Daily life of ordinary people in North Korea: reviews. Standard of living in North Korea, living conditions, life expectancy

North Korean counters

The lives of ordinary Koreans in the DPRK are protected from outsiders as a military secret. Journalists can only look at her from a safe distance - through the glass of the bus. And breaking through this glass is an incredibly difficult task. You cannot go to the city on your own: only with a guide, only by agreement, but there is no agreement. It took five days to persuade the accompanying people to take a ride to the center.

Taxis go to the center. The drivers are incredibly happy to see passengers - almost no one uses their services at the hotel. It is impossible to order a taxi for a foreigner in the DPRK. They take us to a shopping center on Kwan Bo Avenue - something like New Arbat in Moscow. The store is special - there are two red signs above the entrance. Kim Jong Il was here twice and Kim Jong Un came here once. The shopping center resembles a typical Soviet Central Department Store: a three-story concrete cube with high windows.

Inside the atmosphere is like in the main department store of a small Russian city. There is a supermarket on the ground floor. There's a line at the cash register. There are a lot of people, maybe even an unnaturally large number. Everyone is actively filling large carts with groceries.

I study the prices: a kilo of pork 22,500 won, chicken 17,500 won, rice 6,700 won, vodka 4,900 won. If you remove a couple of zeros, then the prices are North Korea almost like Russian ones, only vodka is cheaper. It’s a strange story with prices in the DPRK. The minimum wage for a worker is 1,500 won. A pack of instant noodles costs 6,900 won.

How so? - I ask the translator.

He is silent for a long time.

Consider it like we simply forgot about two zeros. - after thinking, he answers.

Local money

And in terms of prices, the official life of the DPRK does not coexist with the real one. The won exchange rate for foreigners is 1 dollar - 100 won, and the real exchange rate is 8,900 won per dollar. An example can be illustrated on a bottle of North Korean energy drink - this is a non-carbonated ginseng decoction. In a hotel and in a store it costs completely different money.

Local residents look at store prices through the lens of denomination. That is, two zeros are subtracted from the price tag. Or rather, adding two zeros to your salary. With this approach, the situation with wages and prices will more or less normalize. And either noodles cost 69 won instead of 6900. Or the minimum wage for a worker is not 1,500, but 150,000 won, about 17 dollars. The question remains: who is buying food carts at the mall and using what? It looks like they are not workers and definitely not foreigners.

Foreigners in the DPRK do not use the local currency, the won. In the hotel, although prices are indicated in won, you can pay in dollars, euros or yuan. Moreover, there may be a situation where you pay in euros and receive change in Chinese money. North Korean money is banned. In souvenir shops you can buy old wons from 1990. Real won are hard to find, but not impossible.

They differ only in the aged Kim Il Sung.

However, from real money The DPRK is of little use to a foreigner - sellers simply will not accept them. And it is prohibited to take national money out of the country.

On the second floor of the shopping center they sell colorful dresses. On the third, parents lined up in a tight formation at the children's play corner. Kids ride down slides and play with balls. Parents film them on their phones. The phones are different, a couple of times quite expensive mobile phones from a well-known Chinese brand flash in my hands. And once I notice a phone that looks like a South Korean flagship. However, the DPRK knows how to surprise and mislead, and sometimes strange things happen - on an excursion to the red corner of a cosmetics factory, a modest guide suddenly flashes in his hands what seems to be the latest model of Apple phone. But if you take a closer look - no, it seemed like it was a Chinese device similar to it.

On the top floor there is a typical row of cafes for shopping centers: visitors eat burgers, potatoes, Chinese noodles, and drink Taedongan light draft beer - one type, no alternative. But they are not allowed to film it. Having enjoyed the abundance of people, we go out into the street.

Pyongyang in style

A new Lada is parked on the sidewalk, as if by chance. Domestic cars are rare for the DPRK. Is this a coincidence - or was the car parked here specifically for guests?

People are walking along the street: many pioneers and pensioners. Passers-by are not afraid of the video recording. A man and a woman, who appear to be 40 years old, are leading a little girl by the hands. They say they are walking with their daughter. Koreans get married late - no earlier than 25–30 years old.

A cyclist in black glasses and a khaki shirt rides by. Girls in long skirts pass by. Girls in the DPRK are prohibited from wearing miniskirts and revealing outfits. The streets of Pyongyang are guarded by "fashion patrols". Elderly ladies have the right to catch violating fashionistas and hand them over to the police. The only truly striking item in the wardrobe of Korean women is the sun umbrella. They can even be flamboyantly colorful.

Korean women love cosmetics. But mostly it's not makeup, but skin care products. As elsewhere in Asia, face whitening is in vogue here. Cosmetics are made in Pyongyang. And the state is closely monitoring her.

