Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Helping disabled people step out of the shadows

Slowly but steadily, the stigma attached to people with disabilities decreased. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chul As a young man, Park Chang-il never doubted his future as an orthopedic surgeon.He never planned to succeed his medical school professor Shin Jung-soon, who later became known as Korea’s “father of physical medicine and rehabilitation.”“When he asked me to work for the future of Korea’s physical medicine and rehabilitation, I did not even know what that field meant exactly. In the early 1980s, very few did,” said Park, now 68 and director of Konyang University Hospital in Daejeon.Physical medicine and rehabilitation, also known as physiatry or rehabilitation medicine, is a branch of medicine that aims to improve and restore functional ability and quality of life of those with physical impairments or disabilities.“At that time, rehabilitation medicine was barely known and there were few rehabilitation specialists in Korea,” Park said.He eventually decided to change his caree

Aug 30, 2015

Helping disabled people step out of the shadows

(312) Family feud reflected in saju

BY Janet ShinMany families, especially the rich and powerful, experience discord in their relations over property and other inheritances. A family feud can occur not only among siblings but also between a father and his sons. The recent battle between two brothers in Lotte Group revealed many problems in their family. It is seemingly being wrapped up but no satisfactory agreement has yet been reached. The death of Lee Maeng-hee, the older brother of Lee Kun-hee and the eldest son of Lee Byung-chul, the founder of Samsung, reminded people of the family’s painful story, which ended up with the death of the eldest son overseas. If we look at other chaebol families, a lot more of them have gone or are going through the succession issue.  Accession by the eldest son has long been a convention since the Kingdom periods. But looking back on our history, the Joseon era (1392-1910), for example, among 27 kings and 29 crown princes during about 500 years, only seven first-born sons took the throne. Health reasons causing early death played a part, while strife among prince

Aug 27, 2015

Surgery under the microscope

Yoo Myung-chul / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul 'I have no plan to stop performing surgery anytime soon' By Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chulOn Feb. 27, 1976, a young man fell on an electric saw at a lumber mill in Seoul. Immediately, he had his left leg severed and blood started gushing from the wound.His co-workers took him to orthopedic surgeon Yoo Myung-chul, but they thought he would not survive the night.It took eight hours for Yoo’s surgical team to save the young man’s life ― and the leg. When Yoo realized that he had successfully performed the first reattachment surgery for an above-knee amputation in Korea, he was only 32 years old.“Since then, I have been doing this all my life," Yoo, now 71, said. "And I have no plan to stop performing surgery anytime soon."In the 1970s and 1980s, Korea's economy was thriving with the rapid development of primary industries. Factories were everywhere, producing goods from shoes to wigs. But there were many tragic accidents."At that time, very few doctors were capable of performing surgery

Aug 23, 2015

Series to shed light on medical pioneers

Yoo Myung-chulPark Chang-ilNoh Dong-youngKim Seung-hoBy Jung Min-hoStarting next week, The Korea Times will publish a series of interview stories to highlight pioneers of the nation’s modern healthcare industry.Korea’s healthcare sector is one of its fastest growing industries and it has a promising future.According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of medical tourists soared from 60,201 in 2009 to 211,218 in 2013. Revenue jumped from 54.7 billion won ($46.2 million) to 393.4 billion won during that period. The government aims to raise the number of medical tourists to 1 million by 2020.Yet, how the industry evolved to what it is today after the devastating Korean War in the early 1950s is barely known.The series is designed to delve into who planted the seeds that helped Korea’s healthcare industry grow into one of the world’s finest. It is also to inspire anyone who believes the future of Korea’s healthcare sector will be much bigger than it is now.The first person to be featured will be Yoo Myung-chul, former president of Kyung Hee Uni

Aug 20, 2015

Series to shed light on medical pioneers

U.S. approves 'female Viagra'

In this June 22, 2015 file photo, a tablet of flibanserin sits on a brochure for Sprout Pharmaceuticals in the company's Raleigh, N.C., headquarters. Sprout soon may succeed where many of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies have failed: in winning Food and Drug Administration approval for flibanserin, dubbed Addyi, the first drug to boost women’s sexual desire.  /AP-Yonhap  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Addyi (Flibanserin) to help women boost their sex drive.Addyi is often referred to as “female Viagra” because it is a pill for sexual dysfunction in women. But it works differently from Viagra, which treats erectile dysfunction, a physical problem, experts say. Addyi works on the central nervous system, which induces sexual desire.The FDA had previously refused to approve the drug over worries about side effects. Addyi will carry warnings and prescriber certification requirements to meet FDA concerns about serious interactions with alcohol, other drugs that slow Flibanserin metabolism and low blood pressure.Unli

