consequences.In our lexicondaily use, the expression “I am depressed” can be lightly used lightly in many different cases, ranging from failing a test at school to having a fight with one’s best friend.In such cases, the feeling of being depressed lasts for a short period of time, and most bounce right back, resuming the

Jun 7, 2016

Holistic treatment helps fight depression

Mom vs TV

Three sisters get their daily dose of Korean TV. / Courtesy of Jane Han By Jane Han  So it’s been exactly a week since our dear nanny left.As expected, there have been a few occurrences of mommy meltdowns throughout the seven whole days she’s been gone.I realized that going to the playground with me as the only supervising adult is like being on some kind of intense physical challenge reality show, where the contestant (me) is challenged to successfully prevent three flying balls from touching the ground.And yes, my girls would be the flying balls.I wish I was speaking figuratively, but the three toddlers really play like bouncing balls. Pretty funny sight.Another funny sight is at the grocery store.I decided to be brave and take all three to a nearby Korean supermarket, where they have normal-sized grocery carts, where you can only fit two in the cart ― one in the seat and one in the basket. Which leaves one to walk, run or pull some crazy act.For some odd reason, we always seem to have the biggest disagreements at the grocery store over who sits where.So of co

Jun 7, 2016

Sharing the light, restoring vision

Joo Choun-ki, ophthalmologist at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, talks with local medical workers during his volunteer work at a hospital in Haiti in May, 2014. During his four-day visit, he performed surgery on six patients with a visual impairment. / Courtesy of Seoul St. Mary’s HospitalRenowned ophthalmologist tells how cardinal’s death altered his lifeBy Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulEveryone dies, whether rich or poor, famous or unknown. When Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan died in 2009, this simple fact of life hit ophthalmologist Joo Choun-ki like never before.Joo immediately transplanted the late cardinal's corneas into two recipients at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, in accordance with the cardinal's will. Kim was one of the most respected spiritual leaders in Korea."A rosary on his wrist and his two corneas were all he left behind," Joo said in an interview. "To me, his death was a powerful message that made me think about what I should fill the remainder of my life with. Since then, I have tried to focus on doing things that really matter."Kim often told him that he shou

Jun 5, 2016

Eating to fight hair loss

Four experts say 10 edibles may or may not prevent going bald The following is an article on hair loss experienced by a Korea Times reporter and experts’ advice on foods that may reduce hair loss and improve hair growth. — ED. By Ko Dong-hwanWith another day at work over, I come home only to find my wife raising a hygiene issue in the bathroom. She chided me as I left hairs in the bathtub after I had washed my hair in the morning. The black strands inside the dried white bathtub apparently didn’t go down the drain.The unpleasant scene painfully reminded me of how much hair I am  losing these days.For as long as I can remember, I’ve been losing hair and fretting over it on an almost daily basis. As the sad truth persists, witnessing my hair falling out in the bathroom and other places around my home has become something close to fear.I wash the hair down the drain with the shower head, vexed by the  impulsive idea of whether I am better off going bald. Imagining that, however, gives me a chill and drops me into a pit of despair that seems in

May 31, 2016

Korean scientists develop biochemical breakthrough for hair loss

Chronic exposure to fine dust linked to high blood pressure: study

There is a correlation between long-term exposure to fine dust and cardiovascular diseases, such as high blood pressure, a study showed Monday, casting concerns among the public over the influx of pollutants from home and abroad.The annual rise in fine dust emissions increases the number of people with high blood pressure, or hypertension, by 4.4 percent, according to the study conducted by a team of scientists at Seoul National University (SNU).The study was conducted after analyzing data on more than 700,000 South Koreans between 2008 and 2010 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Fine dust -- particles smaller than 10 micrometers -- have been known to cause various respiratory diseases and undermine the body's immune system. This study was the first to be conducted to find the epidemiological association between the dust and cardiovascular diseases."Not only the people with respiratory diseases but also cardiovascular diseases should pay attention to fine dust alerts and refrain from going outside," said Kim Ho, director of the Graduate School of Public Health at SNU.K

May 30, 2016

Chronic exposure to fine dust linked to high blood pressure: study

Gov't to curb diesel cars, coal-fired power plants

A fruit of the Minnesota Project

/Korea Times photo by Jung Min-ho‘The humanitarian aid reshaped Korea’s medicine and my life’By Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulKorea’s medical infrastructure was somewhere between crumbling and non-existent in the 1950s after the Korean War (1950-1953) had ravaged the nation.To help Korea improve its medical infrastructure, the University of Minnesota sent experts in different medical fields to Seoul National University (SNU) from 1955 to 1961 as part of the Minnesota Project. Sponsored by the U.S. government, the project aimed to help the nation stand on its own feet by improving its medical, engineering and agricultural infrastructures.Among the 59 experts was Edmund B. Flink, the first doctor to teach endocrinology at SNU in 1957. Although his students were smart and passionate, they could not understand half of what he taught because he spoke in English.“We all flunked the first exam in his class,” Choi Young-kil, now known as the father of endocrinology in Korea, said in an interview. “This is the first thing I remember about the Minnesota Pro

May 29, 2016

(331) What time were you born?

