Health care

BE HEALTHY

• Medicine = any science or practice concered with sickness and health.
• A doctor – a person who has been trained in medical science.
• In Britain
  • GP (General Practitioner) = local doctor
  • Physician = a doctor specializing in medical area other than surgery

TYPES OF MEDICINE

classical (conventional)

– treatment with painkillers, drugs (but side effect – drugs can destroy the other organs – a liver, kidneys etc.)

alternative

– looks at the whole person, not just illness.
– there are different types – e.g. acupuncture, homeopathy, osteopathy, aromatherapy etc.

HEALTH

= important for all of us = we have to look after our health = there are several ways how to stay healthy:

1. preventive check-ups – once a year , prevention is better than cure
2. eating habits :

1. regular eating it means five times a day , the last meal at about 6pm
2. follow the sensible diet: no fatty food, junk food, fast food, takeaways, no fried food, cut down amount of salt, sugar, fat, eat a lot of vegetables, fruits, no sweets, chocolate
3. drinking – water no sweet drinks, enough drinking (approximetely 2l a day)
4. don’t eat too much (check your weight – don’t put on too much weight but don’t loose too much weight)

3. regular exercise
4. enough sleep, plenty of rest
5. no smoking, alcohol, drugs
6. try to avoid stress or cope with it easily

STRESSFUL SITUATIONS

Stressful situations in our lives – we can’t avoid them

• stress – a part of everyday life
• it affects our lives a great deal
• each of us can understand the term ‘stress’ differently – for some of us the stress are bad marks at school/a lot of HW/ morning‘s getting up / taking exams etc.; some of us think a stressful sitiuation is a visit of a dentist or any other practitioner, being ill or not having enough money.
• People deal with a stressful situation differently, each of us has his own way of getting rid of stress e.g – smoking / drinking alcohol / exercise / deep breathing / watching TV/ walking in the forrest / playing with pets / eating chcolate / buying clothes / going to the theatre, cinema.

PATIENT

Doctor’s visits:

1. make an appointment (telephone) – check the surgery hours
2. take a health-insurance company’s card with you
3. answer all the questions about your health and health problems, don’t forget the history and details of your health problems (it is important for the doctor to establish diagnosis)
4. a patient

• should repect the doctor’s recom­mendation
• should take the tablets prescribed by the doctor regularly according to the Prescription, have a rest in bed as long as it is necessry
• be careful about his health it means dress properly, not to drink too cold drinks, eat a lot of vegetable, fruits.
• not to bother the doctor with minor health problems but on the other hand not to underestimate some symptoms

Were you afraid of doctors when you were a child? Which illnesses did you suffer from when you were a child?