There’s no way around it: Koreans are getting fatter. Lifestyle and dietary changes ushered in by the proliferation of fast food sold at chain stores like McDonalds and convenience stores coupled with sedentary lifestyles are ushering in an obesity epidemic.The socioeconomic costs of obesity in a nation once deemed one of the skinniest countries in the world are expected to grow exponentially,
Locally produced antihypertensive medication containing the active ingredient valsartan has also been found to contain a potential carcinogen – N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) – in the government report released Monday.The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced that it would suspend manufacturing and sales of 59 valsartan containing products produced by Korea’s Daebong Life Sciences. The upd
The scorching heat has turned the emergency room into a crisis zone with patients with hyperthermia flooding in throughout the day. Hyperthermia is an umbrella term that refers to when the body temperature reaches dangerously high levels because of the heat.The government has taken preemptive measures by sending out emergency disaster warning notices through text messages to citizens. However,
“It’s not just people who are hot in this weather. My dog gets hot, too. I’m feeding him nutritional soups,” said Kim, 28, who preferred to be known by his surname.Against record-breaking temperatures that are climbing to 40 degrees Celsius, more and more concerned pet owners are looking after the health of their pets by feeding dogs and cats dishes that were previously enjoyed only by people.
Gangnam Severance Hospital researchers have obtained a patent regarding a customized bolus used to correct chest wall thickness during breast cancer treatment.Bolus is used in radiation therapy to treat uneven areas of a patient, to make up for missing tissue, or to provide a build-up of dose to the skin surface.Breast cancer patients who have undergone a total resection to remove all
ETHICON, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies Korea, said Thursday that it launched a microwave ablation system called NEUWAVE that kills cancer cells.The system, which uses the microwave ablation method, is the first minimally invasive device that inserts electrodes into cancer cells and raises the temperature around them to burn off cancer cells. NEUWAVE was first
A Korean expert noted the difficulties of treating uveitis in Korea, saying that patients who do not see benefits of treatment often switch doctors continuously in practice called “doctor-shopping.”Uveitis is an inflammation of the uvea, which is the middle layer of the eye that holds the iris, ciliary body, and choroid. It is the third leading cause of blindness. About 10 people out of 10
Korean researchers have for the first time in the world identified the onset area of carcinogenesis in glioblastoma, a devastating and incurable brain cancer, which is expected to change the paradigm of cancer treatment.The study, which overturns stereotypes about existing research and treatment, is a new turning point in therapy due to the revelation of the causation origin of glioblastoma. R
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Wednesday announced comprehensive measures to lower the incidence of tuberculosis to half by 2022.In 2013, the government announced a similar plan aimed to cut tuberculosis incidence to about half by 2020. As a result of the initial program, the ministry said the number of newly diagnosed TB
Shock rippled through society in 2010, when a 19-year-old adolescent died suddenly while playing games at an internet café for 12 hours straight. Another couple let their infant die from malnutrition after playing Starcraft for 12 hours at a time daily. In 2005 alone, there were more than 10 cases in Korea where people died from playing games for an extended period.In light of increasing studi
Celltrion won the last patent battle for its biologic drug Inflectra (infliximab) against Janssen’s original Remicade (infliximab), clearing the path for brisk sales in the U.S., a company official said Wednesday.The U.S. District Court of Massachusetts Monday ruled in favor of Celltrion, saying that the Korean biopharmaceutical did not infringe on Janssen’s patent on cell culture media for us
Roche Korea’s lung cancer therapy Alecensa (alectinib) proved itself to stand out from the crowd of lung cancer therapies, boasting superior results from its global phase 3 ALEX clinical trials, a Korean expert said Tuesday.The therapy gained approval as a first-line treatment to treat anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) positive non-small cell lung cancer patients in April. It had been used to t
The Korean branch of Eli Lilly and Company said Tuesday that it gained reimbursement for its psoriasis treatment Taltz (ixekizumab) from the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The decision comes within two months of product launch.To get benefits from the coverage, among other eligibility criteria, are patients with chronic severe plaque psoriasis lasting more than six months, whose psoriasis
Roche Diagnostics Korea said Monday that it launched its high-speed slide scanner for digital pathology, called the VENTANA DP 200, in the domestic market with approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.The device is a next-generation digital pathology scanner that connects to Roche Diagnostics’ iScan Coreo and VENTANA iScan HT. Specialist traditionally diagnosed a patie
Pfizer Korea said Friday it got an additional indication for its renal cell carcinoma drug Sutent (sunitinib malate) to be used in adult patients at high risk of recurrent RCC who’ve had nephrectomy.The approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety makes Sutent the first kidney cancer drug to gain an indication as an adjuvant therapy to be used after RCC surgery.Sutent had gained indi
The Asian Oceanian Congress of Neurology will kick off November in Seoul with more than 1,000 physicians from all around the world attending for a rejuvenating informative session on all subfields of neurology.The conference, which will host a variety of speakers on numerous subjects, ranging from disease areas of stroke, dementia, and Parkinson disease, among many others, will provide physici
3M Korea said Thursday it launched a new centralized catheter anchoring system that reduces the risk of bloodstream infection, called the “PICC/CVC securement device+CHG Dressing” package system.The new all-in-one system includes the PICC/CVC fixation device, which can fasten a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC), and a central venous catheter (CVC) without tying the skin shut with s
A research team from the Department of Biomedical Sciences at CHA University has created induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) that can be transplanted without immune rejection reactions in nearly half of Koreans.The study, led by CHA University Medical School Professor Song Ji-hwan, was published in the online version of the international journal Stem Cell.Researchers first selected 1
Researchers at Gangnam Severance Hospital have found that moderate intake of carbohydrate supplements or drinking water before surgery helped reduce patient discomfort and contributed to the post-surgery recovery.The findings go against the commonly held conception that patients should not eat anything after midnight before the day of surgery, including water.Patients, in general, had to r
Artificial intelligence (AI)-based drug discovery is now the hottest keyword in the biomedical sphere with more than 70 firms entering the field this year alone.Standigm, an AI-based drug discovery startup founded in 2015, has aimed to use its self-developed technology and long-standing expertise to produce real-life results and stand out from the crowd.The firm is now preparing to break t