Health Is Above Wealth

MODULE 3

Diseases and Health Problems

A Visit to the Doctor

Keping Fit. Promoting Healthy Way of Life

Modern Medical Science

Leisure and Sports

Discussion

 1. Read the following quotation and discuss it.

Health is above wealth.

It is a sum of money in the bank, which will support you, economically spent. But you spend foolishly and draw on the principal. This diminishes the income, and you draw larger and larger drafts until you become bankrupt. Overeating , overworking, every imprudence is a draft on life which health cashes and charges at a thousandpercent interest. Every abuse of health hastens death!

F.G.Welch

Here is a list of controversial statements about medical care.

For each one, discuss the advantages and disadvantages.Think also what the consequences of the idea would be.

The State should pay for all medical care. There should be no private medical care.

Heart transplants should be stopped. They are rarely successful, and the money could be better spent on other things.

The tax on cigarettes should be increased to pay for the health care needed by smokers.

Health care should be reduced for people over 65.

People who are very ill should have the right to decide if they want to die.

Doctors should always give patients all the information about their illness and chances of recovery.

Diseases and Health Problems

What are your symptoms? Study the material that follows to enlargeyour vocabulary.

Rash bruise lump spots a black eye

I've got a cold / a cough / a sore throat / a temperature / a stomach ache / chest pains/ earache / a pain in my side / a rash on my chest / spots / a bruise on my leg / a black eye / a lump on my arm / indigestion / diarrhoea / painful joints / blisters / sunburn.

I feel sick / dizzy / breathless / shivery / faint / particularly bad at night.

I am depressed / constipated / tired all the time.

I've lost my appetite / voice; I can't sleep, my nose itches and my leg hurts.

What do doctors do?

They take your temperature, listen to your chest, look in your ears, examine you, take your blood pressure, ask you some questions and weigh and measure you before sending you to the hospital for further tests.

What's the diagnosis?

You've got flu / chickenpox / mumps / pneumonia / rheumatism / an ulcer / a virus / a bug something that's going round.

You've broken your wrist and sprained / dislocated your ankle. You're pregnant / a hypochondriac. He died of lung cancer / a heart attack / a brain haemorrhage / AIDS.

What does the doctor prescribe?

Take one three times a day after meals.

Take a teaspoonful last thing at night.

Rub a little on before going to bed each night.

We'll get the nurse to put a bandage on.

You'll need to have some injections before you go.

I'll ask the surgeon when he can fit you in for an operation.

You'll have to have your leg put in plaster.

I think you should have total bed rest for a week.

What might the doctor ask you?

What would you say if the doctor asked you the following questions?

Do you have health insurance? Have you ever had any operations?

Are you taking any medication? Are you allergic to anything?

Match the diseases with their symptoms.

1. flu / swollen glands in front of ear, earache or pain on eating
2. pneumonia / burning pain in abdomen, pain or nausea after eating
3. rheumatism / rash starting on body, slightly raised temperature
4. chickenpox / dry cough, high fever, chest pain, rapid breathing
5. mumps / headache, aching muscles, fever, cough, sneezing
6. an ulcer / swollen, painful joints, stiffness, limited movement

What does the doctor or nurse use the following things for?

Example: stethoscope for listening to a patient's chest.

1 thermometer / 2 scales / 3 tape measure / 4 scalpel

Look at the above mentioned statements. Which do you think the doctor said to each of the following patients?

1. Anne with bad sunburn. / 5. Jo who's broken her leg.
2. John who's off to the Tropics. / 6. Paul with flu.
3. Liz with a bad cough. / 7. Sam who needs his appendix out.
4. Rose suffering from exhaustion. / 8. Alf who's sprained his wrist.

Complete the following table.

noun / adjective / verb
………………………… / breathless / …………………………
………………………… / faint / …………………………
………………………… / shivery / …………………………
………………………… / dislocated / …………………………
ache
treatment / …………………………………………………… / ……………………………………………………
………………………… / swollen / …………………………

What medical problems might you have if...

