Friday's assignment

Read the vocabulary used for expressing health, illness, and disease issues and then follow the task below:

pain
feeling in your body when you have been hurt or when you are ill,sick

·         Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her neck, shoulder, waist, arm, leg, stomach.

·         Take an aspirin to relieve the pain.

ache
continuous pain; feel a continuous pain

·         I can’t sleep because my head aches too bad.

·         I have a terrible headache, backache, stomach-ache.

ill
suffering from an illness or disease; not feeling well; sick

·         My elder sister is seriously ill in St John’s hospital.

·         The children started to feel ill an hour after the meal.

sick
physically or mentally ill; wanting to vomit

·         I feel very sick, I don’t think I can work today.

·         Be careful with the cake, too much of it can make you sick.

sore
painful (and often red) because of infection or because a muscle has been used too much

·         I have a sore throat, I mustn’t take that cold drink.

·         She says her stomach is still sore after the operation.

·         His feet were sore after the bicycle trip.

illness
the state of being physically or mentally ill

·         Our secretary missed a lot of work through illness last month.

·         Flu can be a serious illness if you aren’t careful enough.

disease
serious illness, often caused by infection

·         Peter’s uncle suffers from a rare blood disease.

·         A fatty diet increases the risk of heart disease.

·         The government is planning further health measures to prevent the spread of disease.

heal
become healthy again; make something, somebody healthy again, make somebody feel happy again

·         As I see it will take a long time for your wounds to heal.

·         This ointment will help to heal your scratches.

·         The tea you made really healed me.

Cure (v.)
make somebody or something healthy again after an illness; make an illness go away

·         He was seriously ill for a long time, but the doctor cured him at last.

·         Scarlet fever is a serious illness, but it can be cured fairly fast.

Cure (n.)
medicine or medical treatment that cures an illness; the act of curing or the process of being cured

·         There is no known cure for this illness but the it can be treated.

·         I’m afraid you must be taken to hospital for the cure.

treat
give medical care or attention to somebody or something; deal with something or somebody

·         I was treated for flu, but later I was diagnosed with pneumonia.

·         This illness is usually treated with antibiotics and a strict diet.

treatment
(the way or process of) curing an illness or injury or making somebody look and feel good; the way of dealing with something or somebody

·         Doctors apply various treatments for this illness.

·          My sister goes to a wellness centre to receive beauty treatments.

diagnose
define what an illness or the cause of a problem is

·         The blood test is used to diagnose all kinds of diseases.

·         She was diagnosed (as) (a) diabetic in her early childhood.

diagnosis
medical description of an illness or condition

·         The doctors didn’t share every detail of the diagnosis with the patient’s family.

·         We had to wait a lot for the exact diagnosis after the examination.

injury
harm done to the body, for example in an accident

·         They were lucky to escape the fight without serious injuries.

·         There were only minor injuries in the crash.

injure
harm somebody or yourself physically, especially in an accident, receive/suffer an injury

·         He injured his finger when he was cutting the meat.

·         Nobody was killed in the accident, but two people were seriously injured.

wound
an injury to part of the body, especially one in which a hole is made in the skin

·         He died from the wounds that he had received in the crash.

·         He was taken to hospital although his wounds didn’t seem too serious.

cut
a wound caused by something sharp

·         He had such a deep cut on his arm that he was taken to hospital.

·         The victim had several cuts on his chest, still he survived.

bruise
a blue, brown or purple mark on the skin after somebody has fallen

·         He was covered in bruises at the end of the football match.

·         The man came to the surgery with a huge bruise over his eye.

scratch
rub your skin with your nails, usually because it’s itching; a mark or a small cut or injury made by scratching

·         The cat continuously scratched itself behind the ear.

·         She had a long scratch on her arm when she came out of the rose garden.

infection
illness caused by bacteria or a virus; the act or process of causing or getting a disease

·         Wash your hands carefully to decrease the risk of infection.

·         She almost died from blood infection.

inflammation
a condition when a part of the body becomes red, sore and swollen because of infection or injury

·         My knee was twice the size of the other one due to the inflammation.

