MO 6. Health Care
When you are ill, so you have to visit a doctor. Everybody in our country has the right to choose a doctor. There are two
types of them, state and private doctors. Medical care is provided for our citizens from birth to death. Even before the birth there
is prenatal care including medical check-ups and then maternity services. Soon after birth each child is vaccinated against such
illnesses as tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and later smallpox. Each school child is under medical
supervision, which means also a series of preventive medical and dental check-ups, where the body is examined, teeth checked
and eyesight tested.
Common children diseases are cold, measles, mumps or chicken pox. The most common diseases in general are cold,
flu, tonsillitis, bronchitis or pneumonia.
When you have flu, you usually have a temperature, sore throat, cough and you snooze very often. You also have a
headache and feel very weak and sick. You can go through it easily by staying in bed taking pills, keeping warm, sweating, gargling
and drinking herbal tea with honey or lemon. But overcoming an illness can be very dangerous and the illness can became very
serious and can have dangerous after-effects. When you feel unwell, you can see a physician doctor called General practitioner
(GP). You can make an appointment with the doctor in his surgery time and you avoid a long waiting in the waiting room, which is
often overcrowded. When the nurse comes out, you have to give her your insurance card and then she invites you to a consulting
room. The doctor usually asks “what´s the trouble?” or “what´s the matter?” and then asks us to strip to the waist, because he
must examine our chest and throat. He also wants to know if we have a temperature, a good appetite and where you feel pain.
Then he listens to our lungs and heart. He also wants us to open our mouth and say “Ah” to see if our tonsils are red. Sometimes
he checks the blood pressure and the pulse, takes the blood or asks us to give him urine for lab tests. Finally the doctor diagnoses
the case and therapy and prescribes a medicine. With prescriptions you go to pharmacy (at the chemist’s) and get antibiotics,
vitamins, pain killers, ointment, syrup, herbs for a tea, spray, drops or gargle. Sometimes the GP sends us to specialists: oculist, ear
and throat specialist, and gynaecologist or for an X-ray examination. In more serious cases, if you get injured, you can call the
doctor to come home or to the place of the accident. You can be taken to hospital by an ambulance. In case of unconsciousness or
heart attack the patient is put on a stretcher. In a very serious car accident the patient can be taken to hospital by a special
helicopter. Sometimes it is necessary to give first aid such as mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or to stop the bleeding or fix
fractures. In the hospital the injured people are examined and X-rayed and serious cases are immediately operated in the
operating room. There are many departments: internal, surgical, dental, eye, dermatology, ear and throat, gynaecologist and a
department for children. If the operation is planed, patient must pass several tests and just before the operation he is
anaesthetised by means of an injection of narcotic. After the operation a scar often remains. The patient is sometimes sent to a
health resort or a spa for rehabilitation. There he undergoes water treatment, takes baths, massage, remedial exercises and drinks
the waters.
We should take care of our health because it´s the most important thing in our life, but we don´t realize it until we´re ill.
Money won´t cure a person with an incurable illness.
First aid – check the pulse and breathing, if necessary - provide a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Then turn the person on
his side and stick the tongue (they can suffocate with it). Don´t move with him much, unless it´s absolutely necessary. Stop
bleeding, fix fractures, keep the person warm, give him water to drink, call the doctor and try to calm the person.
First-aid kit
This is a box or a little case with things necessary for helping in an emergency case. There should be bandages, sterile
pads, scissors, waterproof plasters, safety pins, tape, antiseptic powder, and tweezers.
Domestic medicine chest (at home) should contain clinical thermometer, pills, capsules, ointments, cotton wool, bandages,
adhesive plasters and disinfectants.
Children diseases: scarlet fever, polio, measles, mumps, chickenpox, diphtheria, smallpox, rubella, whooping cough.
In the past millions of children died of children disease such as diphtheria, scarlet fever and polio. Some other diseases were very
dangerous. They were: children-pox (small-pox), measles, German measles and mumps. Today these diseases are rare because
children are vaccinated against them.
German measles are very dangerous to girls and women. If they become ill with that disease, they may not have a baby.
Common diseases: cold, sore throat, tonsillitis, angina, flu, bronchitis, pneumonia, headache, stomach-ache
Sometimes you get ill but the illness isn't dangerous, so you don't go to the doctor's. You stay at home and in a day or a few days
you are well again. Such illnesses may be: a cold, a stomachache and a headache.
But when you have flu or a sore throat you should see the doctor.
Other diseases: tuberculosis, typhoid, jaundice, diarrhoea, otitis, encephalitis, plague, cholera.
Civilization diseases: depression, nervous breakdown, headache, obesity, diabetes, insomnia, high blood pressure, allergy, asthma.
Sometimes you get ill but the illness isn't dangerous, so you don't go to the doctor's. You stay at home and in a day or a
few days you are well again. Such illnesses may be: a cold, a stomach-ache and a headache.
But when you have flu or a sore throat you should see the doctor.
Incurable diseases: cancer, AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).
Symptoms: bleeding, coughing, fever, increased temperature, running nose, tiredness, headache, stomach-ache, sore throat,
having no appetite
Prevention: to have a healthy lifestyle, eat healthy food – vegetables, fruit, have a lot of vitamins, do some sport, breath fresh air,
keep hygienic laws, avoid stress because “prevention is better than cure”.
