HEALTH AND DISEASES
Health is possibly the most important thing in our lives. Everybody wants to be healthy, but sometimes we take our health as a normal state of our body and do not care of it much. Only after we fall ill we recognise that health is something we can lose.
PREVENTION. Prevention is very important and plays a big role in our health. Everybody should have regular check-ups at least once a year. However, we usually go to the doctor only when we don’t feel well or have a temperature.
AT THE DOCTOR. When we go to our general practitioner, at first we usually wait in the waiting room. Then the nurse says „Next please” and invites us into the surgery. The doctor asks what the trouble is and asks us to take our t-shirt off, then he examines our chest and throat. He wants to know if we have a temperature, where we feel pain, if we have a cold, a cough,, or if we are sick. Then he listens to our lungs and heart and we have to breath deeply or stop breathing according to his orders. He wants us to open our mouth and say „Ah“ to see if our tonsils are red. Sometimes he checks the blood pressure or tests the urine. Finally the doctor diagnoses the case and prescribe some medicine to us – pills, antibiotics, gargling, eyewash, sleeping pills or ointments, which we can get at the chemist’s.
DISEASES. The human body is permanently being attacked by many different kinds of bacteria, microorganisms, and viruses. Most diseases can be prevented or at least controlled, but there are also some incurable diseases such as cancer or AIDS. On the other hand, the common illnesses are: a cough, a cold, influenza, a sore throat, tonsillitis. In such cases we usually stay in bed, drink herbal tea, take pills, drops or vitamins, eat a lot of fruit and vegetable and after a week or two we feel well again. There are also illnesses that children often get: measles, German measles, mumps, scarlet fever and whooping cough. Older people suffer from indigestion, rheumatism, heart troubles and high blood pressure.
DOCTORS. There are various types of doctors who treat various diseases and disorders: surgeons, dentists, interns, oculist, pediatricians, gyneacologist, psychiatrists, dermatologist, ear and throat specialists, orthopaedic specialists.
VACCINATIONS. Very important for our health are vaccinations. Children are vaccinated against some illnesses, such as typhus, tetanus, chicken-pox, whooping cough, tuberculosis, polio, etc. However, prevention is the best medicine.
HOW TO BE FIT. How can we get fit? We should exercise, but not until we become exhausted, better is to exercise shortly four or five times a week. It is also important to eat a lot of fruit and vegetable and drink at least 2 litres of water a day. We should sleep enough and spend a lot of time outdoors, it’s much more better than sitting for a long time at the computer or watching TV.
HEALTH INSURANCE SYSTEM. Medical care in our country is basically free of charge but there are some private facillities. Patients share only the costs of some treatment and medicine. According to law, all citizens are covered by health insurance. Most people belong to the General Health Insurance Company. The state pays it for children and retired people, but private persons must pay for their insurance themselves.
Our health is possibly the most important thing in our life, so we must take good care of it.