In the depths of Pyongyang's main cosmetics factory there is a secret rack. Hundreds of bottles and bottles: Italian eye shadows, Austrian shampoos, French creams and perfumes. The “banned product,” which cannot be bought in the country, is sent to the factory personally by Kim Jong-un. He demands that Korean cosmetologists and perfumers take cues from Western brands.

Men in Korea often wear gray, black and khaki. Bright outfits are rare. In general, the fashion is the same. There are no people who clearly oppose themselves to those around them. Even jeans are illegal, only trousers are black or gray. Shorts are also not allowed on the street. And a man with piercings, tattoos, dyed or long hair is impossible in the DPRK. Decorations interfere with building a bright future.

Other children

Another thing is North Korean children. Little residents of the DPRK are not like boring adults. They wear outfits of all colors of the rainbow. The girls have pink dresses. The boys are wearing ripped jeans. Or a T-shirt with not a portrait of Kim Jong Il, but an American Batman badge. The children look as if they have escaped from another world. They even talk about something else.

What do you like most about the DPRK? - I ask the kid with Batman on his jacket. And I'm waiting to hear the names of the leaders.

The boy looks at me shyly, but suddenly smiles.

Toys and walks! - he says somewhat confused.

Koreans explain why kids look so bright and adults look so bland. There are no serious demands placed on children. Before school age they can dress in whatever they want. But from the first grade, children are taught to right life and explain how everything in the world works. Rules of behavior, way of thinking and adult dress code change their lives.

Street life

There is a stall near the shopping center. Koreans buy DVDs with films - they contain new releases from the DPRK. There is a story about partisans, a drama about an innovator in production, and a lyrical comedy about a girl who became a guide in the museum named after the great Kim Il Sung. DVD players are very popular in North Korea.

But flash drives with films banned by the party are an article. For example, the article covers South Korean TV series. Of course, ordinary Koreans find such films and watch them on the sly. But the state is struggling with this. And gradually transfers local computers to the North Korean analogue operating system Linux with its own code. This is so that third-party media cannot be played.

A nearby stall sells snacks.

These are the buns that workers buy during their breaks,” the saleswoman says joyfully and hands over a bag of cakes that resemble portions of shortbread cookies with jam.

“Everything is local,” she adds and shows the barcode on the package “86” – made in the DPRK. On the counter is “pesot” - popular homemade pies, shaped like khinkali, but with cabbage inside.

A tram arrives at the stop. A crowd of passengers surrounds him. Behind the stop there is a bike rental. In some ways it is similar to Moscow.

One minute - 20 won. You can rent a bike using this token,” a pretty girl in the window explains the conditions to me.

Having said this, she takes out a thick notebook. And hands it to my translator. He makes a note in his notebook. Apparently, this is a catalog for registering foreigners. A cyclist in black glasses and a khaki shirt stands by the side of the road. And I realize that this is the same cyclist who passed me more than an hour ago. He looks carefully in my direction.

It’s time for us to go to the hotel,” says the translator.

Internet and cellular communications

The Internet that is shown to foreigners resembles a local network, which used to be popular in residential areas. It connected several blocks, and films and music were exchanged there. Koreans do not have access to the global Internet.

You can access the internal network from your smartphone - there is even a North Korean messenger. But there's nothing else in particular. However, cellular communications have only been available to residents of the country for ten years.

The DPRK's internal Internet is no place for fun. There are sites there government agencies, universities and organizations. All resources have been reviewed by the Ministry of State Security. The DPRK does not have its own bloggers or truth-tellers on the Internet.

Memes, social networks, swearing in the comments - these are alien concepts to the capitalist world. I toured different computer labs. Some run on Windows, some on Linux. But not a single computer can access the Internet. Although the browsers there are well-known, there is even a local DPRK browser. But search histories are not names of sites, but sets of IP addresses. Although there is an Internet for journalists: global, fast and insanely expensive.

Dog's dinner

Koreans eat dogs. South Koreans are a little ashamed of this. But in the north they are proud of it. In response to all the indignant remarks, they ask why eating a dog is worse than eating a beef cutlet, pork kebab or lamb soup. Goats, sheep and cows are also cute pets. Just like dogs.

For Koreans, dog meat is not only exotic, but also medicinal. According to tradition, it was eaten in the heat, in the midst of field work, “to expel heat from the body.” Here, apparently, the principle “knocks out fire with fire” works here: the hot and spicy dog ​​meat stew burned the body so much that relief followed and work became easier.

Koreans do not eat all dogs - and pets do not go under the knife. Although it was not possible to see the dog (with or without its owner) on the streets of Pyongyang. Dogs for the table are raised on special farms. And for foreigners it is served in the hotel cafe. They are not on the regular menu, but you can ask for them. The dish is called Tangogi. They bring dog broth, fried and spicy dog ​​meat, and a selection of sauces. All this must be mixed and eaten with rice. You can drink it with hot tea. However, Koreans often wash everything down with rice vodka.

