Lifestyle - The Korea Times

(318) How saju relates ill luck with taboo

By Janet Shin No matter how we want to disregard certain queries associated with superstition, it is hard not to be tempted by the words of occultism. It doesn’t always involve God or any other types of supernatural power. Its practice may simply refer to your habits, what you take, who you meet and where you go. There were certain things we were told by our parents and grandparents, spreading by word of mouth. We can’t deny all of them as some are part of our culture. It is also true that they form an important source of our psyches. As a fortune teller, I am asked by many people about the cause of various inscrutable experiences. For instance, one woman bought a flowerpot, and since that day she went through a series of misfortunes. Our mothers used to tell us to be careful when we bring wooden items home. They also gave us a warning when we had to attend funerals. We were told to refrain from eating there or bowing to the deceased when facing an important event in our own lives. We still have a simple ritual to sprinkle some salt on those who return from the

Nov 26, 2015

(318) How saju relates ill luck with taboo

The next big leukemia drug

Professor Kim Dong-wook of Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital of the Catholic University of Korea is the nation's first doctor to lead an entire drug development process. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulKorean doctor advances research in chronic myeloid leukemia treatmentBy Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulOnly 15 years ago, a diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) was a death sentence. The disease, a type of cancer that causes uncontrolled growth of blood cells in the bone marrow, killed two-thirds of those diagnosed within five years.Today, 94 percent of CML patients in Korea live for more than 10 years after their diagnosis, thanks largely to Glivec, a drug launched in 2001 by Novartis, a Swiss pharmaceutical firm.However, like any other drug, Glivec has side effects. According to Professor Kim Dong-wook of Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital of the Catholic University of Korea, more than one-thirds of Glivec users have experienced adverse reactions to the medicine.By the end of this year, a new CML drug that is safer and more effective will be available.“It took me 13 years to d

Nov 22, 2015

The future is now

/ Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk‘Biosimilars are changing the landscape of the global pharmaceutical industry’By Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulSpeaking with some business people in the early 2000s, Seo Jung-jin said huge opportunities were on their way in the drug industry.As a business consultant, he advised them to develop technology for the making of biosimilars or generic versions of biologics, which are derived from living systems or organisms. He predicted that new opportunities would emerge for those who are capable when the patents on conventional drugs expire in coming years.But no one showed interest. Many were concerned about high development costs and conservative drug regulatory systems; some boldly asserted that such generic drugs would never be allowed in any developed country.“But the opportunity seemed too good to pass, so I decided to set up my own company to do the job,” the 58-year-old chairman of Celltrion said in an interview.In less than a decade, Celltrion successfully developed Remsima, a lower-cost replica of a bestselling arthriti

Nov 15, 2015

Celltrion's Remsima logs $55 million sales in US

(317) Am l destined to divorce?

Divorce used to be a taboo word in our conservative culture. It was often considered a sign of family collapse, connoting a dysfunctional home environment for children and a tainted reputation for the family, especially when it comes to the status of married women. Accordingly, people tried to hide or avoid the worst aspects of conjugal relations, and it wasn’t even possible for women to redeem themselves from this unfortunate situation, which obviously ruins their chance for happiness. If we take Korean society for instance, it wasn’t rare not too long ago for men to have concubines and for their wives to put up with embarrassment and humiliation throughout their lives. There is a deep-rooted perception of patriarchy from our history so it would have been difficult criticize a men for spending time with concubines if we consider the socio-cultural background of the times. Nowadays, divorce doesn’t attach all the stigma to a woman that it did in the past _ nevertheless, many couples who divorce have bad feelings about it and some try to endure their crumbl

Nov 12, 2015

Can humans live for 120 years?

Cha Kwang-yul / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul'Stem cells will add decades to the average human lifespan'By Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulOver the past century, humankind has made great progress in improving the quality of life and eliminating diseases. Thanks to these improvements, today the life expectancy has increased. In Korea, for example, the average male lifespan has increased to 78.5 years from 51.1 years in 1960.However, the progress has slowed in all developed countries in the recent decades, which has led many experts to believe there may be a limit to how long the human lifespan can be extended.But Cha Kwang-yul, 62, the founder and chairman of CHA Health Systems, disagrees. He believes advances in stem cell research will not just extend but also improve the lives of many people.“Skeptics wouldn’t believe what I believe unless they see it. And they will see it,” he said in an interview. “What we are trying to do here is to understand the specific mechanism of human cell. As we discover more facts about its immunity and recyclability as well a

Nov 8, 2015

Korea, US strengthen healthcare partnership

Health and Welfare Minister Chung Chin-youb says Korea and the United States are strengthening partnership in the healthcare sector. / Courtesy of Ministry of Health and WelfareBy Chung Chin-youbDuring the state visit of President Park Geun-hye to the United States, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) hosted a signing ceremony for a letter of intent (LOI) on collaborative research in precision medicine and MERS-CoV between the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Korea National Institute of Health (KNIH) on Oct. 16 at the Stone House in the U.S. NIH, Bethesda, Md.The LOI was a follow-up measure of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between The U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the MOHW amended and extended on June 22, to which “precision medicine” and the “Global Health Security Agenda” were added as new areas of bilateral collaboration.In the LOI, both countries agreed to enhance cooperation by exploring funding mechanisms for research activities in the areas of precision medicine, developing vaccines and treatments agains