1. you wear shoes that rub? / 7. you eat too fast?
2. you smoke a lot? / 8. you play football?
3. you go skiing? / 9. you stay too long in the sun?
4. you eat food you're allergic to? / 10. you run unusually fast for a bus?
5. you eat food that is bad? / 11. a mosquito bites you?
6. you get wet on a cold day? / 12. you think you're ill all the time?

Think of some of the illnesses you (or members of your family or friends) have had. What were the symptoms and what did the doctor prescribe?

Follow-up: Look at the health page of a magazine or newspaper. Make a note of any new vocabulary on the theme that you find there. Look in your medicine cabinet at home, at or work. Can you name everything that you find there?

Health: illness and disease

A. Common problems

She's sneezing. / She's coughing. / She's got a
a sore throat. / She's blowing her nose / She's got a temperature.
What's the matter?
I've got acold
I've got flu (U) (more serious than a cold)
I've got hay fever (U) / How do you know? (the symptoms)
a sore throat, sneezing, a cough
symptoms for a cold + aching muscles and a temperature, e.g. 39.5
sneezing, runny nose, sore eyes / Cause of illness
a virus
a virus
allergic reaction to
pollen from grass
often food, or a virus
many e.g. food, alcohol
too much alcohol
I've got diarrhoea (U)
I feel sick
I've got a hangover / I keep going to the toilet
I want to vomit (= be sick)
headache, feeling sick

Note: For these illnesses, you can either buy something from the chemist, or go to your doctor, who may give you a prescription (= a piece of paper with an order for some medicine) that you get from the chemist.

B.Aches and pains

Nouns: We only use ache with the following: I've got toothache (U), a stomach-ache, backache (U), earache (U) and a headache. For other parts of the body we use pain, e.g. I woke up in the night with a terrible pain in my chest.

Verbs: You can use ache for some things, e.g. my back aches; but hurt is more common to describe real pain, and it can be used with or without a direct object:

She hurt her foot when she jumped off the bus and fell over, (also injured here) or

She hurt herself when she jumped off the bus and fell over.

I hit my leg against the table and it really hurts. (= gives me a terrible pain)

Adjectives: The only common adjective is painful (≠painless):

I had an injection yesterday and it was very painful.

A: Did it hurt when you had your filling? (= when the dentist fills a hole/cavity in the tooth) .

B: No, it was painless

C.Serious illnesses

Doctors believe smoking is the major cause of lung cancer.

He had a heart attack and died almost immediately.

Hepatitis is a liver disease.

Asthma (chest illness causing breathing problems) hasbecome more common.

Note: Illness and disease are often used in the same way, but disease is used for a serious condition caused by an infection e.g. a liver disease. Illness is a more general word.

Write down the main symptom or symptoms for these conditions.

a cold:………………………………………………………………
flu:………………………………………………………………….
hay fever:…………………………………………………………..
a hangover:…………………………………………………………
diarrhoea:…………………………………………………………..
asthma:……………………………………………………………..

Look at the underlined letters in thesepairs of words. Is the

pronunciation the same ordifferent? Look at the examplesfirst.

Examples: ache painsame

constipated stomachdifferent

1 disease diarrhoea4 virus illness

2 chemist ache5 flu muscle

3 hurt allergic6 cough enough

Look at the pictures and write what happened in the space below. Usethe active vocabulary.

I had …………………………………………………………………………………

Fill the gaps with a suitable word.

I hit my hand on the desk and it really …………… .
They say she died of a heart …………… .
She had some apples that weren't ready to eat and now she's got stomache- ………….. .
I've got this terrible ………….. in my neck from sleeping in the wrong position.
He died of ………… cancer even though he never smoked a cigarette in his life.
I went to the doctor, and she gave me a …………. for some tablets.
Pollution makes her ………….. worse and it's difficult for her to breathe.
There are different forms of hepatitis; one is a more serious …………than the other.
I hurt ………….. when I fell off that chair.
My back …………. from sitting at that computer all day.