By Janet ShinIn order to build a saju chart with which we read one’s destiny, we need a birth year, month, day and hour. This way, the four pillars are composed to translate the cosmological consequences from one’s birth year to hour, from right to left. Yet, they are not just a calendrical record but rather like a Pandora’s Box that discloses one’s true self, both internal and external sides, disposition, aptitude, the pursuit of life and even the condition of social relations and biological family members.Although they literally consist of eight letters (palja) from heavenly and earthly energies, encoded in Chinese letters, they are not represented only as a fossilized and flat table. They are more like 3D data that emulates spatiotemporal influences. They display a variety of information about one’s life with a holistic perspective. It even includes the time before and after life in some cases. In order not to sound superstitious, however, this approach should be applied with special deliberation.Application of 12 animals and 5 elements to timeMeanwhi

May 26, 2016

Oriental medicine can help treat gout

By Lee Sung-hun Patients say even a slight brush of wind can bring about severe pain with this particular illness.I am talking about gout ― with which patients experience sudden red swelling of a joint accompanied with pain.Gout’s primary symptom is the severe pain in the afflicted area ― usually the big toe ― and the pain is so excruciating that it is said to exceed the pain levels of a child delivery.Gout is traditionally thought to be a rich man’s disease because it often occurred in rich royals and aristocrats who were well-fed and quite overweight.However, it is no long just a rich man’s disease.Owing to today’s over-nourished and under-exercised modern lifestyle, gout has become quite a common illness, especially among middle-aged men.Gout is caused by uric acid.It is a byproduct of our body’s metabolism, which is usually secreted out through the kidneys via urine.However, if the amount of uric acid in the blood is normal but the kidneys are unable to process it adequately ― or if there is too much produced for our body to get rid of ― the exc

May 24, 2016

Saying goodbye to the nanny

By Jane Han Ah, so this is it. After all the anticipation and anxiety that’s been building up for the past month, the time has finally come. The time to part ways with our beloved nanny.Also the time for me to be on my own.My children and I have so far gone through four nannies (all of whom we’ve parted with because of a move or long-term travel to and from Korea), so I’m somewhat used to saying farewell to a caregiver.But this time, things are sort of different. I plan on going solo ― doing without the five hours of daily help ― for the next couple months until the twins begin preschool two days a week starting in September.Even when they start school, they’ll be home three days a week along with my little rascal Lauren, so I expect to have my hands fuller than they already are without the extra hand.So why did I decide that now is the time to go independent? Of all times, especially when Lauren has dramatically transformed into a mini monster while Ellen and Ann can’t stand a day being home?Frankly, employing a nanny in the U.S. is not s

May 24, 2016

Aiming for Korea's biomedical bonanza

Kim Hyo-soo, a renowned cardiologist and medical researcher at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH), said he wants to set a new bar for the nation’s biomedical success. /Courtesy of Seoul National University HospitalBy Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulConverting medical research into great commercial success has never been an easy task.Among the 27 drugs developed in Korea, Boryung Pharmaceutical’s Kanarb, a hypertension drug, is the first and only one to reach 30 billion won ($26 million) in its annual sales. The rest of them have either disappeared from the market or fallen far below sales expectations.Aiming to solve health issues possibly affecting millions of people across the world, Kim Hyo-soo, a renowned cardiologist and medical researcher at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH), wants to set a new bar for the nation’s biomedical success.“Our goal is to realize the huge potential of the nation’s biomedical field by creating wealth in five years,” Kim said in an interview. “We are trying to develop ways to selectively block resi

May 22, 2016

Others

Others

Holistic treatment helps fight depression

Mom vs TV

Sharing the light, restoring vision

Eating to fight hair loss

Chronic exposure to fine dust linked to high blood pressure: study

A fruit of the Minnesota Project

(331) What time were you born?

Oriental medicine can help treat gout

Saying goodbye to the nanny

Aiming for Korea's biomedical bonanza

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