The taste of the dog, if you try to describe the dish, is reminiscent of spicy and insipid lamb. The dish, to be honest, is incredibly spicy, but very tasty - may particularly scrupulous dog breeders forgive me.

Souvenir, magnet, poster

A souvenir from the DPRK is a strange combination in itself. It seems that it is impossible to bring sweet tourist delights from such a closed and regulated country. In fact it is possible, but not much. Firstly, ginseng fans will feel at ease in the DPRK. In the country they make everything from it: teas, vodka, medicines, cosmetics, seasonings.

Lovers of alcoholic beverages won't have much fun. Strong alcohol - or specific alcohol, like rice vodka, which, according to people in the know, gives a strong hangover. Or exotic, like drinks with a snake or seal penis. Drinks like beer exist in two or three varieties and differ little from the average Russian samples. They don't produce grape wine in the DPRK; they do have plum wine.

There are catastrophically few types of magnets in the DPRK, or rather, one with the national flag. No other pictures - neither of leaders nor of landmarks - will decorate your refrigerator. But you can buy a figurine: “a monument to the ideas of Juche” or the flying horse Chollima (emphasis on the last syllable) - this is a North Korean Pegasus carrying the ideas of Juche. There are also stamps and postcards - there you can find images of leaders. Unfortunately, the famous Kim pins are not for sale. A badge with the national flag is the only loot of a foreigner. In general, that's all - the assortment is not large.

Exotic lovers can buy themselves a souvenir passport of the DPRK. This is certainly a nomination for the most original dual citizenship.

Bright tomorrow

It feels like North Korea is now on the verge of big changes. What they will be is unknown. But it seems that reluctantly, a little fearfully, the country is opening up. Rhetoric and attitudes towards the world around us are changing.

On the one hand, the DPRK authorities continue to build their inhabited island. A fortress-state, closed from all external forces. On the other hand, more and more people are talking not about fighting to the bitter end and the last soldier, but about the welfare of the people. And the people are drawn to this prosperity.

At the next cafe table three Koreans are sitting and drinking. They are wearing nondescript gray trousers. In plain polo shirts. Above everyone’s heart is a scarlet badge with leaders. And on the hand of the one who is closest is a gold Swiss watch. Not the most expensive - costing a couple of thousand euros.

But when average salary in the DPRK you will have to work for this accessory for a couple of lifetimes without days off. And only Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il live forever. However, the owner of the watch wears it calmly, perceiving it as something normal. For him, this is already a new, established reality of the Juche country.

Of course, in a society of demonstrative universal equality, there are always those who are significantly more equal. But it seems that the country faces a closed door to new world. The people of the DPRK have been frightened by this world for a long time, but in the near future they may have to open this door and face the new world face to face.

We are not trying to outdo the propaganda directed against South Korea by their northern neighbors. Only the personal feelings of a person living in the Land of Morning Freshness.

1. Increased attention

If you are of European appearance, then they stare at you endlessly, each time looking away or looking away, pretending that they are just looking somewhere in your direction. Well, this is the fate of blond people, but I wish others to fully enjoy the beauty of Korea.

2. Closedness of people

Concepts of true friendship in Korea and countries former USSR very different. In our country, for example, not everyone is called a friend, but only those who have proven through time and actions that they are worthy of your trust. Koreans call almost every acquaintance a friend, even if they don’t have a particularly close relationship.

However, this does not mean that Koreans are so friendly and open people. They are simply trying to maintain the status quo of a universally philanthropic attitude towards each other (I don’t bother you, and you don’t bother me). Often, Koreans make friends for selfish reasons, such as learning English, appearing in a favorable light in front of friends by being friends with a foreigner, or simply because of money.

Therefore, I would like to advise you not to rely entirely on the word given by a Korean, especially if this is your business partner or employee, because there is a high probability that once you trust, you can find yourself in an uncomfortable position, and that Korean will pretend that it is all your fault. Unfortunately, real strong relationships are very rare in Korea.

3.Collectivism

If in the Western world, first of all, people value individuality and a creative approach to everything, then in Korea it’s the other way around: what is most valued is the ability to not stand out and be like everyone else. At school, for example, even in highly competitive conditions, many students do not realize their potential simply because they do not want to stand out or seem like upstarts or “smart guys.” There is also a strong tradition of forming your own narrow circle, in which everyone follows the same rules and fashion.

Another example can often be seen on the streets: if it starts to rain a little, then Koreans take out or quickly run to buy umbrellas, even if the rain is not heavy. However, if you are walking in the rain and just decide to enjoy the autumn weather, then passing Koreans will look askance at you, because you clearly stand out.

