The number of South Koreans who said they felt anxiety and feelings of depression increased last year, while perceptions of happiness differed by income group, a survey result showed on Thursday.

The respondents who said they felt anxiety recorded 4.1 out of 10 points last year, compared with 3.4 points in 2023, and feelings of depression also ticked up from 2.8 points to 3.5 points in the same period, according to the data by the Korea Institute of Public Administration, news agency reported.

The survey was conducted on 8,251 adults from August to September last year to investigate the level of social integration and public perception. Public perception of happiness recorded an average of 6.8 points, a 0.1-point increase from the previous year.

South Korea will push for measures to bolster medical safety and reduce medical accidents, including heavier compensation responsibility of the state, the health ministry said on Thursday.

The plan, unveiled at a parliamentary policy forum, also includes the introduction of a "no punishment against will" policy for deaths that occur during acts of essential medical care and the expansion of insurance coverage for medical accidents, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, news agency reported.

Under the plan, the ministry is considering allowing medical workers involved in death cases related to essential medical care to avoid criminal charges when the family of the deceased gives consent as part of efforts to lower the burden on medical staff.

Israeli researchers have discovered a surprising immune defense role of the proteasome, a cellular structure known for degrading and recycling proteins.

The study, published in Nature, could inspire new strategies against antibiotic-resistant infections, news agency reported.

The study, led by the team from Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS), found that when breaking down old proteins, the proteasome constantly and regularly releases antimicrobial peptides, news agency reported.

These antimicrobial peptides are considered vital components of the body's first line of defense as they attack and kill bacteria.

Experiments showed that human cells with active proteasomes effectively controlled bacterial growth, while blocking proteasome activity allowed infections to spread, WIS said.

In infected mice, proteasome-produced peptides reduced bacteria numbers, decreased tissue damage, and even improved survival rates, performing as effectively as strong antibiotics in clinical use.

The global number of cases of osteoarthritis, as well as the disability associated with the condition, have risen by more than 130 per cent over the past 3 decades among women who have gone through menopause, according to a study.

Deterioration and damage of joint cartilage lead to osteoarthritis. It is followed by bony remodelling, joint dysfunction, and chronic pain. In 2020 alone, an estimated 595 million people worldwide were living with the condition, comprising nearly 8 per cent of the world’s population, with postmenopausal women at heightened risk.

In 2021 there were 14,258,581 new cases of osteoarthritis; 278,568,950 existing cases; and 99,447,16 years of healthy life lost (DALYs), representing increases of 133 per cent, 140 per cent, and 142 per cent since 1990, respectively, showed the study, published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health.

One reason is that menopause leads to a decline in female hormones oestrogen levels, said a team of researchers from China. The lack of oestrogen affects skeletal health and also impacts the function and stability of the joint system, they explained. Excess weight accounted for 20 per cent of the total years lived with the resulting disability.

Zambian health authorities announced that 672,100 people in three districts battling a cholera outbreak have received oral cholera vaccines.

Minister of Health Elijah Muchima said that the vaccination exercise was conducted in the districts of Chililabombwe and Kitwe in Copperbelt Province as well as Nakonde in the northern part of the country.

"Vaccination has been another key pillar to our effective intervention, contributing to the reduction in cases being reported in these communities and reducing the severity of cholera cases being reported," he said during a press briefing.

According to him, a total of 133,525 doses of oral cholera vaccine have been administered in Chililabombwe, 200,878 doses in Nakonde, and 337,697 in Kitwe, and the remaining 1,262,303 doses would be deployed to any identified hotspots.

Approximately 4,89,722 schoolchildren underwent health screening over the past year under the government's Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) in Gujarat's Sabarkantha district.

Twenty-nine medical teams visited various educational institutions, including primary and secondary schools, as well as Anganwadi centres, to ensure early detection and treatment of diseases among children, officials shared on Tuesday.

During these screenings, 183 children were diagnosed with heart disease, out of which 50 underwent surgery free of cost under government schemes, while the remaining are receiving treatment based on specialist recommendations.

Additionally, 48 children with kidney diseases, 34 with cancer, and 15 with congenital spinal disorders were identified and referred to designated hospitals for further medical attention.

Celltrion, a major South Korean biopharmaceutical firm, said on Tuesday its two new bio-similars for bone disease treatment have obtained approval from the United States.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Celltrion's Stoboclo and Osenvelt, biosimilar drugs to Prolia and Xgeva, respectively, in the form of subcutaneous formulations for sales in the US market, the company said in a press release, news agency reported.

The global market for Prolia and Xgeva was estimated to have reached a combined 9.2 trillion won ($6.6 billion) last year, it said.

The U.S. accounted for 6.15 trillion won, or 67 percent, of the two original drugs' sales last year.

Last month, Celltrion obtained approval from the FDA for U.S. sale of Avtozma, an autoimmune disease biosimilar to Actemra, in both intravenous and subcutaneous formulations.

A most comprehensive global analysis to date, including India, has estimated that overweight and obesity rates in adults (aged 25 or older) and children and adolescents (aged 5-24 years) more than doubled over the past three decades (1990-2021), affecting 2.11 billion adults and 493 million young people worldwide in 2021, according to a study published in The Lancet.

Weight gain varies widely across the globe with more than half of the world’s adults with overweight or obesity in 2021 living in just eight countries — China (402 million), India (180 million), the US (172 million), Brazil (88 million), Russia (71 million), Mexico (58 million), Indonesia (52 million), and Egypt (41 million).

Without urgent policy reform and action, around 60 per cent of adults (3.8 billion) and a third (31 per cent) of all children and adolescents (746 million) are forecast to be living with either overweight or obesity by 2050, according to the major analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study BMI Collaborators, published in The Lancet.

A team of US researchers has made discoveries about brown fat that may open a new path to helping people stay physically fit as they age.

The team from Rutgers University’s New Jersey Medical School found that mice lacking a specific gene developed an unusually potent form of brown fat tissue that expanded lifespan and increased exercise capacity by roughly 30 per cent.

The team is working on a drug that could mimic these effects in humans.

“Exercise capacity diminishes as you get older, and to have a technique that could enhance exercise performance would be very beneficial for healthful aging,” said Stephen Vatner, university professor and senior author of the study published in Aging Cell.

“This mouse model performs exercise better than their normal littermates,” he added.

People with obstructive sleep apnoea have an increased risk of suffering from Parkinson's disease, according to a study.

Obstructive sleep apnoea is when throat muscles relax during sleep, blocking the airway, causing a person to wake up repeatedly to breathe. This disrupted sleep pattern can lower oxygen levels, affecting the brain.

Researchers from the VA Portland Health Care System in Oregon, US looked at rates of Parkinson's disease five years after a sleep apnoea diagnosis. They reviewed more than 20 years of medical records to identify nearly 1.6 million older adults who had obstructive sleep apnoea.

After adjusting for age, sex, and health factors such as smoking, they found among people with sleep apnoea, there were 1.8 more cases of Parkinson's disease per 1,000 people compared to people without sleep apnoea.