The Olympic Games are the global festival held every four years. The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics kicked off Friday with great fanfare. It is the second time Korea hosted such an event since the 1988 Seoul Olympics 30 years ago.About 2,900 athletes from 92 countries will be participating in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics in hopes of achieving their dreams of winning a medal. As athletes str
The recent deaths of infants caused by medical mishaps at Ewha Womans University Medical Center were a warning to improve medical infrastructure and take better care of newborns and premature babies.However, not only infrastructure but the entire medical system of Korea has a structural problem that hinders newborns from getting quality medical care, an expert said.Choe Byung-ho, president
A Korean physician recently set the world’s record by obtaining the most medical board certifications, according to the World Record Academy. It goes to Dr. Shin Jyun-hoon, a specialist in preventive cardiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the U.S.Shin is also a clinician in health care system at Harvard Medical School and VA Boston.After graduating Yonsei University College of Medic
A North Korean soldier who crossed over to the South offered a glimpse into the lives of North Koreans with the gruesome discovery of parasites in his intestines as well as other physical ailments last month. Despite the media frenzy surrounding the North Korean defector, an expert is cautioning against making sweeping generalizations of North Korean healthcare and welfare.Dr. Lee Myung-ken, a
Lee Wang-jun, chairman of Myongji Hospital, made headlines in late October when he became the largest shareholder of MGmed, a developer of molecular diagnostic techniques for various genetic diseases. It was the first time in Korea that a chairman of a general hospital acquired a listed firm.Lee has been taking an unusual career path. When he was a medical resident at the Seoul National Un
What started out as a press briefing on the North Korean defector took a 180-degree turn as his attending physician, Lee Cook-jong, aired his grievances to reporters Wednesday morning at Ajou University Hospital.“To be honest, there will be little (talk) about the patient (today),” Lee said at a briefing that lasted three hours and 15 minutes to confront a politician’s accusations levied again
Professor Park Min-hyun of the Catholic University of Korea Saint Paul’s Hospital has become the first Korean to receive the International Scholar Award from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the hospital said Wednesday.The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is a non-profit professional association in the United States dedicated to facilitating p
One can find quite a few people working not just in multinational pharmaceutical companies but in the domestic drugmakers, based on their careers as “medical doctors.” People call them “medical science liaison (MSL).” There are criticisms, however, the role of MSL within pharmaceutical companies is focused too much on marketing.Among such critics is Professor Lee Dong-ho of the Asan Medical Ce
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) said Thursday that Drs. Kwon Ik-chan and Kim Kwang-myung of its Biomedical Research Institute were selected as the top 1 percent researchers in the world for the fourth consecutive year.Clarivate Analytics is an independent company that owns and operates a collection of subscription-based services that focuses on scientific and academic rese
A research result about the “nocebo effect” of statin, the base material for medications to treat dyslipidemia, has recently drawn a lot of attention from the medical community. Nocebo effect, which is the opposite concept of the placebo effect, refers to a phenomenon that if patients have doubts about a medicine’s effect, the drug does not get to work.British researchers conducted the ASCOT-L
Korea is pushing to make the most of the nation’s vast healthcare data to develop its medical the industry. Despite much talk about the ambitious plan, little progress has been made, however.Jeremy Rassen, chief scientific officer of Aetion, is a leading expert in using medical big data for making decisions on treatments. Aetion has developed an evidence-backed system that analyzes real-world
Under the theme of the “Future of Bioethics & Health Care,” the 18th Asia Bioethics Conference is a forum for international cooperation to share developments and experiences in the field of bioethics in Asia.The term “bioethics” is a somewhat new inter-disciplinary field that emerged quickly in the second half of the 20th century. Since then, there has been a significant overlap of many issues
As Korea pushes to loosen bioethics laws to develop gene therapies, and verges on passing a bill that allows patients to refuse life-sustaining treatment, the concept of bioethics has come to the forefront of discussion.Professor Darryl Macer is a leading expert in bioethics, former UNESCO regional adviser, and president of the American University of Sovereign Nations, who believes bioethics i
The challenges facing patients in multilingual and multicultural countries are different languages and cultures that can lead to life-threatening communication gaps, a bioethics expert said Thursday.“Good communication is of paramount importance in healthcare delivery because patients need to ask questions and seek assistance,” said Professor Vera Lucia Raposo of the University of Macau. “Pati
Lawmakers demanded Seoul National University Hospital President Suh Chang-suk step down at a parliamentary audit of state-run university hospitals, but Suh made it clear that he had no intention to resign.The legislators from both the ruling and opposition parties at the National Assembly’s Education, Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee said Suh should take responsibility for fabricating th
Medical workers are increasing the use of Non-Vitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulant (NOAC) therapies to keep people with atrial fibrillation from falling into a stroke.Atrial fibrillation patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedure must take antiplatelet agents to prevent stent thrombosis, and also need separate anticoagulation to prevent strokes. That is, atria
While the number of hospitals that use AI to treat patients is increasing, many doctors remain skeptical of these practices. However, Professor Dennis Hong at the University of California Los Angeles, the world-renowned robotics engineer, stressed during an interview with Korea Biomedical Review that robotics could serve as useful tools in medicine and can bring new opportunities for doctors. He a
“Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT)’s potential is infinite if there is an excellent set of guidelines.”So said Professor Choi Myung-gyu at the St. Mary’s Hospital, a pioneer in the field of FMT in Korea, while outlining the bright prospects for the procedure and stressing the need for proper guides.Choi, who was the former chairman of the Korean Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy대한
Checkpoint inhibitors, otherwise known as cancer drugs, have been hailed as a new form of treatment. Both large and small pharmaceutical companies have jumped into developing immunotherapies, deemed one of the most popular treatment categories by consulting firm Evaluate Pharma.With two blockbuster immunotherapies getting reimbursed in late August, Korean cancer patients have gained greater ac
“Stool may be perceived as useless and dirty, but used in the right way it actually can save lives to those in dire need.”Kim Seok-jin, director of Kim Seok-jin Probiotics Lab 김석진좋은균연구소 and Gold Biome 골드바이옴, expressed his confidence that stool transplant can improve and even save lives of patients, who suffer from chronic intestine disorders.Kim, who started out his career in periodont