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.
