Overusing your smartphone may wreck your health, experts say

Korean liquor manufacturers may no longer be allowed to use photos of celebrities on their beverage packaging.The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Monday it would come up with measures banning the images of celebrities on alcohol bottles to discourage the drinking culture.The move follows Rep. Nam In-soon’s exhortation during a parliamentary audit of the ministry last month that featuring celebrities on alcohol beverages may induce more consumption, especially among teenagers, and shoul

　A third of South Koreans were given prescription narcotics in the past year, as more people received comprehensive medical checkups, government data showed.　More than 17.8 million people received drugs like propofol and zolpidem, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said, citing some 107 million pieces of data collected from July 2018 through June this year.　The drug safety agency said pain killers, sedatives and anti-anxiety drugs were the most common types prescribed by doctors, with women ma

　Health insurance spending to cover smoking and drinking-related treatments reached 13 trillion won ($11 billion) from 2016 through 2018, data showed.　According to a report submitted to Rep. Jung Choun-sook by the National Health Insurance Service for the ongoing parliamentary audit, annual expenditures, including insurance coverage and costs paid by individuals, exceeded 4.6 trillion won last year, up 16 percent from 2016.　Costs to deal with treatment for smoking and drinking made up some 8 per

The government on Wednesday warned against using liquid e-cigarettes, or e-liquids, until health perils associated with them are better understood.“The Health and Welfare Ministry strongly recommends discontinuing the use of liquid e-cigarettes until the link between lung injuries and liquid e-cigarettes is clearly identified,” said Health Minister Park Neung-hoo in a press briefing Wednesday morning.“Teenagers and those with respiratory diseases, in particular, should stop usi

An orb with a set of ears, blinky eyes and the voice and speech manners of a chatty child is making advances in dementia therapy at a hospital in Seoul. Named Bomy, the robot assists cognitive training for patients in the early stages, or at the risk of developing dementia.Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital’s Robot-assisted Cognitive Training Center opened its doors in April, and is headed by Dr. Kim Geon-ha, a neurologist who has been researching related technologies since 2009. The

　The number of elderly South Koreans with mental health issues has risen sharply in recent years, as the country scrambles to provide better health care for its people, a report showed.　In the report to the National Assembly, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service said that in the 2010-2018 period, the number of people over 80 afflicted with major depression surged 176.5 percent, with the figure for those in their 70s increasing 59.4 percent.　As of last year, roughly 40 percent of th

　The number of foreigners visiting South Korea for medical treatment shot up 18 percent last year, government data showed.　In a report to the National Assembly, the Korea Health Industry Development Institute said over 378,900 foreign nationals arrived here for treatment last year, up from around 321,500 in 2017.　The institute said that of them, the number of Japanese who visted for medical purposes surged 56 percent to 42,500 in 2018 from just under 27,300 the previous year. (Yonhap)

　As the population ages, the number of South Koreans with dementia has soared in recent years and so have associated costs, data showed. In 2018, dementia-related medical spending exceeded the 2 trillion won ($1.67 billion) threshold for the first time.　According to the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to Rep. Kim Kwang-soo, the number of people diagnosed with various forms of neurodegenerative disease rose from 416,309 in 2014 to 547,700 in 2016 and hit 712,386 last year. 　Du

Smokers of the younger generations face challenges disparate from those troubling previous generations, giving rise to the need for renewed countermeasures suited to the contemporary smoking scene, according to health experts. The smoking rate has been on the decline in Korea, with the percentage of male adult smokers – who account for the majority of smoking demographics – hitting a record low of 38.1 percent in 2017. In July, government efforts to promote smoking cessation were app

A woman, 79, who received a partial artificial heart transplant has lived for over 1,000 days since surgery, Samsung Medical Center said Wednesday.The patient was fitted with the then-latest third-generation left ventricular assist device in September 2016. This is the longest a patient has lived with a third-generation heart assist device in South Korea, according to the hospital.The hospital’s heart failure/transplantation team, which performed the surgery, said the patient was healthy a

　Sales of cigarettes in South Korea edged down 0.6 percent in the first half of 2019 from a year prior, data showed, amid an anti-smoking campaign and higher prices.　South Korean smokers purchased 1.67 billion 20-cigarette packs in the January-June period, compared to 1.68 billion packs in the same period last year, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.　The figures represent a 17.8 percent drop from the first half of 2014. (Yonhap)

Facebook group allows expats to share tips on air quality, how to protect themselves

　More than 1 in 10 senior citizens in South Korea suffer from dementia, data showed.　According to the data from the National Institute of Dementia, 748,945 South Koreans aged 65 and above suffered from dementia as of 2018 last year. 　That figure is expected to grow to 2.18 million by 2040, 3.03 million by 2050 and 3.32 million by 2060 as the population continues to age. 

　The death rate from cancer in South Korea has been on the rise every year, according to the Korea Insurance Development Institute.　The number of life insurance subscribers who died of cancer increased from 18,144 in 2008 to 19,560 in 2010, 21,179 in 2012, 23,213 in 2015 and 24,940 in 2017, data showed.　By total number of deaths, the deadliest cancers were of the lungs, liver, stomach, pancreas, colon and breast.