Health care & Human Body

Health care & Human Body

A: HUMAN BODY

The human body consists of bony skeleton and muscles. The three parts of the body are the head, the trunk, and the limbs. The head, which is covered with hair, contains the brin – the centre of nervous system.

The parts of the face are the forehead, the eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth, the cheeks, and the chin. The main parts of the mouth are the lips, teeth which are set in gums and tongue.

We have two kinds of teeth in our lifetime: milk teeth and permament teeth. The eyes are the organs of sight. People with bad eyes must wear glasses. The ears are the organs of hearing. The nerves of the skin are the organs of touch. Those who do not hear are deaf. Those who cannot speak are dumb. The five senses are sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.

The head is attached to the trunk by the neck. The trunk includes: the chest, the back, the shoulders, waist and the abdomen. Limbs are legs and arms. Arm consists of upper arm, elbow, forearm, wrist and hand. Hand consists of 4 fingers, 1 thumb, palm and nails. Leg consists of thigh, knee, shin, calf, ankle and foot which consists of the heel, instep, sole and 5 toes. Human body consists of flesh, muscles, bones, skin and complexion, nerves, vessels with blood, fat.

The internals organs which we cannot see are the brain, the heart, the lungs, the stomach, and the liver with the gallbladder, the spleen, the kidneys and the bowels, Human skeleton consists of 206 bones: skull, backbone, ribs, joints, pelvis and other bones.

Brain(mozog) – this organ weighs about a kilo and is made up of two hemispheres. I tis like a super computer that works by processing information and sending it using very small electrical impulses.

Heart(srdce) – this organ works as a pump which beats 100,000 times a day. With each beat it moves eighty millilitres of blood – that´s the equivalent of 8,000 litres of blood per day! It pumps blood into lungs, where it receives oxygen, before being pumped around the rest of the body.

Lungs(pľúca) – these organs work like industrial fans which expel harmful substances from a factory. They absorb oxygen and expel carbon dioxide through millions of tiny air sacs. They are situated on either side of the heart. They receive air as a result of breathing and when blood passes through, they give it oxygen.

Liver(pečeň) – this is a large organ, weighing between 1.2 and 1.6 kilos. It works like a chemical plant converting chemicals from one form to another. Its job is to break down the toxins in our blood, thus helping to clean the body. 

B: SENSUAL AND PSYCHICAL STATES, DISEASES, VISITS AT THE DOCTOR´S, IN PHARMACY

Good health is important. It is important to see a doctor one or two times a year. The doctor can look at our bodies to discover health problems and take care of them early. In this way it is often possible to avoid serious illness. Many people pass through the clinic every day for checks ups.

If we still feel unwell, we finally decide to see a physician who is called General Practitioner. It is better to make an appointment with the doctor in his surgery time if we want to avoid long waiting in waiting room which may often be crowded. Then the nurse says „Next please“ and invites us into the consulting room.

The nurse has to look for our medical record and wants to see our insurance card and then takes our temperature. Then we are ready to enter the surgery. The doctor usually asks what the trouble is and then asks us to strip to the waist because he or she must examine our chest and throat. The doctor wants to know if we have a temperature, a good appetite and where we feel pain. Then he or she listens to our lungs and heart and we have to take a deep breath or stop breathing according to his orders.

He also wants us to open our mouth and say „Ah“ to see if our tonsils are red. Sometimes he or she checks the blood pressure and feels the pulse, takes the blood count and throat culture or puts urine through lab tests. We have to say how we feel, if we have a headache, a sore throat, a cold, a cough, or if we are sick and hoarse.

Finally the doctor diagnoses the case and therapy and prescribes a medicine. Most often we suffer from a commom infection such as flu, tonsilitis, bronchitis or pneumonia. At the pharmacy we get antibiotics, vitamins, pain relievers and gargle. We can also buy some medicinal herbs to prepare herbal tea. 
 
  We can suffer from various illnesses beginning with common children deseases sucha s: measles, chickenpox, mumps, scarlet-fever. Usually we suffer from common infections such as cold, flu, angina, indigestion, diarrhoea or constipation. In such cases we usually stay in bed, drink herbal teas, take pills, drops or vitamin and after a week or two we feel well again.

However the situation may sometimes be more serious and needs special treatment in the hospital, e.g. heart attack, breaking an arm or leg, animal or snake bite, severe bleeding, poisoning, unconsciousness or in the case of some real dangerous disease such as tuberculosis, anaemia, pneumonia, leukemia, diabetes, hepatitis.

The doctors´ care must be very attentive because human life is in danger. I tis the same situation with all possible operations and surgeon interferences. I tis enough to say that there are still diseases which cannot  be cured such as cancer or AIDS(Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).

CANCER is one of the biggest threats nowadays. Every year, more and more people of all ages are diagnosed with tumors or all types. However, scientists develop more and more effecient treatment techniques. In the last few years, they started to talk more about this disease in the media and we can say that it is not a taboo anymore.

