Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Visit doctor before packing

By Noh Hyun-gi The vacation season is finally here. But before you get on the plane, make sure you consult a doctor to find out if you need to be immunized agianst diseases prevalent at your destination and get health tips so your holiday is problem free. In most tertiary hospitals, travel medicine departments under the division of infectious diseases provide vaccine shots and detailed consultations for people with diabetes, heart conditions as well as pregnant women and infants. In addition, certain countries may require health records for long-term stays and visa applications. These documents can be attained at travel medicine clinics as well. The most common cause of injury while on vacation is automobile accidents. Vaccinations and treatment for insect borne diseases are rare, so exercise caution to prevent bug bites such as wearing long-sleeved clothing and using insect repellant. Always wear shoes to avoid a parasite invasion and avoid getting tattoos at unregistered shops as needle sharing can spread HIV. Though uncommon in Korea, more than two hundred

Jul 5, 2012

Cash or card?

Tax evasion underlies preference of store owners By Bahk Eun-ji, Kim Bo-eun, Jung Min-ho A few days ago, Kim Yoon-mi, a 25-year-old freelance translator, had an unpleasant moment at a small restaurant near her office in central Seoul. She wanted to grab a quick bite before rushing to meet a client. Kim ordered two rolls of “gimbap” (rice rolled with dried sea weed and other ingredients) for 5,000 won and pulled out her credit card to pay, but the owner frowned at the sight of the card and simply said, “No.” He said they only take cash, so Kim ended up leaving without anything to eat. Park Soo-jung, a 29-year-old college lecturer, also had an embarrassing experience a week ago. She went shopping to buy a dress for her sister’s birthday at a clothing store in the neighborhood. She found a pretty black miniskirt with a price tag of 200,000 won. When she handed over her credit card, the clerk said the price of the skirt was 10 percent more if she wanted to use her card and demanded 220,000 won. Taken aback, Park asked why she had to pay extra. The clerk said it is the

Jul 4, 2012

Help your kid overcome stuttering with patience

Dear Dr.P, I am the mother of an 8-year-old boy who started school this year. He started talking relatively early and learned new words fast when he was younger. But one day he started to stutter. It was not serious at first but now it’s gotten much worse. On top of it, his friends are making fun of him, and my son keeps telling me he doesn’t want to go to school. He is very scared of teachers asking him to read out loud during class. He has become very self-conscious and timid. He doesn’t even speak much with others anymore. (Worried Mom) Dear Worried Mom, Stuttering is a common speech problem we see. Also, even those who do not have a chronic problem stammer words time to time. I cannot imagine the stress you son must be under. We understand the causes of developmental stuttering to be a combination of psychological, environmental and biological factors. It is important to keep in mind that in order to help children who stutter, you must not pressure him to stop. It can lead to higher stress and anxiety and worsen the situation. For example, demands such as “speak s

Jun 28, 2012

Diet is tricky for stomach cancer patients

By Noh Hyun-gi Stomach cancer is the most common cancer in Korea and kills about 10,000 people every year. It is the most prevalent carcinoma among men (20.7 percent of all cancer cases in 2008) and the third most common in women after thyroid and ovarian cancer (10.7 percent). Experts point to the salty Korean diet, high alcohol consumption and exposure to Helicobacter pylori (a microaerophilic bacterium found in the stomach) as the main reasons for the disease’s prevalence in Korea. Fortunately, it is one of the few curable cancers if detected in the early stages. Newly refined endoscopic techniques can completely remove the tumor site with minimal injury to the body. Yet, gastric cancer often does not exhibit symptoms; thus a routine check-up is key to timely treatment ― the government recommends adults over 40 should be examined for abnormalities in any parts of the stomach. As gastric care requires long-term commitment, it is crucial for the patients and their caregivers to understand the necessary diet changes, treatment option, and side effect management

Jun 28, 2012

'Nurungji' chicken cutlet recipt

“Nurungji” chicken cutlet/ Courtesy of Samho Media``Nurungji,'' or Korean scorched rice at the bottom of a pot, is used often in recipes for cancer patients – however, it is often boiled in water to make soup. This recipe offers a unique way to cook nurungji with chicken to make a dish rich in protein. Ingredients (serves two) You will need 80 grams of chicken, 20 grams of onion, 20 grams of paprika, 20 grams of cucumber and cooking oil For seasoning sauce for the chicken: 5 grams of cooking wine, salt and pepper. For the frying batter: 40 grams of nurungji, 40 grams of egg, 10 grams of flour For the sauce; 5 grams of starch, 40 grams of ginseng tea powder, simple syrup, vinegar, water, salt, chopped ginger Step by step 1. Dice the chicken and season it with cooking wine, salt and pepper. Cover the pieces in batter made with flour, egg and nurungji pieces. Fry at 170 degrees Celsius 2. Chop onion, paprika and cucumber into bite size pieces 3. Add ginseng tea powder, syrup, vinegar, ginger and salt into a pot with water and boil. Add starch until you g

