Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Sun and Moon: first full moon of the year

By Janet Shin In the olden days when people didn’t yet grasp the principles of cosmological movements, everything ― especially the alternation between day and night and the seasonal changes ― would have been a fearful phenomenon, which often cost them their lives. The evolution of civilization and the development of philosophy and science are deeply associated with how humans have discovered the laws of nature and the cosmos. This also explains why people have practiced divination. Those who faced unexpected events sought ways to explain, respond to and predict these irregularities. This was mostly related with nature and climatic fluctuations. Quite a lot of expressions borrowed from weather terms portray the diverse courses of our lives. Solar and lunar eclipses, for instance, would have been one of the most impacting scenes that people observed in their lives. Such events were interpreted as a warning from the gods or a portent of catastrophe. The Sun and the Moon were obviously believed to cause all these changes and became the natural ground of tai

Feb 18, 2016

Sun and Moon: first full moon of the year

Breathing new life into dying lung patients

Paik Hyo-chae is the best and most prolific lung transplant surgeon in Korea. After pioneering the field in 1996, he has performed surgery on 155 patients. Last year alone, he conducted 41 out of 64 lung transplants cases in the country./ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulBreathing is something most people take for granted every day. But for patients with severe lung disease, breathing easily is a luxury they don’t have.“Intolerable pain comes with every breath they take. Some lose more than half of their body weight in a few months because of their disease,” Professor Paik Hyo-chae at Yonsei University’s Severance Hospital said in an interview. “They tell me that taking a deep, painless breath is their one last wish.”Just 20 years ago in Korea, patients with serious lung disease had no option but to wait for death at the end of their excruciating struggle. But this is not the case anymore.“Today, they can have a second chance at life after receiving a lung transplant,” Paik, 58, said. “It is amazing a

Feb 13, 2016

Breathing new life into dying lung patients

'보리, 당뇨병 막는다'

보리가 당뇨병을 막아주는 효과가 있다는 연구결과가 나왔다.    스웨덴 룬드 대학 건강식품 과학센터의 안네 닐손 박사는 보리가 식욕을 억제하고 혈당을 떨어뜨려 당뇨병을 차단한다는 연구결과를 발표했다고 사이언스 데일리와 메디컬 뉴스 투데이가 10일 보도했다.   건강한 중년 남녀 20명을 대상으로 진행한 실험 결과 이 같은 사실이 확인됐다고 닐손 박사는 밝혔다.    그의 연구팀은 이들을 두 그룹으로 나누어 한 그룹엔 사흘 동안 하루 3끼 모두 보리 식빵(보리 85%)을, 다른 그룹은 백소맥(white wheat) 식빵을 각각 먹게 하고 매일 저녁식사 후 11~14시간 사이에 당뇨병과 심혈관질환 위험표지들을 측정, 실험 전의 수치와 비교했다.    그 결과 보리 식빵 그룹은 혈당과 인슐린 수치가 낮아지고 인슐린 민감성이 높아지는 한편 식욕조절이 개선된 것으로 나타났다.    이는 보리에 적절하게 배합돼 있는 식이섬유가 비교적 짧은 시간에 대단한 건강효과를 가져왔음을 보여주는 것이라고 닐손 박사는 지적했다.    이는 보리 특유의 식이섬유가 장(腸)을 통과하면서 장내 유익한 박테리아를 증가시키고 장내에서 대사와 식욕을 조절하는 호르몬과 만성 경도염증(chronic low-grade inflammation)을 감소시키는 호르몬 분비를 촉진했기 때문이라고 그는 설명했다.    이 연구결과는 영국 영양학 저널(British Journal of Nutrition) 최신호에 실렸다. (연합뉴스)

