English club: Drugs and Medicine

Dear participants of our weekly English club. During our next session on February, 23, we are going to discuss the topic of “Drugs and Medicine”. Please, be ready to answer the following questions. And don’t forget to study the vocabulary and do the exercises! And there’s also more interesting information for you on the subject.

Questions:

1. Do most people in your country prefer traditional medicine, modern medicine, or a combination of the two?
2. Do you take medicine when you are sick?
3. When you have stress, do you take medicine? What are some ways to deal with stress?
4. Do you think that teas and natural herbs can be just as effective as modern medicine or even more effective for treating certain illness than modern medicine?              
5. Do you take vitamins or mineral supplements?
6. What type of treatment would you recommend to a person who has the flu?
7. What do you think about the health care system in your country? Do you go for regular medical check-ups? If not, why? Do you go to the dentist’s twice a year? 
8. Are you pro euthanasia? Should doctors be allowed to prescribe a lethal dose of medicine to patients who want to end their lives?
9. Do you consider alcohol a drug? Do you drink? Is alcohol addictive? What about tea, coffee, and chocolate?
10. Have you heard any stories of faith healers? If so, tell about one.
11. Should doctors be allowed to prescribe marijuana? If so, to whom and for what reasons?       
12. Do you think men are more likely to use illegal drugs than women? Why or why not? What about legal ones?
13. Why do you think so many famous people use drugs?
14. Can a person become addicted to prescription drugs? Which ones? Are there any illegal drugs that a person can’t become addicted to?   

To learn more about drug prescription, watch “Practical English: Understanding Medicine Label”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOYmjOmvVcQ  

“Sounds Medical Podcast” features some audio documentaries on topics and some interviews with professionals in the medical practice: http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Self-Development/Diet-and-Nutrition/Sound-Medicine-Podcast/7259

Exercises on topic «Medicine»:

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=3370

http://www.ihbristol.com/free-english-exercises/test/esol-smc-health-and-medicine

Medical English Reading exercises: http://www.englishmed.com/html/reading/readingindex.htm

Medical English for professionals: http://www.businessenglishsite.com/medical-english-tests.html

10 Amazing Medical Facts of the Body 

1. A person can expect to breathe in about 40 pounds of dust over his/her lifetime.
2. Don’t stick out your tongue if you want to hide your identity. Similar to fingerprints, everyone also has a unique tongue print!
3. Your pet isn’t the only one in the house with a shedding problem. Humans shed about 600,000 particles of skin every hour. That works out to about 1.5 pounds each year, so the average person will lose around 105 pounds of skin by age 70.
4. An adult has fewer bones than a baby. We start off life with 350 bones, but because bones fuse together during growth, we end up with only 206 as adults.
5. Did you know that you get a new stomach lining every three to four days? If you didn’t, the strong acids your stomach uses to digest food would also digest your stomach.
6. Your nose is not as sensitive as a dog’s, but it can remember 50,000 different scents.
7. This will really make your skin crawl: Every square inc­h of skin on the human body has about 32 million bacteria on it, but fortunately, the vast majority of them are harmless.
8. The air from a human sneeze can travel at speeds of 100 miles per hour or more -another good reason to cover your nose and mouth when you sneeze -or duck when you hear one coming your way.
9. No wonder babies have such a hard time holding up their heads: The human head is one-quarter of our total length at birth but only one-eighth of our total length by the time we reach adulthood.
10. If you say that you’re dying to get a good night’s sleep, you could mean that literally. You can go without eating for weeks without succumbing, but eleven days is tops for going without sleep. After eleven days, you’ll be asleep — forever!

Films you can watch on the subject of “Drugs and Medicine”:

“Awakenings” (1990) — the victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them

To watch “Awakenings” online go to: http://stagevu.com/video/nhimvvfzglcb

“One flew over the cuckoo’s nest” (1975) — Upon arriving at a mental institution, a brash rebel rallies the patients to take on the oppressive Nurse Ratched, a woman more dictator than nurse.
To watch “One flew over the cuckoo’s nest” online go to: http://stagevu.com/video/laokiinuxava

“Requiem for a dream” (2000) — The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island individuals are shattered when their addictions become stronger.
To watch “Requiem for a dream” in 7 episodes go to: http://watch32.com/movies-online/requiem-for-a-dream-204994/episode-1.html

Vocabulary on the topic:

(head) cold — насморк 

incurable illness/disease — неизлечимая болезнь

painkiller — болеутоляющее средство

side-effect — побочное действие          

prescription — рецепт   

remedy, cure — средство            

pale, pallid — бледный 

pain; ache — боль           

ill, sick, diseased — больной       

fit, in good shape — в хорошей форме 

to fall ill (with), to be taken ill (with) — заболевать/заболеть (чем)       

infectious; contagious — заразный         

to faint, to swoon — падать/упасть в обморок

to take (some) medicine — принимать/принять лекарство      

to catch/get a cold — простужаться/простудиться         

weak, feeble — слабый

to suffer (from) — страдать (от чего)    

to feel well/good — чувствовать себя хорошо 

aggravatoin — ухудшение

ambulance — машина скорой помощи

anaesthetic — обезболивающее

become delirious — начать бредить

cleanse — дезинфицировать

contract a desease — подцепить болезнь

exhale — выдыхать

inhale — вдыхать

iodine — йод

to put in a cast/to put a cast on — наложить гипс

treat smb for smth — лечить кого-то от чего-то

vaccination — прививка

wholesome – полезный

Medical and Health Idioms

alive and kicking — жив и здоров: My aunt is ninety years old and she is very much alive and kicking.

pull through – справиться с болезнью, выкарабкаться: The car accident was very bad and I do not think that the driver will pull through.

as fit as a fiddle – здоров как бык: My grandfather is ninety years old but he is as fit as a fiddle.

come down with (something) – заболеть чем-либо: My niece came down with a cold and was unable to visit me last week.

at death’s door – на пороге смерти: The sales manager was at death’s door after his heart attack.

head shrinker — психотерапевт: The man went to see a head shrinker after his recent problems at work.

bitter pill to swallow — горькая пилюля: Losing the election was a bitter pill to swallow for the candidate.

black out — падать в обморок: The football player blacked out after being hit by the other player.

splitting headache — ужасная головная боль: I have been suffering from a splitting headache all morning.

in the best of health – здоровый, в добром здравии: My father has been in the best of health for many years.

break out in a cold sweat — покрыться холодным потом: I usually break out in a cold sweat when I have to make a speech.