Aug 19, 2015By Bahk Eun-ji

Summer water sports might cause knee injury

By Sanghwa EomDuring the hot summer nights everyone is exhausted from the hot humid weather, but there are people who are especially excited during this time. They are those who enjoy water sports such as water skiing and wakeboarding. Every summer, water sports enthusiasts flock to the beach. However, as most water sports require fast speeds in the water, injuries from these sports go beyond light abrasions and bruises, often causing fractures, ligament damage and dislocations. Among them, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures occur most frequently. The ACL serves to hold the upper and lower part of the knee joint so that the knee is not overly stressed.However, if the knee is twisted due to a sudden change in direction or rotation of the knee joint while enjoying sports, then the cruciate ligament cannot hold the pressure and breaks abruptly. When this rupture occurs, there is a “popping” sound at the time of injury, and the knee feels loose, gradually swells and makes it harder to walk.In case of complete rupture, the pain level is severe, but in the case of a part

Aug 16, 2015

Summer water sports might cause knee injury

Different health condition causes hand numbness

By Lee Seung-hunA couple of weeks ago, a female patient in her 40s visited my clinic for numbness in her hands and arms with tingling sensations. She had self-diagnosed her symptoms as the results of bad circulation and asked for treatment that could improve blood circulation. She was not my first patient who mistakenly believed that numbness in hands was caused by bad circulation.Due to the modern lifestyle of working on computers at work for extended hours, and then constantly scrolling on smartphones during a commute, there is a noticeable increase of patients with hand numbness who visit the clinic to alleviate it. Although the symptom of hand numbness is pretty general, the underlying causes can vary and treatments have to differ accordingly.With the aforementioned female patient, the underlying cause was actually herniated cervical disk. The patient described that on top of the hand numbness, she suffered chronic pains in her neck and shoulder regions and especially between her shoulder blades. Such pains suggested a herniated cervical disc. Other symptoms that are associated w

Aug 16, 2015

Different health condition causes hand numbness

(311) Getting over last heat of summer

By Janet Shin Natural features are what humans must live with by either conquering or adapting to them. Yet, it has never been easy to stay in harmony as they fomented various obstacles, which sometimes resulted in desperate situations such as deaths and even the extinction of a certain ancient civilization. Human history can be defined by how mankind has managed or been influenced by the natural environment. Climate is one of the most crucial conditions that nature yields for habitation. It is an indispensable factor for all creatures living on Earth whereas it sometimes plays a menacing role. Humans have cultivated crops under its geographical and regional conditions and this has contributed to the accumulation of wealth and cultural development as well. The advent of feng shui has often been explained by primitive men living in caves and how they survived the severe changes of weather, adapting to the wind and the sun. Those who inhabited a cave where they could block the cold air and let the warmth of the sunshine in were able to flourish and it led to prosperity o

Aug 13, 2015

'Hovenia dulcis reduces lipids, prevents liver damage'

Kim Sung-hun, center, an Oriental medicine professor at Kyung Hee University, poses with researchers of the school and Kwang Dong Pharmaceutical. The joint research team discovered that a hovenia dulcis leaf extract helps cut the level of lipids in the blood and prevent liver damage. / Courtesy of Kwang Dong PharmaceuticalBy Lee Kyung-min Research conducted by Kwang Dong Pharmaceutical and Kyung Hee University has shown that a hovenia dulcis leaf extract helps reduce lipids in the blood and prevent liver damage.Kwang Dong has recently released the results of a one-year joint study which was carried out to analyze the impact of the extract of Oriental raisin tree leaves on blood lipid levels and liver health.In one experiment, researchers injected the extract of the leaves into rats with high lipid levels in their blood.They found that the rats’ cholesterol and insulin levels substantially decreased 24 hours after intake, indicating that the extract contributed to preventing lipids from accumulating in the blood.In another experiment, rats with livers damaged by e

Aug 9, 2015

'Hovenia dulcis reduces lipids, prevents liver damage'

Discipline dilemma: time-out vs. time-in

By Jane Han My throat has been itchy this whole week.No, it’s not a cold.It’s because I’ve had to raise my voice at my twins one too many times.Up until six months ago, I would’ve never imagined my girls as who they are now and me as who I am now.Ellen is usually spotted climbing random things ― dining table, bookcase, TV stand, refrigerator (yes, refrigerator) and pretty much any other furniture that has a flat surface on the top ― while Ann sprinkles water on the carpet with her water bottle, colors on walls and floors or cleans out clothing from drawers in different rooms.And that’s when I turn up the volume.I usually give three warnings before I raise my voice, but when you’re dealing with two super-active, high-energy toddlers, three warnings run out fast.  It seems like my girls sort of abruptly entered their current stage of rough play, so having to juggle between them and their baby sister Lauren, I didn’t get a good chance to thoroughly read up on ideal parenting advice for disciplinary actions.Hence, my quick sol