The Korea Herald

New Ebola outbreak reported in DRC

Aug 22, 2012

Digital illustration of the ebola virus. (123rf)A new outbreak of the Ebola virus has been reported in Africa, this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At least 10 people are reported to have died of the disease in Orientale province in eastern Congo, CNN reported. Two cases of the disease have been confirmed and 13 are suspected. Orientale borders the area in Uganda where 16 deaths have bee
Study: College binge drinkers happier

Aug 21, 2012

Binge drinking in college is associated with higher status and binge drinkers appear happier than their abstaining peers, U.S. researchers say.Study co-author Carolyn L. Hsu, an associate professor of sociology at Colgate University, and Landon Reid, a former faculty member at Colgate now attending law school at New York University, said students from higher status groups -- wealthy, male, white, heterosexual and Greek-affiliated undergraduates -- were consistently happier with their college soc
U.S. Rep: Pregnancy from rape is 'really rare'

Aug 21, 2012

Missouri Congressman Todd Akin, the conservative Republican U.S. Senate candidate, said in a television interview that it is “really rare” for women to become pregnant when they are raped.Akin, a six-term congressman running against incumbent Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill, was asked in an interview that aired Sunday on St. Louis television station KTVI if there were any circumstances in which he would support a woman's decision to have an abortion.Akin, who has said he's Missouri's most conserv
After marriage: Men drink less, women more

Aug 20, 2012

Men who drink tend to stem their alcohol use once they marry, while women tend to increase their drinking after marriage, U.S. researchers found. Corinne Reczek of the University of Cincinnati, Tetyana Pudrovska of Pennsylvania State University, Deborah Carr of Rutgers University and Debra Umberson of the University of Texas at Austin found married men reported consuming the lowest number of drinks compared with single, divorced and widowed men.The researchers analyzed survey data from the Wisco
U.S. men prefer beer, women love wine

Aug 19, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- U.S. men like to drink beer, though wine is the beverage of choice for women and older adults, a poll showed Friday.The annual Gallup poll found that, as with previous years, wine drinkers are mostly based on the East Coast while beer aficionados live in the Midwest.Drinking is commonplace in the United States, with two thirds (66 percent) of Americans saying they consume alcohol, and 44 percent saying they drank at least one alcoholic beverage a week.While just 12 percent of
Jellyfish scare spreads along the coast

Aug 16, 2012

Holidaymakers and fishermen are worried about giant toxic jellyfish showing up in Korea’s coastal areas in record numbers this summer.A girl was killed earlier this month and more than 500 people have been stung by jellyfish in the seas around Busan this season. The southern resort island of Jeju saw more than 130 people stung.Although there have been reports in China and Southeast Asia of deaths caused by poisonous jellyfish, Korea was considered relatively safe from them. However, the scare is
Ovarian cancer

Aug 16, 2012

Ovarian cancer accounts for 4.2 percent of all cancers in women and has the highest incidence rate among all genitourinary cancers in women following cervical cancer in Korea. There is growing concern about ovarian cancer as its incidence rate is on the rise every year with approximately 1,400 newly-diagnosed patients annually, whereas the incidence rate of cervical cancer is gradually decreasing.The ovaries are small organs located in the female pelvis which are found in pairs on either side of
Malaria haunts border areas

Aug 16, 2012

Soured inter-Korean ties stymie efforts to control mosquitoesFears of malaria haunt South Koreans living near the border with North Korea, as soured inter-Korean ties take their toll on efforts to control the disease-carrying mosquitoes that fly freely across the heavily-fortified De-Militarized Zone. South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a malaria warning for parts of Incheon, Gangwon Province and some northern areas of Gyeonggi Province, all near the northern bord
West Nile virus kills 17 in Texas, sickens hundreds

Aug 16, 2012

(123rf)The southwestern US state of Texas is battling an outbreak of the West Nile virus, with 17 deaths blamed on the mosquito-borne disease, authorities said Wednesday.Throughout the state 465 people have been sickened since the start of the year, putting it on track to have the most cases since the disease first emerged a decade ago, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.The county
Baby's, toddler's diets linked to IQ

Aug 11, 2012

(MCT)Australian researchers found children given a healthy diet up to age 24 months had a higher IQ when tested at age 8. Dr. Lisa Smithers of the University of Adelaide and colleagues studied 7,000 children compared a range of dietary patterns, including traditional and contemporary home-prepared food, ready-prepared baby foods, breastfeeding and 'discretionary' or junk foods on children from bir
Cholesterol levels of U.S. children down significantly

Aug 9, 2012

WASHINGTON ― Against the drumbeat of bad news on obesity and diabetes among children, researchers have uncovered a cause for cautious optimism: a steady and significant improvement in the cholesterol profiles of American kids over the last 20 years.The proportion of young people ages 6 to 19 with high total cholesterol dropped 28 percent between the two time periods sampled in the report, from 11.3 percent in 1988-94 down to 8.1 percent in 2007-10, the new study found.At the same time, the avera
Healthy blood vessels for a longer life

Aug 9, 2012

Blood vessels are literally the vessels through which our blood flows. There are essential substances such as nutrients and oxygen in the blood, and the vessels function as a carrier of these substances throughout the body. Therefore, it is easy to understand that the blood has to flow smoothly for a healthy life. Blood vessels can be narrowed or obstructed due to many reasons including aging, disease, diet and smoking. If so, the body sends an SOS signal and in severe cases, the person’s life i
Gender test is Olympic hurdle

Aug 9, 2012

Of all the obstacles athletes have had to overcome to compete in the Olympics, perhaps the most controversial has been the gender test.Originally designed to prevent men from competing in women’s events, it is based on the premise that competitors can be sorted into two categories via established scientific rules. But the biological boundaries of gender aren’t always clear.Consider the Spanish hurdler Maria Jose Martinez-Patino. A gender test revealed that she had a Y chromosome, which normally
Drug combination lifts breast cancer survival rates, study says

Aug 9, 2012

SEATTLE ― Women with metastatic breast cancer treated with a combination of two estrogen-blocking drugs survived more than six months longer than those treated with just one of the drugs or one followed by the other, according to a study involving nearly 700 women.It’s the first time such improvement in overall survival has been seen in trials of first-line hormonal therapy for hormone-receptive metastatic breast cancer, the study authors said.“We’re finding a lot of other ways of treating these
Heat wave threatens public health

Aug 9, 2012

The prolonged scorching weather is putting people at risk of not only heat-related illnesses but waterborne diseases as well. Seoul City has been gripped by a weeks-long heat wave, with the mercury often soaring above 35 degrees Celsius and nighttime highs staying above 25 C, resulting in 13 consecutive tropical nights since July 27.A total of 89 people have been taken to the hospital for heat-related illnesses such as heatstroke and dehydration since June, whereas 27 people suffered from such i