Injuries
Sometimes when we fall down or fall off tree, or fall off a bike we make injure ourselves. Sometimes it's only a bruise. Other time it
may be something more serious. Your ankle hurts and it's swollen. You put a splint on your foot and then you must go for an X-ray.
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The X-ray will show if your ankle is sprained (put out) or broken. If it's sprained you put ice bags on it and in a few days you will be
able to walk. If it's broken, your foot is put in a plaster. After some weeks plaster is removed. Your foot is weak, however. You must
go to physiotherapy.
Very Dangerous Diseases
Some diseases are still incurable. First of all it's AIDS. Some kinds of cancer are incurable, too. However, if cancer is found out early
enough and radiotherapy and chemotherapy are applied, cancer may be stopped. The third very dangerous disease is stroke.
Many people die after stroke, many people are paralysed - many of them are confined to a wheelchair. Eighty years ago
tuberculosis (TBC) was an incurable disease too. Million of peoples died of TBC. But after Fleming had discovered penicillin, TBC
became curable.
Cardio-vascular diseases are often the reason for death. They may end in a heart attack which is often fatal. HIV means Human
Immune-deficiency Virus and it causes AIDS which means Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
At the doctor´s
If we´re ill, we go to the doctor. We must find when their surgery is open and we must wait in the waiting room till it´s our turn.
Waiting room is usually crowded. We need our health insurance company´s card with us. Then we enter the surgery where the
nurse and doctor examine and help us. We are asked some questions concerning our health, e.g.: "What's the matter with you?"
or "What are you complaining of?". After the examination of our chest and throat the doctor may write us a prescription. Then we
go to the pharmacy to get our medicine (pills, tablets, powder, drops, syrup, capsules, or ointments) and we stay in bed, drink 4 to
5 litres of hot tea with lemon and honey and eat a lot of fruit and vegetables." If we´re seriously ill or we need to be operated,
we´re sent to the hospital for the proper treatment.
Dialogue: P = patient, D = doctor
P: Good morning, Doctor.
D: Good morning, what can I do for you? , What´s the matter / what´s the trouble?
P: I don't feel very well. I have a headache and cough.
D: Let me have a look. Open your mouth please .................. Your throat is a bit red and it's sore.
P: Yes and I feel all hot and cold.
D: I'll just take your temperature. Can you put this under your tongue? Hmm, 38°C (degrees Celsius). You have a temperature.
P: What is it then, Doctor?
D: You have a flu. I'll give you a prescription for some medicine. Take one spoonful every four hours.
P: Should I stay in bed?
D: No but you should stay at home and keep warm. Come back in
a week.
P: Thank you doctor, Good bye.
D: Good bye.
Work, home, family, relationships, school can cause stress in your life. Chronic stress can harm your physical and mental
health. There are some ways how to manage (or cope with) the stress in your life:
 Get enough sleep, relax and do what you enjoy
 Eat a healthy food (fruits, vegetables)
 Do some sports
 Think positively
 Have a good friend to talk about your problems
There are several types of medicine which can help us to beat illness. Classical (conventional) medicine offers treats with
painkillers (pills, tablets). It fights against illness and disease with drugs and surgery. On the other hand, taking a lot of medicine
can destroy other organs of your body, e.g. liver or kidneys. That is why many people prefer other kinds of treatment which are
called alternative. Alternative medicine looks at the whole person, not just the illness. This includes your age, your family
background, eating habits, sleeping habits, job conditions, bad habits like drinking or smoking, etc.
There are different types of alternative medicine: acupuncture (uses needles to make a person´s energy flow in a more
balanced way), homeopathy (uses natural plants and flowers) and osteopathy (is pushing, pulling and twisting the body with hands
in order to put the bones and muscles in the right place).
While alternative medicine treats the body without using chemicals, the classical medicine is very important in accidents
and emergencies. In cases when people have been injured or somebody is unconscious, it is important to call an ambulance. The
professionalism of doctors and nurses, the newest technology in medicine and good hygienic conditions can save many lives which
would otherwise be lost. The best solution is when classical and alternative medicine work hand in hand.
The best type of medicine is to prevent illness before it starts. People will not become ill if they make their body strong
and healthy by eating healthy food, exercising regularly and getting a lot of relaxation. The body needs to rest and repair itself.
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A healthy lifestyle, prevention and personal responsibility for our health can help us avoid possible dangers like infectious diseases,
heart attacks and brain damages. We need to go to the doctor for check-ups, eye exams, see the dentist twice a year and weigh
ourselves regularly.
Health care-questions
1. Describe the human body – what parts does it consist of?
2. What children, civilisation and common diseases do you know? Which of them are in/curable? How can they be cured /
prevented?
3. What do you do when you get a flue (describe the symptoms, visit at the doctor...)
4. Compare classical (conventional) and alternative medicine, give pros and cons for each.
5. How can you protect yourself from illnesses/diseases? What do you do to stay healthy?
6. Name at least 5 ways how to manage /cope with stress and explain them.
7. What different health facilities are there in our country? How do they differ?
8. Have you ever been operated? Have you ever been in hospital? Describe it.
9. Explain the saying: “Prevention is better than cure”.
10. What illnesses are children and adults vaccinated against? Is vaccination important? Why? Have you been vaccinated against
the flue? Explain why / why not?
13. What does the phrase “First Aid” mean? When and how should you provide it?
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