ENGLISH FOR NURSING

DISEASES AND ILLNESS

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Once you have completed the module, you’ll be able to:

 Read aloud the reading text

 Identify the answer of reading comprehension questions, and
 Find the specific terms and write the sample sentences.

READING ALOUD
Direction. Read aloud the dialogue below.

Diseases and Illness

Extract from a medical journal.

According to recent statistics from the American Center for Disease Control
(CDC), the number of people suffering from serious diseases has increased
when compared to ten years ago. This raises the questions:

Why has this happened?

and

What can be done to stop it?

The expectation was that this number would decrease thanks to advances in
medical science which have helped in the fight against illnesses.

Anemia, for example, is now a treatable disorder but this alone is not

enough to get rid of the larger problem of heart disease which now affects
over 26.5 million people in America and is largely caused by poor diet.

On the other hand modern medicine has proved very effective in

combating meningitis, with new treatments offered for
both viral and bacterial versions of the disease. Polio, which was one of the
major concerns of the last century, is close to being eradicated with only a
few outbreaks in certain parts of the developing world.

There are of course many diseases which remain incurable such as acquired

immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which although is far from the levels of
near epidemic of the 1980's remains a major concern for world healthcare.
Modern medicine has developed a way to treat for AIDS but has yet to find a

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cure. Another incurable illness is influenza (flu), which although affecting
over 10% of the population of the western world is only treatable proactively in
the form of a vaccination. So while medical advances have made it possible to
treat, cure or even eradicate illness there are still many conditions which
remain dangerous.

When thinking about why the number of people suffering from serious
diseases is so high, you have to look both at the current state of medical
knowledge and also trends in patients' lifestyles. The number of
reported sexually transmitted diseases (STD's) has increased steadily
over the past 50 years partly as a result of acceptance of the diseases and partly
as the young generation tends to take more risks than their parents did.

Chlamydia is a good example of this, figures released by the World Health

Organization (WHO) indicate that there was a 7% rise in the number of cases
of Chlamydia in the US in 2012 when compared to the previous year. The
increase was highest among teens, who may not even realize that they have
an infectious disease or are too embarrassed to report it straightaway which
may in-turn lead to infertility.

The answer to the question "What can be done to stop the trend of increasing
levels of disease?" may be as simple as education. If people knew the risks
associated with their current lifestyle, they may be encouraged to make some
change which would spare them future illness. A great example of this can be
seen in the European approach to reducing lung cancer rates by running
public information adverts on the dangers of smoking. Or on a smaller scale, in
programs to educate children on the causes of diabetes and how to avoid
contracting it.

While it may not be possible for medicine to fight against every disease, the
number of terminal diseases is decreasing and if this is combined with
education on how to lead a healthier life - the future looks good. (Source:
https://www.medicalenglish.com/module/core/unit/6/reading)

READING COMPREHENSION
Direction. Decide whether the statement is true or false based on the text above.

1. AIDS, influence and anemia are incurable diseases.

True

False

(TRUE
)

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2. Cancer and diabetes are highly infectious disorders.

True

False

(TRUE
)

3. Both, viral and bacterial meningitis can be terminal, if not treated promptly.

True

False

(TRUE)

4. Health education can stop the trend of increasing levels of disease.

True

False

(FALSE
)

5. The increased number of reported sexually transmitted disease had no correlation

to the patients’ lifestyle.

True

False

(TRUE)

VOCABULARY
Direction. Find seven specific terms on the text above. Write the definition and the
sample sentence.

1. Disorder: an abnormal physical or mental condition

Sentence: Millions of people suffer from some form of personality disorder.

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2. Outbreaks: the sudden or violent start of disease unwelcome

Sentence: If Indonesia doesn't vaccinate a large enough number of its population to

help crush this outbreak, the surge could become the country's worst yet, some
experts warn.

3. Influenza: an acute, highly contagious, respiratory disease caused by any of three

orthomyxoviruses

Sentence: I’ve been having influenza since three days ago.

4. Anemia: Caused by a lack of red blood ceels

Sentence: symptoms of anemia in children such as loss of appetite,difficulty in

fokus,loss of the immune system’, and behavioral disorders, or the common people
are more familiar with the symptoms of 5l (lictless,weak,weary,tired),paleface,fireflies

5. Polio: is ane illners that happened from a viral attack

Sentence: outbreaks in many stated are developing

6. AIDS: Disease that damage the immune system

Sentence: AIDS is major concern for wind health

7. Flu: A common viral infection that Can be lethal especially in high riak groups

Sentence: I Have Cold right now

8. Meningitis: Inflamation of the brain

Sentence: symptoms include headche,fever,and stiffness of neck

9. Vaksin: Biological Availability used to produce adaptive resistance to ceritain

anfectious
Sentence: Preventing the virus from coming in
10. CDC: Centers for disease control prevention are united stataes health and human
services agencies based in dekalb country Georgia adjacent to the university
campus of Emory and eart of atlanta

Sentence: The Number of people suffeering from serious illness

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