Have you had any aches and pains recently? Make a list of the illnessesyou have had. Are there any other illnesses you have had or still have?If so, find the name for it/them in English.

Translate the following phrasal verbs and verb-preposition collocationsfor health and illness

I'm fighting off a cold at the moment. (trying to get rid of).

Marge isn't in today; she's gone down with flu. (has caught, usually a non-serious illness).

I won't be going today. I've come down with a dreadful cold. (withIwe say come down not go down)

I had a virus last week, but I got over it quite quickly. (got better/recovered)

My sister's recovering from a major operation. (getting better: used for more serious illnesses)

Harry suffers from hay fever and sneezes a lot if he is near grass or flowers. (used for morelong-term problems)

He died of / from lung cancer. (Not: He died withlung cancer.)

 14. Read the text below and find words in the text which mean

thefollowing:

1. doctor who looks after people's general health: GP means general practitioner

2. choose private healthcare

3. large centre with several doctors and kinds of services

4. general expression for all of the services offered by hospitals, clinics, dentists, opticians, etc.

5. tax paid by most adults which covers the costs of healthcare for everyone

6. British name for the service that covers hospitals, clinics, dentists, etc

7. charge for the medication the doctor prescribes, which you pay at a pharmacy

8. small centre with just two or three doctors

“In Britain, healthcare is paid for through taxes and national insurance payments taken directly from wages and salaries. The government decides how much will be spent on the National Health Service, but a lot of people feel they do not spend enough. Hospital treatment and visits to a family doctor (or GP) at a surgery or clinic are free, but there is a prescription charge. Dentists and opticians charge fees. Private healthcare is available and a large number of insurance schemes exist to enable people to 'go private'.

 15. TranslateintoEnglish:

лікуватись приватно; державне страхування; плата за прописані ліки; державна служба охорони здоров’я; аптека, ліки; сімейний лікар.

16. Learn the following:

Here are some serious illnesses, with the word-stress underlined. Make sure you know the stress-pattern when learning longer words or phrases. It is a good idea to make a note of it.

diabetes: disease where the body does not properly absorb sugar and starch

bronchitis: inflammation in the breathing system, causing you to cough

heart disease: serious illness connected with the heart which can lead to a heart attack

skin cancer / lung cancer / breast cancer: harmful tumours in those areas

TB (or tuberculosis): infectious disease in the lungs

cholera: an intestinal disease that can be caused by bad drinking water

hepatitis: inflammation of the liver

typhoid: fever, with red spots on the chest and abdomen

heart attack/failure: when the heart fails

17. Which is the odd one out in each group, in terms of the main wordstress? Use a dictionary if you are not sure about the words.

Example : tablets medicine prescription (answer: prescription; stress on second syllable)

1diabetes bronchitis cholera

2heart attack sore throat lung cancer

3hepatitis typhoid tuberculosis

4illness disease sickness

5consultant doctor surgeon

6hospital ambulance transfusion

7heart disease surgery TB

18. Which of these collocations are normal, and which are not normal?

Correct the inappropriate ones.

1.Her mother died with skin cancer.

2.Is there a prescription price in your country?

3.In Britain, national security is a separate tax from income tax.

4.Healthcare is the biggest item in the nation's budget.

5.Are there insurance societies for private healthcare in your country?

6.Private dentists charge very high fees.

7.She suffers of a severe allergy and can't be in a smoky room.

 19. Sort these everyday phrasal verbs and expressions connected withn health and illness into two groups, depending on whether they havepositive or negative meanings with regard to health. Use a dictionary ifnecessary.

be poorly / feel a bit under
the weather / be over the worst / fight off
be on the mend / be back on one's feet again / get over / come down with

Now fill the gaps using the expressions above.