On top of that, it's very difficult to make friends with Koreans unless you belong to the same group as them, be it a class or a club. Very often, Koreans avoid expressing their opinion publicly or openly in person; instead, in order not to stand out, they will most likely agree with everything with a smile, and subsequently, not in front of unnecessary witnesses, will express their indignation or anger.

4. Inability to speak directly

Very rarely will a Korean ask you for something directly, but mostly he will beat around the bush, trying to apologize a thousand times, and asking: “I’m sorry, but is it okay if I bother you with my request?” etc. And only after a series of long explanations and apologies will the Korean hint at what he actually wanted to ask for.

And here lies the biggest difficulty for foreigners, especially for those who are not familiar with the culture of the East: foreigners simply do not understand what they want from them, and waste their time on meaningless explanations. As a result, a conflict may occur, or one of the parties (Korean) may feel insulted, because how dare this foreigner not understand if I’m crucifying myself in front of him for half an hour.

However, the same applies to foreigners: if possible, when talking, or if you need help from a Korean, be very modest and naive, as if you have no other choice but to bother your Korean friend. In this case, by being humble and polite, both parties can reach a mutual agreement. And finally, the most important thing is to learn to read hints, a Korean will never tell you directly “yes” or “no”, his answer will almost always be somewhere in the middle.

5.Age matters

Perhaps the very first thing you will be asked in Korea is your age. Even in an era of colossal progress and high technology Korea maintains the Confucian way of society. This means that everything interpersonal relationships clearly structured according to the concepts of ethics and seniority. Even with minimal age differences, people address each other differently, using different politeness styles. This may seem very respectful and polite, but in my experience, most of it is nothing more than blind adherence to tradition.

6.Ethics and manners

In theory, this is a topic for a separate article, so I will try to be brief. Even with all their feigned politeness, Koreans very rarely know how to behave at the table, especially the older generation. My friends and I often noticed how Koreans (most often old people) slurp loudly, talk with their mouths full, and make all sorts of other obscene sounds. Unfortunately, I don’t understand why such behavior is not directly condemned by anyone, and is allowed.

Another example of bad manners is that Koreans do not know the boundaries of personal space. For them, the norm is to stand and chew gum, slurping loudly in the elevator, or to come close to you on public transport. The most interesting thing is that, according to the Korean stereotype, this behavior is more characteristic of the Chinese, for which Koreans laugh at them and look down on the Chinese.

7.Education system

If you are planning family life in Korea, then most likely you will all have to get acquainted with the Korean education system. I don’t think that everyone will like it, because, in my opinion, education, devoid of any creativity and based on constant cramming, simply has no future and is not able to compete with other countries. In addition, during the period of final exams, the whole country falls into hysteria, when parents visit temples and churches, praying for high scores for their children, and schoolchildren, unconscious, try to memorize what they missed.

At this time, schoolchildren experience enormous stress and pressure from parents, school and society, because they are firmly convinced that if they do not pass the exam, highest mark, then 12 years of study, parents’ money and hours of self-study were wasted.

Therefore, I advise you to think hard about whether you are going to doom your child to the 12 circles of academic hell? I think no.

8.Food

If you are a fan of Korean cuisine, then numerous eateries scattered throughout the city streets are at your service. However, if you are committed to your national cuisine and want to cook for yourself, then several problems arise. Firstly, the price of products is much higher than in Kazakhstan. Secondly, such familiar products as kefir, sour cream or cottage cheese are simply not here. Thirdly, the quality of the bread is disgusting.

Koreans simply don't make good bread, and if there are bakeries that make good, tasty bread, the price for one loaf can exceed $4, which to me personally seems like complete madness.

9. Lack of variety in the kitchen

If you are a strict Muslim, Buddhist or vegetarian, then Korea is absolutely not a country where you will feel comfortable. Korean cuisine is replete with pork and many other types of meat, so if, due to your religion, you cannot eat one or another type of meat, then nutrition can become one of the problems.

The lack of Muslim restaurants and eateries makes life quite difficult for many students, as it takes time to find good meat and cook it, or to find a restaurant that does not serve pork, disguising it as beef.

The same goes for vegetarians: in most cities, with the exception of Seoul and Busan, it is very difficult to find a good vegetarian restaurant, so you will most likely have to cook your own food.

10.Borsch!!!

I, being a student of Russian nationality, abandoned by fate to a foreign land, unbearably miss my mother’s soups, and in particular borscht.

Once I had an idea to cook borscht (all according to my mother’s recipe), and then the problems began.

In Korea there are almost no beets, without which you can’t cook good borscht. So, to taste a plate of borscht (even of the lowest quality), you will have to pay three times more money than for a regular lunch at a diner.

I tried to list the main problems of life in Korea, which, in my humble opinion, can become an obstacle to comfortable life or traveling around Korea.

North Korea recently created its own time zone: Pyongyang Standard Time.
Starting August 15, the country reverted to the time used on the Korean Peninsula before Japanese rule.

