Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer and fourth-leading cause of cancer mortality in women worldwide. More than half a million women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year and the annual mortality rate for cervical cancer is more than 270,000. Unfortunately, the incidence rate of our country (15 in 100,000 women) is much higher than that of other developed countries (less than si

A baby boy, born on July 12, 2010 with a birth weight of 380 grams, was able to survive with ten months of intensive care for premature infants and has successfully grown to weigh 3.9 kilograms. He will be discharged from the hospital soon.The survival limit of a preterm infant, as specified by the World Health Organization, stands at 24 weeks gestation or less or a birth weight of less than 500 g

Urinary stones are hard buildups of minerals that form in the urinary system and cause urinary tract infection, the obstruction of urinary flow and sometimes renal dysfunction. They may also be accompanied by pain and bleeding. The structural order and chemical components of a urinary stone, as well as abnormalities shown in the urine, began to be unraveled in the 20th century with the advent of a

Should acupuncture be exclusive to Oriental medicine or a general practice for Western medics too?The medical field is in uproar over the Supreme Court’s ruling that Western medical doctors’ practice of acupuncture-related IMS violates Medical Law. While some Western doctors claim that IMS is a legitimate Westernized form of acupuncture popular throughout the world, Oriental doctors are seeking to

Irregular workers are paid half the wage of regular workers for the same amount of labor. They were also “discriminated” against when it came to joining labor unions and subscribing to the national pension scheme, a governmental report suggested Sunday. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, a regular worker was paid an average of 14,388 won ($13.20) per hour as of June last year, comp

The number of children diagnosed with early puberty has increased by more than 400 percent in four years.Changes in diet and exposure to environmental hormones were blamed for the sudden increase in the disorder.According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of children diagnosed with precocious puberty was 28,000 in 2010, about 4.4 times 6,400 in 2006. The number of t

From as early as next year, people whose spouses give birth will be able to use paid-paternity leave for up to five days.Those who need to look after their sick family members will be also guaranteed 90 days of non-paid leave, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Thursday.The measure is part of the revision of the Act of Gender Equality Employment and Support, which the ministry seeks to subm

Police are interrogating a high-ranking official of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission for sexually assaulting one of his female staff workers earlier this month.The man was immediately sacked.According to police in Songpa, southern Seoul, 55-year-old Park raped his subordinate at a motel in Gangdong District around 9:40 p.m., after they shared drinks and the woman went drunk. It was

The full enforcement of the time-off system, which is a salary cap for full-time unionists, might hit a wall as Hyundai Motor said Wednesday that it did not pay the salaries of any of its 233 full-time unionists last month.The company is to provide pay to 90 of them. The conflict is also eminent in other units of the militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which still defy the system that w

Having a lot of fat around your heart leaves you susceptible to cardiovascular diseases even if you are not overweight, a group of local doctors said.According to research by Prof. Chun Eun-joo and Choi Sang-il of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital on 402 people, those with a lot of fat around their heart were 10 times more likely to get coronary artery stenosis, a narrowing of the carotid

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Chocolate milk has long been seen as the spoonful of sugar that makes the medicine go down, but the nation’s childhood obesity epidemic has a growing number of people wondering whether that’s wise.With schools under increasing pressure to offer healthier food, the staple on children’s cafeteria trays has come under attack over the very ingredient that made it so popular ― sugar.

Men under 65 with early prostate cancer had better survival odds if they had surgery right away instead of waiting for treatment only if their cancer got worse, a study in Sweden found.That was true even for tumors thought to be low-risk because they didn’t look very aggressive under a microscope.Doctors have long debated whether and how to treat such early cases, and the study shows “there clearl

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida ― Raids on South Florida pill mills have drawn attention to the dangers of prescription drugs. But also life-threatening can be the aisles of over-the-counter medications at drug stores, where seemingly harmless pain relievers and other products account for a growing number of overdoses.Calls to the Florida Poison Information Center Miami, which handles all of South Florid

Dizziness covers a whole range symptoms of unsteadiness when one is in a perfectly stable environment. From a floating sensation and lightheadedness to breakdown and unconsciousness, someone who feels dizzy faces various symptoms. In the case of vertigo, the sufferer feels his or surrounding environment to be spinning around constantly. Dr. Chung Won-ho of Samsung Medical Center checks a patient’s

Rice provides more energy, research suggestsMore people are enjoying bread or pastries for breakfast for convenience’s sake. Thirty-two-year-old office worker Kim Sang-il is one of them. Single, living alone in his studio and eating out everyday, Kim barely makes anything at home. He eats toast with jam and yogurt for breakfast.“If I try to have steamed rice with side dishes, the Korean traditiona

A former worker of Ssangyong Motor was found dead Tuesday at a subcontractor’s plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, the company’s union said Wednesday. His death is the 15th among Ssangyong Motor’s former employees or their family members, which recently completed a bailout program after bankruptcy. According to the union, the 45-year-old man identified by the family name Kang was working at th

A group of researchers has found a new way of detecting Alzheimer’s at an early stage using a biomarker, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. The finding will help in the early treatment of the disease, which is one of the most common forms of dementia in Korea, Dr. Kim Young-yeul, who was in charge of the study, said. According to his report, the amount of interleu

Nearly nine out of 10 child abuse cases were committed by family members, and the majority of offenders were biological parents, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Wednesday. About 40 percent of victims were assaulted every day. Experts say both victims and offenders need special therapyAccording to the ministry, a total of 5,657 cases of child abuse were reported in 2010. Among them, 530 wer

Fears rise over possibility of the deadly disease afflicting pregnant womenA 36-year-old woman who had recently given birth died of complications from an unidentified virus Tuesday at a Seoul hospital, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. This is the first fatality reported from the pneumonia-causing virus and authorities are still struggling to trace its origin and find trea

A reservoir dike collapse cutting off water supply to more than half a million North Gyeongsang Province residents is thought to have been caused by works on the four-rivers project.An alternative water supply had still not been provided to some areas in and around Gumi as of Tuesday afternoon.The city’s mayor said that the dredging of the Nakdong River had increased erosion of the reservoir dike,