Illnesses and their Treatment

Exercise 1.

Essential vocabulary

Words

appendicitis n attack (of smth) n case (of a disease) n cholera n complication n cough v, n cure of v cure for n die of v diphtheria n disease n indigestion n injection n measles(rash) pneumonia

insomnia n prescription n recover (from a disease) v remedy n scarlet fever n sneeze v sore (throat, eye, finger, etc.) adj surgery n symptom n tonic n treat v (smb. For a disease) treatment (for smth.) n typhoid fever n

Word combinations

to feel smb’s (one’s) pulse

to write out a prescription (for pills, etc.)

to go to a chemist’s (drugstore)

to follow the doctor’s directions

to catch (a) cold

to have an accident

to be short of breath

to examine a patient (smb’s throat, etc.)

to breathe in deeply

to consult (see) a doctor

to have a nervous breakdown

to keep to a diet (of …); to be on (go on), follow a diet

to have a prescription (medicine, mixture, tonic, etc.) made up

to take medicine (a spoonful of, etc.)

to be wrong with (one’s heart, lungs, etc.); to have smth. wrong with

to be taken ill (to fall ill) with

to be laid up with

to feel sick (and giddy)

to be on sick leave, to give a sick leave

Exercise 2.

Treating a Patient

Last summer Nina, my room-mate, became ill. She felt sick and dizzy. She was running a high temperature and it was clear that she needed to see a doctor. I rushed straight to our health centre and made an appointment for her. In a hour or so the doctor arrived. He was a middle aged man in a white coat. Before trying to diagnose the disease he asked Nina to strip to the waist. The doctor then examined her throat, felt her pulse, listened to her heart and lungs and tested her blood pressure. The following conversation took place between them.

Doctor: I see you’ve taken your temperature. What was it?

Nina: Thirty-eight point seven. And I feel awful. I’ve got a headache and a sore throat. It hurts when I swallow and I’ve got a pain in my side.

Doctor: Let me see your side.

Nina: Doctor, what if it’s appendicitis? What if I need an operation? Doctor, say something, please!

Doctor: There, there. No tears. Take it easy. Everything will be all right. Does it hurt when I press here?

Nina: Oh, yes, it hurts a lot.

Doctor: Well, my dear, I am sorry to say you have the flu and something is wrong with your appendix. If you have another attack, you will be taken to hospital and an operation will be necessary, I am afraid.

Nina: Oh, no.

Doctor: Don’t worry. We’ll hope for the best. Now I’ll write out a prescription for some pills and a mixture. You are to take a tablespoonful of it three times a day. I believe that some injections of glucose will also do you a lot of good.

Nina: And what should I take for my headache?

Doctor: I’ll give you a tablet. Here it is. Good-bye now and cheer up, dear.

Nina: Good-bye, doctor. Thanks a lot.

So I went to the chemist’s to have the prescription filled. Nina and I followed the doctor’s instructions to the letter and in a week she felt much better.

Then I took her to the health centre where she had a chest X-ray and a blood test. Everything was all right. They said she had apparently made a full recovery. I never saw Nina look more pleased.

Assignments after the text:

I

1. Say everything you know about

1. Nina’s condition at the beginning of her illness and before recovery;

2. Nina’s behaviour;

3. the doctor

II

Learn the talk between Nina and the doctor by heart

III

1. Suppose Nina is ill now and her friend has called the doctor. What can you say about Nina’s condition?

2. Recite the talk between Nina and the doctor.

3. Enlarge the talk. Suppose the doctor wants to know if Nina often has a headache, if she has had a pain in her right side before, when it was, if she has had a chest x-ray this year. At the end of the talk the doctor says in what case she will recover soon.

4. How can Nina’s friend tell the teacher about Nina’s illness?

5. Nina is ill now. How would she be treated and looked after if she lived at home, not in the hall of residence?

6. Suppose Nina has been ill for a week already and now she is going to visit the doctor for a final check up.

7. Nina is all right now. She has come to the Institute and is having a talk with her friends. Her friends are interested in Nina’s health and her illness. They ask questions about the beginning of her illness, the doctor’s visit and how Nina has been following the doctor’s instructions.

Nina is worried that she has fallen behind the group as she has missed a lot of classes. Comfort her and tell her what you have been working at all this time, what you have done. And offer her your help.

Exercise 3.