It costs $8,000 to defect from North Korea.
That's exactly what it takes to get to China.
North Korea's per capita GDP is $1,800.

North Korean citizens born after the Korean War are on average 2 inches shorter than South Koreans.
This altitude difference is explained by the fact that 6 million North Koreans need food and one third of children are chronically malnourished.

North Korea claims to have a 100% literacy rate.
The CIA says that literate people in North Korea are those who are 15 years of age or older and can read and write.

There are 28 state-approved haircuts.
Women are allowed to choose from 14 styles.
Men "are prohibited from having hair longer than 5cm, while older people's hair can be longer than 7cm (3").

Bill Gates is estimated to be worth five times the entire GDP of North Korea.
Bill Gates's estimated net worth is $795,000,000,000.
North Korea's GDP is estimated at $1545 billion.

The North Korean football team scored a goal against Brazil at the 2010 World Cup.
But the match was still lost with a score of 2:1.

If Pyongyang were a US city, it would be the 4th most populous city.
The population of Pyongyang is 2 million 843 thousand people.
This is more than the fourth largest US city, Houston (2.23 million).

North Korea is approximately the size of the US state of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania - 119,283 square kilometers.
North Korea - 120,538 square kilometers.

Less than 20% of North Korea's land is arable.

It's about the size of New Jersey.
Only 19.5% of North Korea's land is arable.
It's 8,800 square miles.

Number of people ready for military service in North Korea, 2.5 times the population of Norway.
These are 6.515 million men and 6.418 million women.
That turns out to be 12.933 million military personnel.
Norway's population is about 5.1 million.

Only 2.83% of roads in North Korea are paved.
All of North Korea has 25,554 kilometers of roads, but only 724 kilometers are paved.

Qatar's per capita GDP is 51 times greater than North Korea's per capita GDP.
At $92,400, Qatar's GDP per capita was the highest in the world in 2014.
North Korea's GDP per capita is estimated to be $1,800 in 2013.

North Korea was named the most corrupt country.
In the annual Corruption Perceptions Index for 2014, North Korea was named the most corrupt country.
Corruption scores for 174 countries range from 0 (very high level corruption) up to 100 (no corruption).
North Korea received 8 points.

The late Kim Jong Il's annual expenditure on cognac was 800 times the annual income of the average Korean in the DPRK.
Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un's father, reportedly spent £700,000 on Hennessy every year. That's about $1.2 million.
The average annual income in North Korea is estimated to be between $1,000 and $2,000.

“The last months have become a time of mass escapes of North Korean diplomats, employees of foreign trade organizations and mid-level officials. They have not escaped in such numbers for 60 years.”
http://tttkkk.livejournal.com/298199.html

“Most likely, these escapes are a somewhat belated reaction to the “Jang Song-taek case” and the execution of the generals, because in such quantities as in the last 2-3 years, the DPRK’s big bosses haven’t shot for 60 years. At the same time, the Supreme Leader , it seems, does not even feel any special respect for the families and descendants of the Manchu partisans, who from 1958-60 constituted the hereditary elite of the country and were practically untouchable (as a rule, it is impossible to shoot, demoted and sent to the village for labor re-education is possible , but in most cases - with subsequent rehabilitation and return to approximately the previous level).
Of course, there was talk again that “the regime is on the verge of collapse.”

However, Andrey Lankov, who wrote this on his blog tttkkk , being a specialist on the DPRK, is skeptical about such rumors.
He adds: “... in the fear of God, the Young Marshal holds the elite, and its very top, while the people, as well as the lower and middle layers of the elite, including new business, now live, by our standards, quite rotten, but still better than “has ever lived at all, and therefore has considerable hopes for further improvement of the situation with the new Kim.”

Gilbert's syndrome is a hereditary disorder of bilirubin metabolism in the human body, resulting from a defective structure of microsomal liver enzymes. Leads to the occurrence of a benign form of hyperbilirubinemia.

In most cases, patients exhibit jaundice of the skin and complain of discomfort, pain or heaviness in the right side. Additionally, dyspeptic and asthenovegetative disorders develop.

The diagnosis is confirmed on the basis of clinical data, family history, blood tests, instrumental diagnostics, and functional tests. Treatment is complex and includes a number of drugs from various pharmacological groups.

Let's look at the pathology - Gilbert's syndrome, and what it is, we'll tell you in simple words about the mechanism of development, pathogenesis, causes and features of the therapeutic strategy.

Description of the disease

If in simple language, then this is a disease that is accompanied by a disorder in the utilization of bilirubin in human body. The liver does not properly eliminate excess substances, they accumulate in the body, which leads to various symptoms.

Since the clinical picture of the syndrome is often erased, many people do not even suspect that they have such a disease. Doctors often discover pathology by accident during a preventive examination.