Nov 2, 2015

Korea, US strengthen healthcare partnership

Beating thyroid cancer with accurate information

Park Cheong-soo / Korea Times phto by Shum Hyun-chulKorean doctor is working to create guidelines for treatment of the diseaseBy Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulOver the past 20 years, the incidence of thyroid cancer has increased fifteenfold, becoming the most common form of cancer in Korea.This growth rate, which is far faster than in any other country, has also made thyroid the most alarming of all cancers.No one has been able to adequately explain the phenomenon. Given that the five-year survival rate from the cancer is nearly 100 percent, some doctors claim that overtreatment is the chief cause of the rate of increase.They insist that surgery for thyroid cancer is usually does more harm than good.However, Park Cheong-soo, 72, a thyroid cancer specialist at Gangnam Severance Hospital, believes such doctors could help spread inaccurate information about thyroid cancer and its risks.“No cancer is safe and thyroid cancer is no exception,” he said in an interview. “Thyroid cancer may not be dangerous for the first five to 10 years after diagnosis but it can suddenly b

Nov 1, 2015

Beating thyroid cancer with accurate information

(316) Well-being vs. well-dying

By Janet ShinWhile well-being is regarded as pursuing a good quality of life, well-dying means something different. It sounds that well-dying is the opposite of well-being. But it’s not. I experienced a profound change in my view of well-being, which happened with my father’s death. He passed away in 2012 after chronic suffering from cancer. It was painful to watch his death as I had attended him at his bedside until the end. Once you know the truth, and think about the profound questions of life and death, you realize that death is not just a sorrowful thing but can even be a blessing. When my father was suffering from cancer, the doctors found an additional tumor, which was still in its incipient stage. The doctors did not exactly predict how much time he had left, but told him he could live for a year, maybe even more, if he got an operation. He chose to have the operation to remove the tumor. As it turned out, he couldn’t survive for long, even if the surgery was successful, which it wasn’t. Instead, he was troubled with all the difficulties

Oct 29, 2015

'설탕 줄이면 아이 건강이 열흘 안에 달라진다'

/Korea Times file고작 열흘 정도만 설탕 섭취를 줄여도 아이의 건강이 개선된다는 연구 결과가 나왔다.    샌프란시스코 캘리포니아대(UC 샌프란시스코) 연구진은 9&sim;18세 사이의 당뇨 위험이 있는 청소년 43명을 상대로 설탕 섭취량을 조절하는 실험을 해 이 같은 결과를 얻었다고 뉴욕타임스(INYT)가 27일(현지시간) 보도했다.    실험 대상은 모두 고혈압, 고혈당, 콜레스테롤 이상 수치, 과도한 복부 지방 등 대사증후군 증상이 있었다. 이들은 평균적으로 하루 열량 섭취량의 27%를 설탕으로 때우고 있었다.    평균적인 미국인은 하루 열량 섭취량의 15%를 설탕에서 얻는다.    연구진은 실험 참가자들의 식단에서 첨가 설탕이 들어간 음식을 없애 설탕에서 얻는 하루 열량 섭취량이 전체의 약 10%가 되도록 했다.    첨가 설탕은 과일 등에 자연적으로 들어 있는 것이 아닌, 식품 제조 과정에서 들어간 설탕이다.    대신 이들이 섭취하는 탄수화물과 총 열량은 실험 참가 이전과 비슷하게 유지되도록 함으로써 참가자들의 체중이 줄어 실험에 영향을 미치지는 않도록 설계했다.    9일간 이어진 실험에서 참가자들은 몸무게 변화가 거의 없었음에도 저밀도 지단백(LDL)인 나쁜 콜레스테롤, 심장병 유발 지방인 트리글리세리드, 혈압, 혈당, 인슐린 등이 모두 큰 폭으로 감소했다.    연구를 주도한 로버트 러스틱 박사는 "열량이라고 모두 같은 것이 아니며, 설탕에서 나온 열량이 당뇨 등 대사 관련 질병을 일으킨다고 볼 수 있다"고 결과를 분석했다.    INYT는 이 실험이 '건강에 설탕 자체가 나쁜 것인지, 설탕 섭취 때문에 늘어난 체중이 나쁜 것인지'에 대한 해묵은 논쟁에 중요한 단서를 제공한다고 봤다.    미국 연방 식단지침자문위원회(DGAC)와 식품의약국(FDA) 등 음식 관련 규제 당국은 설탕을 각종 질병의 원인으로 보고 설탕 섭취량을 줄이라고 권고하고

Oct 28, 2015

Performing plastic surgery that changes lives

/ Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukKorean doctor brings smiles back to thousands of childrenBy Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulModern plastic surgery was born after the First World War (1914-1918), during which hundreds of thousands of people were killed and injured.At that time, New Zealand otolaryngologist Harold Gillies developed facial surgery techniques to treat those who were permanently disfigured.Even though the world’s major wars have long ended, many still need plastic surgery, including those who suffer from cleft lip and cleft palate – birth defects that occur when a baby’s lip or mouth do not form properly during pregnancy. According to the World Health Organization, one in every 500-700 babies is born with a cleft lip and/or palate.Cleft lip and cleft palate can usually be treated with surgery. If untreated, a child with a cleft lip and/or palate will be unable to eat properly and speak intelligibly.Over the past 25 years, Prof. Baek Rong-min of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital performed operations on more than 3,500 children with the defects in Sou

Oct 25, 2015

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