Angličtina: Health

The human body is constantly being attacked by many different kinds of bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms. Thanks to the progress in medicine and technology we are able to prevent, control and treat many diseases so we can help ourselves to be fit, healthy and what is most important - alive.

What to do to keep healthy?

Our health mostly rely on our lifestyle and the best way to avoid health problems is prevention. 

We should:

• practise, do some sports
  • it's not necessary to do some boring exercises, playing some sports game two times a week is enough and moreover -- it can be fun
• eat healthy
  • avoid fat and junk food from fastfoods, eat more fruit and vegetables, eat regularly
• sleep sufficiently
  • eight to nine hours of sleep for adult
• be in the fresh air
• avoid stress, cigarettes, drugs and so on

We can also improve our natural defence system with vaccines. A vaccine is an antigenic preparation used to establish immunity to a disease. We are ussualy vaccinated preemptively mostly against some ordinary children's diseases during our childhood although It's not bad idea to get vaccinated against other diseases especially when you go abroad.

Deseases

Various bacteria and microorganisms are dangerous invaders, attempting to weaken and destroy our body. Our contemporary world is constantly bringing new diseases. We can devide them into several categories:

• common illnesses
• diseases of civilisation
• (gruesome) serious diseases

Common illnesses are for example flu, cold, headache, tootache or tonsillitis and we can discern them with various symptoms like temperature, perspiration, torpidity, pains, etc. It should be no problem to cure them with help of our natural defence system. Among more serious illnesses are measles, chicken pox, mumps, diptheria, whooping cough, polio, ..

Deseases of civilisation are diseases that appear to increase in frequency as countries become more industrialized and people live longer. They include Alzheimer's disease, migraines, depression, obesity and many others.

And finaly we should mention some serious diseases: leukaemia, AIDS, heart attacks, cancer. Some of them are unfortunately incurable.

All these diseases hava one common thing -- we should visit our doctor right away. In the case of a serious illness, an ambulance takes us to the hospital.

At the surgery

• general practitioner
• go directly or make an appointment
• doctor asks  us how we feel, what problems we are having
• its not good to hold back information
• after examination the doctor prescribe prescriprion
• medicines we can get at the pharmacy
• tablets, pills, drops, ointments, syrup, powder, vitamins, antibiotics

Things a doctor does

• takes your temperature
• looks into your throat or ears
• listens to your heart
• checks your lungs and listens to you breath
• tests your reflexes
• checks your blood pressure and pulse
• takes a blood count
• gives you an x-ray

Medical care in the Czech republic

Medical care in the Czech rep. with recent reform of public health service is not as free of charge as it was. We now have to pay a small charge every time we see a doctor. We also pay for prescriptions, stay in hospitals and medicines although some of them could be entirely paid by insurance company.

Our medical system includes first aid, antenatal checkups, maternity ward services, social care up to old age, GPs, treatment in hospitals and spas, old people's homes and many others.

Life expectancy grows along with awareness of medical care, quality of doctors and number of hospitals. Unfortunately these characteristics vary from state to state and that's why it's very important where you live.

Health is one of the most important things in our lives and that's why not all gone for nothing when we wish one another good health.

Vaccines: typhus, tetanus, chicken pox, whooping cough, tuberculosis, ...

Questions:

What should people do to keep healthy?

Name some diseasses people may suffer from

Have you ever had any health problems / been to hospital?

How do you feel when you have a flue (any other)? How do you cure it?

Does smoking affect health? In what way? Cure?

What are the problems of overweight? (obesity) To be on diet or not?

How do you feel about eating junk food such as hamburgers, hotdogs, chips?

Problems of alcohol and drug addicts?

Do you choose your own doctor?

Should doctors tell the truth?

 

Diseases and their symptoms

flu	headache, fever, cough, sneezing
pneumonia	dry cough, high fever, chest pain, rapid breathing
rheumatism	swollen, painful joins, limited movement
chicken pox	rash starting on body, raised temperature
mumps	earache, pain on eating

 

Vocabulary

puchýř	blister
modřina	bruise
vyrážka	rash
svědění	itch
bolest v krku	sore throat
průjem	diarrhoea
špatné trávení	indigestion
plané neštovice	chicken pox
neštovice	small pox
příušnice	mumps
spalničky	measles
spála	scarlet fever
zarděnky	rubella
zápal plic	pneumonia
tuberkolóza	tuberculosis
záškrt	diphtheria
obrna	polio
zánět průdušek	bronchitis
chřipka	influenza, flu
angína	tonsillitis
žloutenka	chronic hepatitis
nachlazení	cold
kašel	cough
černý kašel	whooping cough
revma	rheumatism
cukrovka	diabetes
astma	asthma
alergie	allergy
rakovina	cancer
úpal	sunburn
zhorš. dýchání	breathless
monokl	black eye
omdlení	faint
krevní tlak	blood pressure
mast	ointment
sádra	bondage
chirurg	surgeon
obvodní lékař	GP - general practitioner
játra	liver
plíce	lung
střeva	intestines
ledvina	kidney
žaludek	stomach
kotník	ankle
kolena	knees
zápěstí	wrist
ramena	shoulders
hrudník	chest
lýtko	calf
stehna	thights
lékárna	pharmacy (chemist's)
horečka	fever