HEALTHY LIFESTYLE. HEALTH AND DISEASES. AT THE DOCTOR’S

• Health is the most important thing in our lives – everyone knows it, but when we are healthy, we usually don’t appreciate it – we realize it when we or some of our close relatives fall ill
• At present there are more illnesses which people haven’t known before, but can be very dangerous
• Scientists still can’t find medicines to cure some of them – so we can only hope not to get them (AIDS or plegia)
• In the past, especially Middle Ages there were fatal epidemics of plague or influenza, which killed a lot of people

PREVENTION:

• The best way to stay fit and healthy is to lead a healthy lifestyle – we should practise some sport, enough sleep and eat healthy foods with lots of vitamins – we shouldn’t smoke or drink much alcohol and we should avoid unhealthy environments
• It is very important and plays a big role in our health – everybody should undergo a regular check-up every year
• It is also important to visit a dentist regularly, at least twice a year – school children are invited by the school dentist – but adults have to plan their visit individually
• Small children are regularly vaccinated against various illnesses such as tuberculosis or other childhood diseases which can be very dangerous when they grow up

DISEASES:

• We can suffer from various illnesses beginning with common childhood diseases such as: measles, chicken-pox, mumps or scarlet-fever
• We usually suffer from common infections such as colds, the flu or tonsillitis
• When we are ill we usually stay in bed, drink herbal tea, take pills, drops or vitamins and after a week or two we feel well again

AT THE DOCTOR’S:

• If we feel unwell, we finally decide to see a general practitioner
• The nurse will find our medical record and wants to see our insurance card and then takes our temperature – the doctor usually asks what the trouble is and then examines our throat – he wants to know if we have a temperature, a good appetite and where we feel pain
• Sometimes he checks our blood pressure and takes our pulse, takes the blood count
• Finally the doctor diagnoses the case and prescribes a medicine
• However, the situation may be more serious and needs special treatment in hospital, for example in the case of heart attack, appendicitis, broken arm or in case of some really serious disease such as tuberculosis, cancer or diabetes and so on

PUBLIC HEALTH:

• Medical care charge fees in our country and also there are many private doctors
• We pay for most medicines but not for all
• Some people say that our National Health Service is now in crisis and needs reorganisation