The government issued an alert against the rapidly spreading hand-foot-and-mouth disease on Saturday, asking nurseries, kindergartens and medical facilities to take extra care to prevent the infection of children. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the HFMD diagnosis rate marked 21.1 per every 1,000 outpatients last week, marking a sharp increase from 9.8 per 1,000

Just 44 items to be taken from pharmacy controlThe Ministry of Health and Welfare’s attempt to permit sales of over-the-counter drugs, including cough drops, pain killers and digestion pills, was crushed Wednesday as representatives of pharmacists, doctors, consumers and the administration failed to reach an agreement. Instead, the group agreed to allow a total of 44 items including the energy dri

CHICAGO (AP) ― Very obese older men hoping to live longer may be let down by a new long-term study that found weight-loss surgery didn’t increase survival for people like them ― at least during the first seven years.Prior studies have found stomach stapling and other obesity surgeries improved survival rates after two to 10 years. The new study in mostly older male veterans suggests one of two thi

Whereas vitamin D deficiency has long been recognized as a medical condition, vitamin D “insufficiency” has recently become a concern. Increased attention to this new “syndrome” has led to a substantial increase in testing for vitamin D levels in the blood, and it is expected that several million tests will be performed in the U.S. this year. If you worry about your vitamin D levels or wonder how

LOS ANGELES ― The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday issued new guidelines for sunscreen labeling that will give consumers better information about the products’ effectiveness and that will, for the first time, allow labeling to claim that sunscreens protect against skin cancer and early skin aging.The agency has been considering such regulations since 1978 and released some proposed rules in

Expert advises early screening, good dietary habits and exercise to prevent cancerThere are many deadly diseases in the world but few provoke the same anxiety as cancer. Cancer is the No.1 cause of death apart from aging. As of 2008, about 178,000 people were being diagnosed with cancer every year, with about 60,000 dying of it. Those numbers are expected to soar, according to the National Cancer

Will housekeeping be acknowledged as a secure profession given equal labor rights to office or industrial workers?Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Chae-pil on Tuesday said the Korean government is considering protecting the rights of housekeepers, personal chauffeurs, cooks and gardeners, often referred to as “domestic workers.” In his interview with the press before giving a keynote speech at

The government is keeping a close watch on three members of a family reportedly suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.The disease is thought to be similar to the mysterious virus which recently killed three pregnant women.According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an agency under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, a 32-year-old woman and her 6-year-old daughter, bot

Over 90 percent of office workers regularly want to vent frustration at work, a new survey has found.According to the survey of 1,434 office workers by online recruiter SaramIn, 94.7 percent of those questioned felt the urge to express rage at their workplace. And they felt angry an average of 3.4 times a day. The biggest cause of indignation was having to take full responsibility for something th

The Bongeun Temple of the Jogye Order, in the affluent Gangnam area in southern Seoul, will be transformed into a history-themed park, Seoul officials said Friday. According to Gangnam-gu Office, the temple has recently filed for the re-designation as a history park from its current status as a neighborhood park, a move aimed at attracting foreign visitors who want to see Korean Zen culture. The S

Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation of the joints. In rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system ― which is designed to protect our health by attacking foreign cells such as viruses and bacteria ― instead attacks the body’s own tissues, specifically the joints. As a result, fluid buildup causes pain and inflammation. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease

The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Thursday advised infants and minors to avoid mobile phone use due to health risks.It recommended that they use Bluetooth, hands-free or other non-contact devices if use was necessary to minimize exposure to possibly harmful radio waves.A couple of weeks ago, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an affiliate of the World Health Organization, classif

Concerns are mounting over the safety of the four-river refurbishment sites as well as the burial pits for slaughtered animals as the country enters into its rainy season Friday. Whether the government-led projects, both blamed for being ineffectual and reckless, cansustain the large amount of hheavyrainfall is drawing attention. According to the Korea Water Resources Corporation, an agency in cha

The World Cancer Research Fund advised people to curb intake of beef, pork, lamb and processed meat including ham and salami, media reported last week. Researchers at Imperial College London studied a total of 263 theses about the role of diet, weight and physical activity in bowel cancer and found significant evidence suggesting that red or processed meat could increase the risk of prevalence. In

MINNEAPOLIS ― Christian Peterson has heard the questions so many times that he has stock answers ready: Yes, he knows that he’s running barefoot. No, he didn’t run so fast that he came out of his shoes. And, for the record, he’s not crazy.He has one more answer that typically comes as surprise: It’s not painful. “People are always asking: Does that hurt?” said Peterson, president of the Minnesota

A novel study suggested this week that testosterone could be used in preventing or reducing the symptoms of dementia among post-menopausal women.A research team at Monash University’s Women’s Health program compared a control group of 30 women, who received no treatment, with a group of nine women between the ages of 47 and 60 who received testosterone spray on their skin, which returned their tes

KANSAS CITY ― Forty-nine children in the United States died of heatstroke after they were left in hot cars last year, a grim record.But as child-welfare groups try to prevent more deaths with information campaigns and as inventors work on technical fixes, both efforts founder on a hard reality: Good parents don’t think it can happen to them.It can, experts and statistics say, and new recommendatio

Foreign patients who have accidents while being treated at Korean medical facilities will be able to receive compensation guaranteed by the government. Hospitals will also be able to sell drugs to foreign patients directly without having to refer their prescriptions to nearby pharmacies, and foreign medical staff visiting Korea for training purposes will be able to participate in clinical procedur

Pharmacists say monopoly on OTC drugs needed to ensure public safetyMinister of Health and Welfare Chin Soo-hee is in hot water over the issue of selling over-the-counter drugs outside pharmacies. While pharmacists claim exclusive management rights for any drugs for safety reasons, a majority of doctors and pharmaceutical companies, along with the presidential office are calling for the expansion

Greenpeace, one of the world’s most influential environmental civic groups, has stood up against nuclear power plant construction and operation in Korea.Warning that nuclear energy will impose even greater economic, environmental and ethical burdens on citizens, the group vowed to actively engage itself in a variety of activities in the country, where it is scheduled to open a branch this month. M