Feb 11, 2016

Year of fortune for the Year of Byeong-shin, 2016

By Janet Shin The Lunar New Year is just around the corner. Considering the fact that the true fortune year of saju begins as of Ipchun, the onset of spring which falls on Feb. 4 this year, the year of Byeong-shin actually began this Thursday. Those who are born on Feb. 4 and onward will have the monkey as their birth zodiac symbol, even before Lunar New Year, Feb. 8. Owing to this, some people born around Ipchun and the Lunar New Year may have misunderstandings about their zodiac animals. Every year has its symbolic color and animal sign. For instance, 2012 was the year of the black dragon, 2013 the black snake, 2014 the blue horse and 2015 the blue sheep. You would have noticed that the color symbols last for two years and they progress by the order of the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. The 10 heavenly stems, cheon-gan, are allocated in each year and they have their intrinsic color energy, while the 12 earthly branches, jihi, represent the 12 animal signs.As the Cheon-gan and Ji-ji are combined to make the 60-year cycle in due order, 2015 was the year

Feb 4, 2016

Year of fortune for the Year of Byeong-shin, 2016

Quest to solve the mystery of Behcet's disease

Bang Dong-sik /Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukBy Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulLiving with any illness can be a challenge, but even more so for patients with Behcet’s disease, who face some uniquely difficult problems.Even getting an accurate diagnosis is already hard because there is no single test that can identify the disease. Besides, symptoms could vary among patients and no single medication or treatment works for every case.“Behcet’s disease is something of a medical mystery,” Bang Dong-sik, a dermatologist at Catholic Kwandong University International St. Mary’s Hospital, said in an interview. “But I have found some better ways to diagnose and manage the disease.”Behcet’s disease, first defined as a specific disease in 1937 by Turkish dermatologist Hulusi Behcet, is characterized by a triple-symptom complex of recurrent oral aphthous ulcers, genital ulcers and uveitis. The rare autoimmune disorder could attack the blood vessels anywhere in the body, causing ulcers and lesions in organs. “Having Behcet’s disease mea

Jan 31, 2016

Quest to solve the mystery of Behcet's disease

'설탕 중독은 마약, 술 만큼이나 위험…먹을수록 더 찾아'

자료사진 / Korea Times file담배, 술, 마약처럼 설탕도 현대인들을 중독의 늪에 빠뜨리는 물질이라고 영국 일간 데일리메일이 26일(현지시간) 보도했다. 신문은 복강경 전문의이자 체중감소프로그램 전문가인 샐리 노턴 박사를 인용, 설탕 중독은 비만, 당뇨를 유발하고 심장질환, 암의 발병률을 높인다는 점에서 술, 담배 만큼이나 위험하다며 이 같이 전했다.    노턴 박사는 설탕 중독의 위력은 마약 중독보다도 강해, 동물 실험에서 코카인에 중독된 실험용 쥐가 코카인 대신 설탕을 선택하기도 했다고 덧붙였다.    중독물질은 소비하면 할수록 더 많은 인체의 수용기(Receptor)가 보상을 받으려 하는데 결국 더 높은 수준으로 도달하기 위해 더 많은 양을 찾게 된다.    설탕도 대표적인 중독물질인 담배, 약물, 술과 비슷한 중독 행동 양식이 나타난다고 노턴 박사는 전했다.    그는 설탕은 먹을수록 부족함이 더 커져 결국 몸무게가 늘어나게 되는 악순환이 일어난다고 분석했다. 즉, 음식을 많이 먹지만 음식으로부터 얻는 만족감은 줄어들게 되고 다시 더 많은 양을 찾게 된다는 것이다.    현대인들의 식단에는 설탕이 포함된 것이 많아 설탕 중독을 알아차리기도 어려우며 이를 알고 치료하고자 해도 식단조절이 쉽지 않다.    세계보건기구(WHO)는 하루 티스푼으로 6스푼 정도의 설탕량 섭취를 권고하지만, 대다수의 영국인은 이 이상을 섭취하는 것으로 알려졌다.    오렌지 주스 한잔과 콜라 한 캔에만 설탕이 티스푼으로 9스푼이 들어가 있으며 시리얼이나 샌드위치에도 1스푼 이상의 설탕이 포함돼 있다고 데일리메일은 전했다. (연합뉴스)