·         You had better not eat fatty food so soon after your stomach inflammation.

symptom
a change in your body or mind that shows that you are not healthy

·         You don’t necessarily need a doctor with symptoms like a headache or sore throat.

·         Depression can cause physical symptoms, too.

temperature
the measurement of how hot your body is

·         have a temperature – when your temperature is higher than normal due to illness

·         I feel so weak, I think I have a temperature.

·         She had such a high temperature that she was immediately taken to hospital.

fever
a medical condition in which someone has a temperature that is higher than normal; a particular type of disease with high temperature

·         Did you take aspirin to reduce the fever?

·         Our daughter has been diagnosed with scarlet fever.

cold
illness affecting the nose and/or throat, making you cough and/or sneeze

·         I think I caught a cold on the ice rink yesterday.

·         She can’t come to school, she’s in bed with a cold.

flu
a very bad cold, an infectious disease with fever, pains and weakness

·         Please don’t visit us this week, the whole family has the flu.

·         If you’re not careful enough and you don’t take antibiotics, you may even die from the flu.

vomit
discharge stomach contents through the mouth

·         There must have been something wrong with the food as both children vomitedshortly after the meal.

·         I’m afraid I’m pregnant; I vomit after getting up every morning.

medicine
a substance that you drink or swallow so as to cure an illness

·         You look so pale. Haven’t you taken your medicine this morning?

·         The doctor prescribed three kinds of medicine for me.

antibiotics
medicine that kills bacteria and cures infections

·         My mum’s throat infection went away after she started the antibiotics.

·         Hot tea won’t be enough to cure your flu, I think you also need antibiotics.

pain killer
kind of medicine that takes away some or all of the discomfort of an illness or injury

·         I had such a horrible headache last night that I took two pain killers.

·         She says she doesn’t think it’s a good idea to take pain killers too often.

blood pressure
the rate at which blood flows through the body

·         Drink some coffee if you feel your blood pressure is too low.

·         High blood pressure increases the risk of having a heart attack.

pulse
the regular beat of blood as it is sent around the body

·         The doctor started the examination with taking my pulse and blood pressure.

·         He has such a weak pulse that it’s hard to feel.

x-ray
a photograph of a somebody’s bones and organs

·         They took x-rays of my knee to make sure it wasn’t broken.

·         The doctor says that the x-ray has proved his suspicion of cancer, but I don’t believe him.

patient
a person staying in a hospital or medical facility

·         The doctor examined the patient very carefully but he didn’t find any disorder.

·         There were so many patients in the doctor’s surgery that I didn’t wait and I went home.

surgery
a place where a doctor or dentist sees patients; medical treatment of injuries or diseases involving cutting open somebody’s body

·         I wanted to see a doctor but the surgery was closed.

·         I hope they can cure me with medicine and I don’t need undergo surgery.

operation
cutting open a part of somebody’s body in order to remove or cure a part

·         The operation was successful but the patient died.

·         The doctor says I can hardly escape an operation.

operate on somebody (for something)
cut open a part of somebody’s body in order to remove or cure a part

·         He soon recovered after he was operated on for appendicitis.

·         The doctor ordered to take my brother to hospital and they will operate on himtomorrow.

operating theatre
a room in a hospital used for medical operations

·         The patient died on the way to the operating theatre.

·         She felt nervous as she looked round the operating theatre.

chemist’s (shop)
a shop where medicine is sold

·         The doctor suggested to go to the chemist’s for the medicine straight from the surgery.

·         This syrup is also sold in the supermarket, so you don’t need to go to the chemist’s.

prescription
an official piece of paper filled out by a doctor with which you can get medicine from a chemist’s shop

·         Unfortunately, the doctor forgot to sign the prescription and so the chemist refused to give me the medicine. 

·         Keep this prescription even though you don’t need the medicine now; you may need it later. 

Your task: 

      Now it is your turn, click on this link to record a phone consultation with your family doctor regarding any health issue you are facing. You may ask for specialist referral if needed as well.