Gilbert's syndrome is the most common type of genetic pigmentary hepatosis. The disease manifests itself between the ages of 12 and 30 years. The occurrence during puberty is due to hormonal imbalance. According to statistics, men with a family history are at risk.

The disease is not able to affect the functionality of the liver or lead to dysfunction of the gland, but it appears to be a risk factor for the development of gallstone disease.

Why does the disease manifest?

Instrumental

Hardware studies are included in the complex of diagnostic measures so that the doctor gets a complete picture.

The following methods help diagnose benign hyperbilirubinemia:

• Ultrasound of the liver, bile ducts and gallbladder. The study reveals the size of the liver, the condition of the structure/surface, and checks for the presence of an inflammatory reaction in the gallbladder and gland.
• Radioisotope research. With its help, it is possible to identify a violation of the excretory and absorptive functions of the gland, which once again confirms the development of a hereditary syndrome.

Treatment of Gilbert's syndrome

The therapeutic strategy includes following a diet, avoiding excessive physical activity and alcoholic beverages. The patient is prescribed a number of medications that are aimed at improving the functioning of the gland and promoting the complete discharge of bile. Additionally, it is recommended to take vitamins and treat concomitant chronic ailments.

Medications

Therapy is symptomatic. It is imperative to exclude factors that aggravate the course of the disease. The regimen includes barbiturates - medications are prescribed against the background of sleep disturbances, anxiety, and convulsive conditions.

Choleretic agents increase the production of bile and promote its rapid discharge into the duodenum (Allohol). Hepatoprotectors are designed to protect the liver from the negative influence of various factors (Essentiale Forte, Ursosan).

If there is an infectious process, antibiotics (Amoxicillin) are prescribed. The dosage is recommended individually; you cannot increase it on your own, since antibacterial agents have many contraindications, which can adversely affect the clinical picture. Enterosorbents are required to reduce intoxication.

When bilirubin is up to 60 µmol/l

When the bilirubin concentration is up to 60 units, and the patient feels relatively well, there are no symptoms that significantly worsen the quality of life, drug treatment is not carried out.

As an aid, the doctor may recommend taking the drug Polysorb and activated carbon. A physiotherapeutic procedure in the form of phototherapy helps reduce bilirubin levels and has good reviews.

Bilirubin over 80 µmol/l

With this indicator, the doctor’s main recommendation is to take the drug Phenobarbital.

The dose for an adult varies from 50 to 200 mg per day.

The duration of the therapeutic course is 14-20 days. While taking the drug, you should not drive a car or go to work.

A strict diet helps remove excess bilirubin. The menu is allowed to include:

1. Dairy products.
2. Lean fish, meat (cooking method: steam or boil).
3. Juices containing minimal amount acids
4. Galette cookies.
5. Vegetables and fruits without a strong taste.
6. Dried black bread.
7. Sweet weak tea.

As an alternative to Phenobarbital, Valocordin or Barboval is prescribed - the drugs contain a low concentration of the active component, so there is no pronounced hypnotic effect. The drug Hepel is prescribed from homeopathy.

Treatment in hospital

When bilirubin in the blood is above 80 µmol per liter, and the patient suffers from nausea, vomiting, and sleep disturbances, inpatient treatment is recommended.

The inpatient treatment regimen includes the following:

• Polyionic solutions are infused intravenously.
• Sorbents in the form of tablets, capsules.
• Lactulose medications (Duphalac).
• Hepatoprotectors (tablets or solutions).
• Donor blood transfusion.
• Administration of albumin.

The patient’s diet is completely adjusted - all animal proteins, fruits and vegetables, berries, and fats are excluded. You can only eat light soups, bananas, fermented milk products with minimal fat content, biscuits and baked apples.

Remission period

Even during the period of remission, when the symptoms disappear, the bilirubin level is relatively normal, you cannot relax - an exacerbation can occur at any time.

1. The bile ducts are cleansed to prevent stagnation and the formation of stones. For manipulation, you can use medicinal herbs with a choleretic effect or drugs - Ursofalk, Gepabene.
2. Once a week, a blind probing procedure is carried out - they drink a sorbitol solution on an empty stomach, then the patient lies on the right side and warms up the anatomical area of ​​the liver for 30 minutes.

With Gilbert's syndrome, it is important to choose an individual diet. Each patient has a different set of products.

Disease prognosis and prevention

In most cases, the prognosis is favorable, but is determined by the course of the disease. The increased level of bilirubin in the blood persists forever. The formation of pathological changes in the liver is not observed. When insuring people with such a diagnosis, they are classified as a standard risk group.

The susceptibility of patients with the syndrome to various hepatotoxic influences (alcohol products, medications) has been proven. In some patients, the risk of psychosomatic disorders, cholelithiasis, and inflammation in the biliary tract increases.

Parents of children who suffer from benign hyperbilirubinemia should consult a geneticist before planning another pregnancy.