Jun 28, 2012

Fear of past indelible scars

By Janet Shin How far can saju tell one’s destiny? How deep does it dig out one’s life? Trauma, according to the dictionary, is an experience that produces psychological injury or pain. It is usually hard to stand the pain of trauma and it may continue throughout one’s life. For example, an experience, such as a car accident in one’s childhood can make it hard to drive even after reaching adulthood. Those who experienced strangulation are afraid of wearing a neck tie. Even without specific symptoms, the physical or psychological wounds frequently shed shadows across one’s life, in the forms of mental instability and insomnia, and so on. I often see that saju discloses veiled agonizing recollections. It is sometimes a shocking moment to make one flinch and reticent for a moment. Since saju is to tell the truth of life, the past pains are naturally exposed and it should eventually heal the wound so that one can get over it after a reading. But it is not closure for all. Here is the saju of a woman, who closed her mind in the middle of the saju reading. She was bo

Jun 28, 2012

Public displays of affection: where to draw the line?

By Kim Bo-eun, Jung Min-ho, Bahk Eun-ji It’s no longer uncommon to see young couples hug, squeeze or smooch in public. While some couples are still coy about anything beyond holding hands in public areas, others are unafraid of expressing their affection for each other in a more explicit, or sometimes even raunchy, manner. However, public displays of affection (PDA) occasionally go beyond kissing or groping. People around couples who display their love in public sometimes find themselves in an awkward situation which they have to deal with, one way or another, and many still struggle to find the most appropriate way of doing this without making the situation more embarrassing for the couples or themselves. PDA, expressing physical intimacy in sight of others, has become prevalent in this society, almost everyone has, at least once, witnessed or participated in it. However, older generations can’t stand when young couples cross the thin line that determines appropriate PDA, but younger people don’t appear to mind the frowns or dagger looks aimed by appalled onlookers.

Jun 27, 2012By Kim Bo-eun

Online game and internet addiction

By Noh Hyun-gi Game addiction has bred frightening crimes in the last few years including a 22-year-old man who killed his mother for attempting to stop him from playing and a woman giving birth during an online game in the bathroom of an internet café. It is not a problem only in Korea; 2.5 percent of Koreans are identified as internet addicts along with 19.8 percent of Taiwanese adolescents, 12 percent of Britons and 2.4 percent of Chinese online gamers. Yet, the diagnostic classifications and guidelines are being debated among experts, and preventive measures remain scarce. Psychiatrists from across the globe and Korea’s leading game producer, NHN, gathered at the Grand International Hotel, Seoul to speak on the definitions and review the clinical research on the growing addiction Friday Internet addiction is similar to gambling and substance addiction, stressed Lee Yong-sik of Chungang University department of psychiatry. Key components of Internet and online game addictions include preoccupation, unsuccessful attempts at reducing use, a decrease in cognitiv

Jun 25, 2012

Healthy circulation can prevent stroke

By Jang Su-hee In 2002, an estimated 57 million people died worldwide. As the number two cause of death followed by cardiovascular disease, 5.5 million people died of stroke or another form of cerebrovascular diseases (WHO, 2002). In some Korean hospitals, almost 40% of in-patients are stroke patients. In Korea, between the years of 2000 to 2010, the number one cause of death was cancer followed by cerebrovascular diseases (Statistics Korea). The number of death by cerebrovascular diseases has decreased by 2010 from a decade earlier; in year 2000, it was 785.3 out of every 100,000 deaths in a year whereas in 2010, it came down to 409.4 in every 100,000 deaths. Still, the number is hard to ignore. Stroke in Korean is called “joong poong,” it means “attack by the wind.” The name gives away a hint; the primary cause of stroke in Korean medicine is the wind; that which by nature is dynamic and ever-changing. Patients who visit the out-patient centers come worried of their awkward symptoms, which is usually one-sided involuntry twitching around their eyes and lips. Th

Jun 25, 2012

(198) Your face reveals how you have lived

Face reading of two female politicians By Janet Shin There is a saying that “We are responsible for our face after our 40s.” The age of 40, according to the “Analects of Confucius,” is the state of being free of doubts. In other words, until we reach the age of 40, we undergo diverse experiences, which make us wiser and less likely to be misled by various delusions. Life gives us both pleasure and hardships, which bring us deeper knowledge of life. This kaleidoscope of life’s experiences is sculpted into one’s face. The face, formed mainly by genetic factors such as the skeleton structure and environmental factors, consists of eyes, ears, a nose and a mouth. But we read more than this at ‘face value.’ The shape of a face, whether a part is protruding or not, wrinkles, fleshiness of the skin, complexion and most importantly, harmony, determine overall face impression. These are important for physiognomists, or face readers to read one’s destiny. A capable physiognomist should be able to `see’ a person’s spirit, behavior, thoughts and the way of life by just looking at the f

Jun 21, 2012

Others

Others

Visit doctor before packing

Cash or card?

Help your kid overcome stuttering with patience

Diet is tricky for stomach cancer patients

'Nurungji' chicken cutlet recipt

Fear of past indelible scars

Public displays of affection: where to draw the line?

Online game and internet addiction

Healthy circulation can prevent stroke

(198) Your face reveals how you have lived

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