Health
Evidence-based health tips
Health
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Korean National Health Screening - Who Is Eligible This Year
Age is the year minus your birth year, not your age in full years. And only non-desk staff go annually.
Chuseok Safety — 1,474 Bee Stings, and 12,038 Road Injuries in the Same Tables
Korean holiday notices lead with bees and snakes. The same fire service tables carry a number eight times larger — and because the holiday runs 4 to 6 days, the yearly totals do not compare.
Korea's National Health Screening — There Is No “Odd or Even Birth Year” in the Law
The decree fixes an interval of once every two years, nothing more. Birth-year parity is how that two-year cycle is run, not a legal requirement.
What Korea's Fine Dust “Bad” Actually Means — Two Different Rulers
The top of the PM2.5 “Moderate” band, 35 micrograms, is the legal 24-hour standard itself. “Moderate” is not safe; it means today's limit has not been passed yet.
Flu Vaccination in Korea — Who Pays Nothing, and What “by the End of October” Means
The state covers three groups, and no more. And “by the end of October” is measured from when antibodies appear, which makes 17 October the cut-off for a single dose.
2.73 Million Cancer Survivors in Korea — What ‘One in 19’ Means (2026)
62% of that number were diagnosed more than five years ago. It counts 25 years including people who were cured, and over half are 65 or older.
Bone Density Testing — When to Go, and How to Read T and Z on the Report
Korea's programme covers women at 54, 60 and 66. Before menopause the report gives a Z-score rather than a T-score, so read the letter before the number.
Anaemia Testing — The Health Check Measures One Thing (2026)
Ferritin, which shows stored iron, is not a national screening item. There is a stretch where the stores drain while the blood still holds — and the report prints ‘normal’.
How Much Water a Day — The Two Litres Is Total Water, Food Included
The liquid you actually drink is 1,000-1,200 mL for men and 900-1,000 for women. And there is a ceiling — 1.4 litres an hour.
Should You Eat Breakfast? No Link for Adult Weight, a Link for Children
No firm evidence says an adult's weight turns on breakfast. What does change is diet quality — three meals score about 5 HEI points higher than two.
Caring for Someone with Cancer — What Happens to the Carer, and What Support Exists
A national agency guide carries the heading ‘be prepared that some people may not help.’ And in Korea there is an expense programme applied for at a health centre.
Ten Thousand Steps — The Guidance Is Written in 150 Minutes, Not Steps
You can hit ten thousand steps with intensity and strength still empty. Moderate means you can talk but not sing — walking, that's 2.5 mph or faster.
Common Cancer Myths — Where the Worry Goes Isn't Where the Weight Is
Only 5-10% of cancers are inherited. The weight sits on smoking at 30%, diet at 30% and chronic infection at 10-25%.
How Much Sleep Do You Need? Seven Is the Floor — And Filling It Isn't the Whole Answer
The CDC adult row reads “7 or more hours.” Koreans sleep 7h 45m on weekdays — 45 minutes above that floor.
Thyroid Cancer in Korea — How Common, How Dangerous, and Should You Be Screened (2026)
35,440 diagnoses in a year, about one person in 1,443. What a 100.2% survival rate actually means, and why it is not in the national screening programme.
Home Emergencies: What to Do (and What Never to Do)
Burns, bleeding, sprains — plus the quietest danger at home, and one CDC figure that does not add up.
CPR and Choking Response: 6 Steps That Save Your Family
Survival was 14.4% when a bystander acted and 6.1% when none did. And the agency page opened this time, so we could read what the survey counts.
The Home First-Aid Kit — Convenience-Store Medicine Is the Exception, Not the Rule
Counting the agency's own kit list gives 26 items. And the Act itself explains why the convenience-store selection can never exceed twenty.
Heart Attack Warning Signs — One in Five Sends No Signal
94.9% of U.S. adults know to call 9-1-1. Exactly 50.2% can name all five symptoms.
Magnesium Supplements — The Upper Limit Sits Below the Recommendation
RDA 420 mg, UL 350 mg. Not a typo — the two numbers count different things. And a blood test tells you less than you would think.