The cause of the disease is a gene defect that is passed on by parents to the child, so the pathology cannot be prevented. The main preventive measures are aimed at preventing exacerbation and prolonging the remission period. This goal is achieved by eliminating provoking factors.

About a year ago, we told the story of Perm traveler Elnar Mansurov, who has been traveling to various parts of the world for several years. Now his notes have grown into a full-fledged travel project mishka.travel. Today we present to your attention a report about a trip to North Korea, in which Elnar told how he went to the mausoleum of Kim Il Sung, met Korean girls and was almost mistaken for a spy.

(Total 12 photos)

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1. We flew on the plane with Dennis Rodman, who, after staying with Kim Jong-un, decided to lead the DPRK basketball team. It’s kind of surreal: I’m flying on a new AN-124 to Pyongyang, the flight attendant brings a burger for lunch, and sitting not far from me is a big dark-skinned guy whom I remember from playing NBA on the Sega console.

Much that is written in the media about North Korea is not true. Even the information that comes to television and the leading media in Russia is greatly distorted. For example, according to some of them, on Independence Day, September 9, a military parade was held in Pyongyang, which was personally led by Kim Jong-un. In fact military equipment there were no people in the city that day, there are many holidays in this small country, and any military parade is an expensive event, so on September 9 we had labor army militia (this is something like a reserve army) or the workers' and peasants' red guard of the DPRK. I felt like I was in the chronicles of a war film, as if I was seeing off North Korean soldiers to war. Hundreds of ZILs with people in uniform, girls with Kalashnikovs, nurses, a military band and one long black limousine with a portrait of the great leaders on the roof. Koreans cry, release balloons into the sky and throw artificial flowers to the militia. There are no real flowers in this country; at the airport we also saw how loved ones were greeted with artificial flowers.

2. In reports about visiting the DPRK you can read about the cult of personality, the ban on photography from bus windows and the complete absence of cars on the roads. Times change, most facts become myths, but the truth is that in Pyongyang we even stood in a small traffic jam. On the roads there are mainly Chinese-made cars, sometimes our UAZs and Prioras. In the villages you can find legendary trucks with a gas generator, they are heated with wood or coal. We met them several times on the way to Wonsan, but Koreans react quite jealously when you start photographing them.

Phones are no longer taken away upon entry - on the contrary, you can buy a SIM card from a local operator and call home, although it is cheaper to call from a hotel.

3. It is still forbidden to photograph military personnel, military installations, working people, as well as those places that the guide will tell you about (for example, inside a mausoleum or some museum). You can take pictures of ordinary people, but the guides ask you not to scare the North Koreans, but to ask permission to photograph them. I travel all over the world with a bear head, but I was forbidden to take photographs with it against the backdrop of the monument to two leaders. It is also prohibited to remove sculptures by parodying leaders or cutting off parts of the bodies in the photo. They may be asked to be removed. We managed to secretly take photographs of the bear's head.

In the DPRK there is extreme collectivism and snitching, the system of denunciations works smoothly. Therefore, even if you run away from the hotel from the supervision of your guide, ordinary townspeople will immediately turn you in. Near the restaurant after lunch, I went to the tram stop, tried to get to know the locals, chat; the first thing they did was run away. And the next day the guide asked: “Elnar, why did you try to communicate with the Koreans? Realize that they rarely see tourists.” That is, information about this was already reported to her, and they had a friendly explanatory conversation with me.

4. Our bus driver was proud that in 25 years he had not been involved in a single accident. Probably because in the last 25 years there have been practically no cars on the roads, and the roads themselves are six- or eight-lane “concrete”. Nowadays you can see taxis on the streets of Pyongyang, and private riders on motorcycles are also starting to appear. It is quite possible that in ten years Pyongyang will not be a half-empty city, but will become an ordinary Asian noisy metropolis with all the exhaust fumes and motorcycle taxi drivers shouting and arguing with each other over the next client.

For me the whole trip was a complete spy movie. And I must say, I was not disappointed. I sometimes record travel notes in the voice recorder on my phone, but once the guide, after our conversation with her, saw the microphone icon on the phone and suspected me of recording all our conversations. I expected that the special services would be of particular interest to me when leaving the country, so I hid the memory cards with photographs. But it worked out.

5. But Igor, a representative of the then unknown Ukrainian party “Udar”, was less fortunate. He loved to joke about signs and slogans, jokingly translating them in his own way; the Koreans did not appreciate the humor and suspected him of knowing Korean language. During a visit to the mausoleum, security officers caught Igor and interrogated him about “the real purpose of his visit to the DPRK.”

