Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Hotter than fire! (Photos)

By Bahk Eun-ji Here are the nation’s HOTTEST firefighters ― with more sizzle than a blazing fire.Today they threw down their heavy firefighting equipment and uniforms to take the stage for a good cause, flaunting their athletic bodies’ explosive biceps and chiseled abs.Their appearance brought loud screams and shouts from the audience, which might have been louder than a major gas explosion.Their muscle show was part of “2016 Safe Seoul,” a Seoul City-hosted annual event. This year’s festival was held at Yeouido Park in Seoul.Last year, 13 firefighters took part, battling each other to win the title of “Best Muscled Firefighter.” Money raised from selling their photos was donated to help the parents of children suffering burns.The Korea Times selected photos of today’s best muscle men from a pool of photos from Yonhap News Agency.                   

May 19, 2016

Big data is key to precision medicine

/ Korea Times photo by Jung Min-ho‘Gov’t appears to be determined, but is missing an important point’By Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulThe Korean government should focus more on generating reliable clinical data, which will be the key to the new era of precision medicine, a renowned cancer expert said.“The government appears to be determined to support those involved in the emerging area, but it is missing an important point,” Paik Soon-myung, director of the Avison Biomedical Research Center in Yonsei University’s Severance Hospital, said in an interview.“It’s great that the government is trying to support researchers and easing regulations to help Korea take leadership in the field. However, the most important thing is to establish an integrated system in which genomic data for all cancers diagnosed in the country can be collected, because such data will be enormously valuable in the near future.”Precision medicine, which refers to the customization of treatment according to a patient’s genetic characteristics, is expected to ch

May 15, 2016

(330) What you saw in your dreams

By Janet Shin One day, while we were in a car after a saju class, a son of our party studying in the U.S. called, asking for help translating his dream. He had just woken up and explained what he saw in the dream. The group was comprised of famous fortune tellers, feng shui masters and face readers. One of them studied psychology in school. The boy started his story with a train trip. His mother put the phone on speaker so our team could listen. He and his family were travelling. He was driving the train with a long stick. Then his cousin took his stick to hit a flower. He thought the flower was very big and beautiful with colorful petals. Then, a swarm of insects that looked like bees suddenly stung his face to leave gluey material around his cheek and inside his mouth. He felt they were like thorns. It was painful but above all he was disconcerted by the situation in the dream although his uncle helped to take all the stingers out. Many people are interested in dream interpretations wishing to get some significant and precognitive hints. Dreams are relevant not only

May 12, 2016

Stress causes indigestion

By Lee Sung-hun Every so often, patients visit my clinic with undiagnosed indigestion symptoms ― feelings of congestion in the upper abdomen and nausea ― whose cause could not be identified even after an endoscopy.For such symptoms, a popular Korean folk remedy is to tie up the tip of the thumb and prick it to draw blood, which is meant to alleviate the dyspepsia (the formal name for indigestion).Functional dyspepsia (FD) is generally defined as when the patient does not have any structural or metabolic issues such as gastritis, a gastroduodenal ulcer, or cancer and yet shows one or more of the following symptoms; epigastric burning; feeling bloated; or feeling full quickly when eating.FD is regarded as a very common illness with world-wide prevalence of about 25 percent of the population, and yet the exact cause is unidentified.There are several hypotheses that could explain FD, such as movement dysfunction in the stomach, hypersensitivity of the endocrine nervous system, or even Helicobacter pylori infection. Also, social psychological issues are suspected of playing an import

May 10, 2016

How significant is birth order?

There’s no stopping a third child. Lauren, center, squeezes in between her sisters to find her place while taking a peek inside the oven. By Jane Han When my husband and I found out I was pregnant with our third child, we were ― sorry Lauren ― depressed.  We were in no mood to celebrate.  Ellen and Ann hadn’t even turned one yet and the twins were already a handful.We had trouble conceiving naturally for years so news of pregnancy came as a complete, absolute surprise.It took me five pregnancy tests to finally convince myself I was indeed pregnant, again.Having this history in the backdrop, we always felt sorry toward our baby girl for not wholeheartedly welcoming her since she was in my womb.But fast forward almost two years, now Lauren undeniably stands out as a, I mean, the central figure in our family.She continues to amaze me every day with her energetic and enthusiastic high spirit and can-do attitude.My husband and I very often look at each other and say, “Were Ellen and Ann ever like this?” as we witness and realize that the third c

