Regular intake of red ginseng could help women overcome post-menopause syndrome, a group of local doctors here said. Dr. Lee Byung-seok and Dr. Seo Seog-gyo of Severance Hospital studied a total of 72 women between the ages of 45 and 60 who had been through menopause. Half of them were given ginseng while the other half were given placebo. Twelve weeks later they found that women who took in re...

The national health insurance premium will increase 2.8 percent next year from this year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday. Salaried worker subscribers will pay 5.8 percent of salary as premium up from the current 5.64 percent ― an average monthly increase of 2,355 won. For self-employed or unemployed people, average monthly premiums will go up 2,095 won. Medical fees from clinic...

About 680,000 people diagnosed with depression or other mental illness as of 2010 Seeing therapists or doctors to get treatment for addiction or mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. According to the Health Ministry, about 680,000 people have been diagnosed with depression or other forms of mental illness as of 2010. In 2010 there were 23,806 adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 rec...

An innovative oral vaccine that can be used to prevent and control cholera around the world has received a stamp of approval from the World Health Organization (WHO), a Seoul-based international health research institute said Friday. The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) said its jointly developed Shanchol drug has received a formal prequalification from the WHO. It said the certification b...

The government on Friday banned the sale of six types of sterilizers used in household humidifiers because they may have caused the mysterious hardening of lung tissue that killed nine people this year. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said detailed tests on animals and examination of people who suffered from the unknown disease revealed a strong connection between the...

Electro-encephalography (EEG) helped doctors realize that several patients diagnosed as being in a permanently vegetative state were in fact aware, according to a study published on Thursday in The Lancet. The technique could be developed as a portable, cheaper way of helping doctors make more accurate diagnoses and establish contact with patients who are immobile but aware, its authors say. A ...

The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service on Thursday issued a warning over arterial embolisms, which have increased 34 percent in the past five years. The U.S. National Library of Medicine defines an arterial embolism as a sudden interruption of blood flow to an organ or body part due to a clot (embolus). The clots often occur in the legs and feet. Some may occur in the brain, causing ...

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention once again advised people to refrain from using humidifier-sterilizers. The advice was issued after a civic group claimed that 18 people died of a lung disease believed to have been caused by disinfectants in the machines. The authorities asked supermarkets and retailers to recall the products in August, and is issuing the warning again to ra...

GE Healthcare launched Aisys ET Control, an anesthetic device with an upgraded control function. According to the health care equipment maker, anesthetic equipment is controlled by doctors in operating theaters, but the device helps automatically control the amount of drugs inhaled, preventing patients from falling into hypoxia. (baejisook@heraldm.com)