6. We were fascinated by one Korean girl, her name was Un Ha, she was a trainee guide in another tourist group. We asked our guide to organize a date with my single friend, jokes aside, but we managed to pull off the meeting. True, there were four of us on the date: in addition to the two of them, there were me and our guide. On another it is impossible. A friend took some French wine (I think you can imagine how much it costs in a closed country), I took a beer to enjoy watching what was happening. The Korean women drank only water, embarrassment grew, we discussed common topics about whether they are on the Internet, whether they are going to visit Russia again, whether they come across harmful tourists from our country. It all looked like a pioneer camp and getting to know another detachment. After 20 minutes of boring monotonous conversation, our guide felt ill and went to her room, followed immediately by Un Ha.

That evening we called our guide Dzo, who in his age most resembled a representative of the special services, to celebrate our departure, since our guide, Comrade Pak, was, by all accounts, really a guide, which was confirmed by her appearance in other reports. Our third guide, trainee Kim, was very young, his knowledge of the language was noticeably worse, so Dzo (we called him Jo or Tsoi) in our eyes was from the authorities. That evening our “spy games” continued. After we decided that we were all brothers and went to our room for whiskey, the fun began. It is believed that every hotel room is bugged, Zou turned up the volume on the TV to communicate with us frankly. He asked who was “good” and who was “bad” in our group, and said that Igor was clearly there for a reason. They talked about banned books, about the real state of affairs in Russia, and not about what their propaganda says. We exchanged banknotes with him as souvenirs, which, as it later turned out, had gone out of circulation.

7. The desire to please tourists in order to break the negative background around the DPRK is palpable. Electricity in the hotel is not turned off, hot water is available around the clock. But punctures happen in the simplest little things. For example, a bag of black tea is not given for breakfast; it is only soaked in boiling water. Then two bags are put together and dipped to the next tourists, and when the tea stops brewing, ten used bags are poured with boiling water and brewed. Despite this, the tourists’ food was excellent, and I consider the beer and lemonades to be some of the best in the world.

The DPRK has excellent beer, the most common is Taedonggang, despite its price, all tourists like it. A light, refreshing lager without any extraneous flavors, perhaps this is what Zhigulevskoye was like in the USSR at first. There are many legends about their plant; supposedly they bought a brewery in England, dismantled it and transported it to Pyongyang. Tendogan beer is one of the few products that has even been advertised on state television. They say it can be found in South Korea, but hardly for 1 euro, as for tourists in North Korea itself.

8. In the DPRK, there is practically no dog meat in the diet of an ordinary local resident, although in December of this year a Korean was detained at the Perm airport for trying to smuggle eight kilograms of meat. Tourists eat dogs much more often; half of our group dared to try it. Dog meat is rich in easily digestible proteins and is considered healthy and tasty, and the whole table agreed with this when the soup was brought. While many people didn’t eat cold appetizers, the soup was simply a hit. In the DPRK, this soup is called tankogizhan or tankogikuk on the menu.

9. We were impressed by the gorgeous deserted beaches of the Sea of ​​Japan (by the way, it is called the East Korean Sea, and nothing else, and the Yellow Sea is called the West Korean Sea). A fence with electrified barbed wire was built along the sea to prevent the insidious imperialists from Japan from landing on the Korean shore. It is clear that it was built so that our own people would not run away.

The Internet in the DPRK is an extremely privileged thing; for tourists it is intermittently available only in one place - at a hotel in the Diamond Mountains. The cost of one minute is one dollar.

10. There is a tradition in the mausoleum to honor the memory of the “great comrades” and show respect to them by bowing to them. They bow to the leader three times: to the floor, facing him, and twice more, coming from the side. It is very funny to watch American tourists bow to the North Korean leaders, because this is exactly what the leaders dreamed of. Tourist visas are given to Americans quietly; the country needs money from tourism.

Koreans carefully monitor the Internet; guides react sensitively to bad reviews about them and the country as a whole. I promised that I would tell only the truth. What cannot be taken away from Koreans is hospitality and naive simplicity.

11. The North Koreans are trying to show off any of their technological achievements, so we visited the factory where they produce mineral water(using Italian equipment), went to the city of Nampo to see a hydroelectric power station (built with the help of Soviet engineers).

From interesting facts: North Korea announced a change in the calendar, now the era is counted not from the birth of Christ, but from the birth of Kim Il Sung. The leader himself was ranked among the “eternal president,” whose spirit continues to rule the state from the mausoleum where his body is kept.

12. We promised our guides that we would not write anything bad, but would write only the truth. Before receiving the visa, we gave a signature that we undertake not to publish notes about the DPRK in the media. I'll be honest: the country is beautiful. Excellent nature: amazing Diamond Mountains, lakes and gorgeous beaches. Hospitable people. And most importantly, this is, perhaps, the last country from the past, the DPRK - a fragment and an echo cold war what she experienced and Berlin Wall, and the USSR. At any moment, the communist dictatorial regime may collapse, and tourists will never see this historical monument. Have time.