“Carbon Monoxide Alarms Are Mandatory”? The Notice Says “May Install”
We opened Korea's fire agency notice. Article 4 says “shall install”; the very next article says “may install.” And homes are not on the covered list.
The Menopausal Transition — A Name You Can Only Use a Year Later
NIA and WHO name the same window. The ages, the symptoms, and the finding that waking may trigger the hot flash rather than the reverse.
Choosing OTC Medicine by Symptom — Acetaminophen Is in Over 600 Products
The FDA's daily maximum is 4,000mg. Add cold medicine and your pain-reliever ceiling drops from 8 tablets to 5.
US Drugstore Meds (2) — Allergy, Skin, Eyes, Sleep, Motion + How-To
Five of the twelve first-aid supplies are for skin and eyes — allergy, sleep and motion sickness too, by ingredient.
US Drugstore Meds (1) — Cold, Pain & Digestive by Symptom
Only one of the nine items on the agency list carries a brand name — shop the other eight by ingredient.
Gritty Eyes at a Screen — What Resolves, and What Means Go Now
The same dryness arrives by two routes: one clears after sleep, the other needs treating.
Three Start at Forty — Korea's National Cancer Screening by Age
Not a list of six cancers, but a single question: what starts at my age?
Older Adult Falls — The Damage Doesn't Require an Injury
From the CDC's January 2026 pages. More than one in four falls each year, and even an uninjured fall shrinks daily activity.
Sarcopenia — Muscle Peaks in Your Mid-Thirties, Not Your Sixties
The gradient changes at 65 for women and 70 for men. What to do during the thirty quiet years before that, from NIA source text.
Polypharmacy — One in Three People in Their 60s and 70s Takes Five or More
Past five medicines the problem is the combination, not any one drug. Why falls are filed as a medication issue — and the one sheet of paper to bring.
Infant Fever — the CDC Line Is “Any Fever Under 12 Weeks”
Stricter than the common “38°C under 3 months” rule. The full list of emergency warning signs, copied as written.
Baby Vomiting and Diarrhea — Contagious for 2+ Weeks After Recovery
The CDC's dehydration thresholds are countable: no urine for 8 hours, no tears when crying. And shedding outlasts the illness.
Baby Colds — the CDC Draws Three Different Age Lines
Honey at 1, lozenges at 4, OTC cough and cold medicine at 6. Not the single “under 2” rule in common use.
Falling Ill Abroad — Two Numbers to Save and What to Sort Out First (2026)
+82-44-320-0119 reaches a Korean emergency physician, in Korean, around the clock. Whether your medicines are allowed in is something only checkable before you go.
ER or Clinic? How Korea's Emergency System Works
The outpatient desk is open 46 hours of the 168 in a week. Counted in hours, being ill at night is not the exception.
Is a BMI of 25.5 Obesity or Overweight? It Depends Where You Are
Three official tables side by side — Korea's NHIS, the WHO and the CDC. Two bands disagree, and that gap is the whole puzzle.
Diet Plateaus — the Answer Is Not Eating Less Still
The CDC says 150 minutes a week; Korea's NHIS says 200–300. The two serve different purposes, and a plateau calls for the second.
A Fasting Glucose of 108 Is Not Normal — The Full Prediabetes Table
Copied from the CDC table. Prediabetes opens at 100, and losing 5–7% of body weight cuts risk 58% — 71% over sixty.
Stroke Warning Signs — The Riskiest Moment Is When They Stop
Copied from four CDC pages. After a mini-stroke the 90-day risk runs as high as 17%, and the first week is the worst of it.
Thyroid Signals — a High TSH Means the Thyroid Is Running Low
The single most misread line on a thyroid report, from NIDDK originals. Nearly 5 in 100 Americans aged 12+ have hypothyroidism.
Your Check-up Report — the Kidney Line Is 60, Not 90
From NIDDK originals. And albumin can be leaking while urine protein still reads negative.