Jan 26, 2016

'Most cerebral palsy cases are preventable'

/ Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukBy Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulCerebral palsy, a permanent movement disorder, affects one in every 500 babies worldwide but it hardly ever affects anyone born at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH).In 2003, after studying the types of agents that cause intrauterine inflammation ― which he found to be largely responsible for both preterm birth and infants’ cerebral palsy ― Yoon Bo-hyun developed a new regimen of antibiotics and has been using it in his patients’ treatment since.“The method clearly works,” Yoon, 60, a professor at SNUH’s department of obstetrics and gynecology, said in an interview. “We have not yet found a regimen of antibiotics that works for everyone, so more research should be done. But eventually, we will get there.”Instead of using erythromycin with ampicillin or cephalosporin, a combination of antibiotics commonly prescribed for pregnant women with intrauterine inflammation, or an inflammatory condition of the uterus, Yoon said he uses ceftriaxone, clarithromycin and metron

Jan 24, 2016

'Most cerebral palsy cases are preventable'

(322) What a fortuneteller owes to his/her ability

By Janet ShinForeseeing the future and peeping into one's destiny involve a ponderous obligation and discernment. It is required to refrain from posing subjective judgments ― or if it’s really necessary, it has to be done with great caution. Every life has its own beauty and it can’t be disparaged or depreciated by external appearances or conventional standards of value. Nevertheless, people keep consulting fortune tellers for advice in times of trouble and uncertainty and the fortune tellers are apt to intervene in other’s lives as they have to provide answers for various situations. Once they recognize the crucial impact of the fortune tellers’ divulgences, consultation must be done with extreme prudence. Being a fortune teller is a fearful lifework. In old days, the words of prophets were compared to the will of the gods. Ordinary humans were not allowed to covet their abilities and even the prophets couldn’t overuse it.While we wow some prognosticators with divine foresight, some other mischievous fortune tellers are often penalized fo

Jan 21, 2016

(322) What a fortuneteller owes to his/her ability

Saving the tiniest babies

Park Won-soon / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulPark Won-soon, a neonatologist at Samsung Medical Center (SMC), knows how fragile life can be.The 58-year-old has spent most of the past 30 years at neonatal intensive care units (NICU), trying to save the lives of preemies ― babies who are born before they are physically ready to leave the womb.Some of these babies are so small that they fit in an adult’s hand and weigh less than 1 kilogram. Their skin is hypersensitive and their underdeveloped organs could collapse anytime.“We just try our best and hope that God will take care of the rest,” Park said in an interview. “Some cases are extremely difficult or just beyond treatment.”Breathing difficulties are common among preemies due to immature lungs. To help them get extra oxygen, a 2-millimeter breathing tube may need to be inserted. If the baby is too tiny for the tube, another option is a special respiratory machine that applies mild air pressure 900 times per minute to keep a patient’s airways continuously

Jan 17, 2016

Capturing the light

/ Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukVieworks brings new era for medical X-ray imagingBy Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulDigital radiography (DR) is changing the way medical X-rays are generated. Over the past few years, doctors have come to rely less on conventional X-ray machines and flat panel detectors, the latest class of X-ray DR, are quickly taking their place.Vieworks is one of the major players leading the transition worldwide.“Within five years, DR systems are expected to replace analogue and computer radiography (CR) systems at most major medical institutions in Korea and throughout the developed world,” said Vieworks CEO and President Kim Hoo-shik in an interview.Vieworks is the world’s third largest manufacturer of flat panel detectors, with a market share of 15 percent.After developing its first product in 2011, the firm has rapidly risen to become a major challenger to Trixell and Varian, the two leaders in the global flat panel detector market.Vieworks CEO and President Kim Hoo-shik poses with the latest flat panel detector, which can capture X-ray-type image

Jan 10, 2016

Others