The Korea Herald

24-pound tumor misdiagnosed as pregnancy

A woman in Barcelona, Spain, is taking legal action against a hospital where doctors misdiagnosed a 24-pound, cancerous uterine tumor as a late-term pregnancy. The woman, whose name has not been released, told ThinkSpain she went to a hospital emergency room suffering from excruciating abdominal pai

March 19, 2012

Drop in strokes, blood vessel conditions boosts life expectancy

A decline in cerebrovascular diseases and other forms of chronic illness has helped push up Korea’s life expectancy in the past 20 years, a report showed Sunday. The report by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute showed men and women living 4.77 years and 5.34 years longer, respectively, in 2010 compared to 1990. The average life expectancy among Koreans in 1990 stood at 77.39 years for men and 82.16 years for women, and in 2010 those averages rose to 81.29 years and 86.63 years.The K

March 18, 2012

Korean scientists find all-round cancer suppressing enzyme

South Korean scientists said Sunday they have discovered an enzyme capable of suppressing growth of both solid tumors and blood cancers, opening up the possibility of treating the potentially fatal disease.A research team led by An Sung-kwan, a microbial engineering professor at Seoul’s Konkuk University, said the Mulan E3 ligase effectively deals with the Akt protein, kinase which plays a key role in the growth and spread cancer in the body.“The Mulan enzyme has been found to act as a powerful

March 18, 2012

Blizzard announces May 15 release of Diablo 3

Blizzard Entertainment announced Sunday that its global release of the firm’s popular action role-playing online game, Diablo 3, will take place on May 15.Mike Morhaime, chief executive and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, told local media that he felt Korea’s strong response following the anno

March 18, 2012

Korean scientists find all-round cancer suppressing enzyme

South Korean scientists said Sunday they have discovered an enzyme capable of suppressing growth of both solid tumors and blood cancers, opening up the possibility of treating the potentially fatal disease.A research team led by An Sung-kwan, a microbial engineering professor at Seoul's Konkuk Unive

March 18, 2012

Apple fans snap up new iPad in muted launch

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - The new iPad went on sale on Friday with Apple fans lining up from Sydney to San Francisco to snap up the latest model of the hot-selling tablet computer.Buyers in Asia, Europe and the United States praised the eye-poppingly sharp display on the new iPad but a device which is o

March 18, 2012

Artist admits to shortcuts in show about Apple

CHICAGO (AP) _ An artist admitted to taking shortcuts in crafting an often harrowing tale about Apple Inc.'s operations in China after the veracity of his one-man theatrical show was challenged by a public radio program that had based a broadcast on his work. But writer Mike

March 17, 2012

Apple stock tops $600 day before new iPad release

Apple Inc.'s stock touched $600 for the first time, the day before the company's latest iPad goes on sale.The stock reached $600.01 just after the market opened. It lost those gains and closed down $4.02, or 0.7 percent, at $585.56.Apple is the world's most valuable company, with a market capitaliza

March 16, 2012

"Pink slime" critics fight ammonia-treated meat

Boneless lean beef trimmings are shown before packaging. (AP)“Pink slime” just went from a simmer to a boil.The stomach-turning epithet for ammonia-treated ground beef filler has suddenly become a potent rallying cry by activists fighting to ban the product from U.S. supermarket shelves and sch

March 16, 2012

Asteroid to make close Earth visit

An asteroid approaching Earth in 2013 will get closer than the orbits of many satellites, highlighting a need to monitor such hazards, European scientists say. (MCT image)An amateur team discovered the unusual asteroid, dubbed 2012 DA14, Feb. 22 as it flew by Earth at about seven times the distance

March 16, 2012

Jilted fruit flies slurp alcohol to forget: study

Frustrated male fruit flies, whose sexual advances are rejected by females, turn to alcohol to drown their sorrows, a study published Thursday revealed.(MCT image)Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco discovered that rejected male flies have a tiny neuropeptide F molecule in thei

March 16, 2012

Jilted fruit flies slurp alcohol to forget: study

85 local governments designate smoke-free zones

Watch out smokers: 85 local district offices have banned smoking on boulevards and at other public spots. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 10 metropolitan or provincial governments and 75 district offices have designated communal parks, playgrounds, bus stops, beaches and boulevards as no-smoking zones as of Feb. 29. People who do not abide by the rules will be fined up to 100,000 won per case, the authorities said. The 10 metropolitan or provincial governments are Seoul, Busan,

March 15, 2012

Samsung Hospital to open on Saturdays for checkups

Samsung Seoul Hospital said it will open on Saturdays for health checkups, allowing wider access for people who cannot spare time during weekdays. “Previously, people had to wait for about a couple of months in order to receive checkups after a reservation. But the Saturday openings will reduce the wait time dramatically,” the hospital said in a press release. “More companies are asking for checkups on their workers. They could surely use their Saturdays for checkups. It also allows people livin

March 15, 2012

EWUH signs patient referral pact with Vietnam

Ewha Womans University Hospital has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnamese Embassy in Seoul on Wednesday to ensure that the patients referred from the Vietnamese government receive ample treatment at the hospital. At the signing of the contract were Kim Kwang-ho, head of the hospital, and Tran Trong Toan, the Vietnamese ambassador to Korea. The pact is expected to facilitate human resources exchange between the medical facilities in Vietnam and at EWUH. “I was impressed that th

March 15, 2012

U.S.: More work needed to stop smoking in young people

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) ― More work needs to be done to keep young Americans from using tobacco, including creating smoking bans and increasing taxes on tobacco products, the U.S. Surgeon General’s office said in a report released Thursday.Almost one in five high school-aged teens smokes, down from earlier decades, but the rate of decline has slowed, the report said.It says it’s particularly important to stop young people from using tobacco because those who start smoking as teenagers can increase th

March 15, 2012

Gastritis

Mr. K is 40 years of age, and recently experienced a digestive disturbance and felt pain at the epigastrium, or upper central region of the abdomen, after overeating. He also sometimes presented with such symptoms as vomiting or heart burn. He therefore visited a local clinic. Through an interview with Mr. K, the physician recognized the symptoms and performed an abdominal examination. This was followed by a gastric X-ray, where it was found that Mr. K had no serious problems such as an ulcer or

March 15, 2012

Making meat in your diet history

More Koreans turn vegetarian though skepticism remains about its health effectsThirty-two-year-old office worker Kim Jin-ee recently decided to become a vegan. She removed all meat, milk, fish and eggs from her fridge to start. It was not her first time trying out a vegetable-oriented diet. She tried a couple of years ago, but failed. “People around haven’t been too generous with vegetarians. The company dinners were all about meat or sashimi, and everywhere you go you would have more than one o

March 15, 2012

Study: Dinosaurs' exit not mammals' cue

An Australian study challenges a theory that the disappearance of dinosaurs 65 million years ago is what allowed modern mammals to flourish, researchers say.Researchers at the University of New South Wales say their study suggests mammals had already begun to diversify long before the asteroid-linke

March 15, 2012

Human-like fossils in China caves puzzle scientists

The most recent fossils ever found of a human-like species in southeast China have presented scientists with a mystery about what may be an unknown Stone Age culture, researchers said Wednesday.Sometimes called the "red deer people," the remains are about 11,500 to 14,500 years old and appear to sho

March 15, 2012

New frog species discovered in New York City

Amazed biologists have uncovered a new species of frog in the jungle -- New York's concrete jungle. An illustration of a frog (MCT)The mottled green creature was for years mistaken as belonging to a widespread variety of the leopard frog. But now scientists realize this is new."For a new species to

March 15, 2012

New frog species discovered in New York City