May 10, 2016

Swimming against the tide in pharmaceutical industry

/ Courtesy of Samsung BioLogics Samsung BioLogics disproves skeptics with manufacturing gambleBy Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulSuccess stories with multi-billion-dollar blockbuster drugs have made pharmaceutical firms around the world obsessed with developing new drugs. Many of them believed this was the only way to compete in the market dominated by only a few companies.When Samsung BioLogics announced in 2011 that it will concentrate on manufacturing drugs rather than continue to pour money into the “blockbuster fantasy,” skeptics dismissed its strategy, saying it will never become a global player as a mere drug factory.But those who bet against the company and its CEO Kim Tae-han couldn’t be any more wrong.The company, which started with just 30 employees five years ago, is now set to become the world’s largest biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing organization (CMO) by 2018. With a manufacturing capacity of 360,000 liters, Samsung BioLogics is expected to surpass current segment leaders Lonza (260,000 liters) and Boehringer Ingelheim (240,000 liters).Fo

May 8, 2016

Swimming against the tide in pharmaceutical industry

Samsung BioLogics' share price tumbles; stock loses $6 billion

'Cancer is almost impossible to conquer'

/ Korea Times photo by Jung Min-hoTreatment evolves, but so do cancer cells, says a renowned doctorBy Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulBillions of dollars have been spent on cancer research every year since former U.S. President Richard Nixon declared war on the disease in 1971. Yet the disease remains a leading cause of death worldwide.Many people are still hopeful that disease will be conquered someday, including U.S. President Barack Obama, who encouraged scientists to continue working toward a cure during his final State of the Union in January. But Kim Eui-shin, one of the world’s most renowned cancer experts, is not one of them. He is certain that there will be no cure for cancer.“New technologies often create the illusion that cancer may be conquered someday. But no. I don’t believe this will happen,” said the former tenured professor at the University of Texas at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. “What I have realized over the past 50 years of my career is that there are so many things scientists can’t do about treating the disease.”What makes can

May 1, 2016

(329) Saju readings for politicians

By Janet ShinKorean society and its government have been whirled around by the 2016 April quadrennial general election for the past few months not only by the campaign period but also by the consequences. Politics and political elections, closely related with citizens, justice, law and equality are significant sectors in our lives especially for their leverage with the freedom of contemporary people. Politics has long been considered a major asset of the nation focusing on the rulers’ moral virtues and their governance philosophies in accord with the order of nature and the reasoning of things in the East. One of its primary concerns is to equally secure people’s rights and freedoms and then protect and regulate justice in the distribution and accessibility of economic and social goods. To be a great politician was obviously the ‘longing for’ pursuit of life since the olden days. The Goryeo (918-1392) and Joseon (1392-1910) dynasties administered the gwageo, the state examination to select officials. It was generally divided into liberal arts and military

Apr 28, 2016

Laser effective in removing eye 'floaters'

Hue Eye Center Director Pae Hee-cheol shows the Nd:YAG laser, the equipment that treats vitreous floaters, at his clinic in Incheon, west of Seoul. The center is the only hospital equipped with the machine in Korea./ Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukHue Eye Center is the only eye clinic in Korea to treat the annoying symptomsBy Lee Kyung-min An office worker, surnamed Kim, visited an eye doctor because for what seemed to be a number of tiny transparent objects floating within his vision whenever he looks at the computer screen.As his job requires more than 10 hours a day staring at monitors to conduct online research, those “worm-like things” blocking his vision were a nuisance that caused him insomnia and anxiety.Similarly, a high school student, surnamed Lee, has been experiencing the annoying phenomenon for the past couple of years, unable to concentrate when studying.What frustrated Kim and Lee even more was that they could not find how to cure their symptoms.A number of doctors told them that the symptoms were not detrimental to their eyes and they would have to

Apr 26, 2016

Laser effective in removing eye 'floaters'

Developer of Korea's first surgical robot

Lee Woo-jung, the first Korean doctor to perform surgery with a robot in 2005, said the first Korea-made surgical robot is expected to hit the market by the end of the year. /Korea Times'Revo-i is expected to hit market by end of year' By Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulOver the past few years, surgical robots have challenged the conventional concept of surgery. With their greater precision and visualization, their role in the field of medicine will continue to grow in the coming decades.Yonsei University College of Medicine Professor Lee Woo-jung believes Korea needs to be a part of that future. Since 2007, he has been developing a surgical robot in collaboration with tech firm Meerecompany.“Now, the first Korea-made surgical robot is expected to hit the domestic market by the end of the year,” he said in an interview. “The device has been proven safe and effective through animal testing. Its human testing, which will start in May, is expected to finish in six months with positive outcomes.”Despite the enormous global market growth and profit potential of

Apr 24, 2016

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