Example [Nurse to visitor in a hospital] 'I'm sorry, Mr Pickering is rather ....poorly...... today and we're not allowing visitors.’

1. [Someone speaking to a colleague just returned to work after an illness] 'Hello, Frank, good to see you ...... ’

2. [Person ringing their place of work] 'Jo, I won't be in today, I've ...... a cold.’

3. [Person in hospital, just beginning to get better, talking to a visitor] 'Oh, I'm OK. I'm ...... now. I still feel bad, but I should be out within a week or so.’

4. [Parent to a child with a cold] 'Don't worry, darling. Everyone has a cold now and then. You'll...... it.’

5. [Someone to their partner, who is worried about them] 'Don't worry. It's nothing serious. I'm just feeling ...... , that's all.’

6. [Someone ringing a workmate] 'I'm trying to ...... the flu,but nothing seems to help. I don't think I'll be in work tomorrow.’

7. Hilary was quite ill last week, but she's ...... now andshould be back at work next week.

 20. Translate the sentences with minor ailments and ways of talking aboutminor problems:

Note that hurt is different from ache:

My arm hurts where I banged it against the car door. [gives pain caused by an injury]

My wrists ache from too much typing at the computer.

The fixed expression (the usual) aches and pains is often used to refer in a non-seriousway to minor problems.

A: How've you been keeping recently, Mona?

B: Oh fine, you know, just the usual aches and pains.

The fixed expression cuts and bruises can refer to minor injuries.

A: I hear you fell off your bicycle. Are you all right?

B: Yeah, fine, just a few cuts and bruises, nothing serious.

Some other kinds of physical discomfort:

My hand is stinging since I touched that plant. [sudden, burning pain]

My head is throbbing. [beating with pain]

I have a stiff neck from turning round to look at the computer screen all day. I'll have tomove the monitor to a better position. [pain and difficulty in moving your neck round]

I feel a bit dizzy. I think I should sit down. [a feeling that you are spinning round andcan't balance]

She was a bit feverish this morning, so I told her to stay in bed. [with a high temperature]

I had a terrible nauseous feeling after taking the medicine, but it passed. [feelingthat you want to vomit]

He was trembling all over; I knew it must be something serious. [shaking]

My nose is all bunged up today with this horrible cold. [blocked]

Other informal expressions that mean 'not well, but not seriously ill':

You look a bit off-colour today. Are you all right?

I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I stayed home that day.

I'm just feeling a bit out of sorts, it's nothing to worry about. I'll be fine tomorrow.

21.What do you know about alternative medicine? Learn the new wordsand use them in the sentences of your own.

Nowadays a lot of people prefer alternative medicine (different from typical western systems). For example:

acupuncture chiropractic herbalmedicine

homeopathy : taking tiny amounts of poisonous substances

aromatherapy: using aromatic oils and massage

Listening

22. Listen to the radio programme about holistic medicine.

Comprehension check

1.Complete the chart with some of the differences between Western and holistic medicine.

Western medicine / Holistic medicine

2.What are the three success storiesdiscussed on the programme?
3.What were the patients sufferingfrom?

4.What is the system that GlennaGillingham is trying to set up?

5.Why, in her opinion, is holisticmedicine becoming more popular?

What do you think?

1. Do you agree with Miss Gillingham that we are becomingmore health conscious?

2. Have your own attitudes to health care changed at all?

3. What else would you like to know about acupuncture?

23. Why would you be given the following to help make you better? Whatdoyou do with it?

Example a plasterIt keeps the wound clean, so that it

heals more quickly.

You put a plaster on a cut or a graze

a course of antibiotics

a plaster cast

a bandage

a sling

antiseptic cream

a pain killer

cough medicine

antihistamine

sleeping tablets

a crutch

 24. Read the text. Make sure you study thelanguage of the text to be competent in further exercises and discussions.