We also get a lot of information about the prevention of cancer and its treatment. Daffodil Day is organised in many countries, including Slovakia. The money raised from Daffodil Day is used to fund scientific research of the causes and treatment of cancer and to provide support for people with cancer and their families. This way people also hear and learn more about it and they realise that anybody can become a patient of an oncology centre.

AIDS is one of the most serious diseases that threatens people nowdays. It is a viral disease that impairs the immune system of the human body leaving it open to any infection. Those infections that are not dangerous for people with normal immune systems may be mortally dangerous for AIDS patients. According to the World Health Organization more than 3.6 million people are infected.

It does not mean that they all will develop the disease, but all of 
them are able to infect other people. AIDS was first identified in homosexuals, but later it was found among intravenous drug abusers, haemophiliacs and other persons who had received blood transfusion, heterosexuals and their children. No cure or vaccine for AIDS has yet been discovered. Many countries of the world spend a lot of money trying to find a cure.

There are large publicity campaigns all over the world telling people all about AIDS prevention – trying to stop more people catching the disease. Advertisments in newspapers, on television and in the streets warn of the danger. Publicity has also concetrated on heterosexual people who are encouraged to use a condom to help to cut down the risk of catching AIDS. They are also advised to have only one sexual partner. The danger of AIDS has brought up questions of morality, promiscuity and fidelity in contemporary society.

In the last decade, the world has been threatened by flu epidemics. The first one, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), is a highly contagoius disease, which was first recognised in 2003. The virus probably originated in Chinese factory farms. The virus spread rapidly from Asia to other countries, including Canada, infecting hundred of people.

Scientists say that the development of effective drugs and vaccines for SARS is likely to take a long time. The second one, the bird flu, is very contagious among birds and can also kill some domesticated birds (e.g. chickens, ducks, turkeys). Thousands of birds had to be killed after the virus appeared on farms all over the world. The virus does not usually infect humans and transmission from one person to another has not been observed yet.

Stress – Anybody can suffer from stress. There are certain jobs that are very stressful, like some jobs in business or the police. Probably everyone suffers from stress at some time in their life – students, doctors, factory workers – anybody. Stress is caused by different factors.

One is time and pressures of work and study. At school, for example, students can become very stressed when they have a lot of homework to do and they feel they haven´t got enough time to do it all. Other factors can be social – if you have a problem with your family or friends or at school. And it depends on the person – if you´re shy, social occasions like parties can be very stressful. Stress can cause a lot of health problems.

There are lots of things you can do to reduce stress. You can organise your work or studies. For example, you can make a list and do all the important things first. You must eat well – have a good diet – and of course do exercise regularly. Finally, you can talk to people about your problems – talk to a friend, someone in your family or, if you´re studying, talk to a teacher. You can also do relaxation exercises.

C: HEALTHY WAY OF LIFE (GOOD NUTRITION, PHYSICAL AND MENTAL
HYGIENE

When we are young and healthy, we do not think much about healthy lifestyle or healthy food, and even when we do some physical exercise we think more about the shape of our body than about health. We take health for granted and often do things that harm our bodies. Smoking is one of the most obvious examples. People smoke even though they know how harmful smoking for their health is. 

Is there anything we can do to keep healthy and fit? We can certainly do a lot. In first place we should listen to our body, if often gives us a warning, when we eat, drink or do something that is not good for us. We should realise that sooner or later our body will respond to all we get into our body – food, drinks, cigarettes or drugs; and also what we get in mentally such as stress, grief, exhaustion. So we should keep ourselves in balance; work and relax, eat good food, which means rich in vitamins and minerals; drink a lot of water, go for walks, exercise, sleep at night and look at the bright side of our life. This could keep us fit physically and mentally. And we also have to be careful so that we do not get injured. Prevention is always better than remedy.

More and more people today seem to realise that good health means a longer and happier life. Therefore, they take better care of their health than before. They eat healthier food, practise different kinds of sports and try to avoid stressful situations as much as possible. A healthy, strong and beautiful body is an ideal for the majority of people and not only among the young. It is not so difficult to pursue this aim if you live in a developed country with good health care.

D: HEALTH CARE (PREVENTION AND VACCINATION)

Most kinds of medicine begin when you are ill. Preventive medicine begins when you are well. The idea is very simple. If you make your body strong and healthy, then you will not become ill. There are four ways to do this: 

1.  Try to eat fresh fruit and vegetable, brown bread, fish, white meat. Try not to eat chocolate, chips, hamburgers, food in tins and packets.

2.  Exercise: the best kind of exercise is aerobic. That means it makes you breathe more oxygen. But exercise is only good for you if you do it for more than 20 minutes and you do it at least three times a week. There are several different kinds of aerobic exercise. These include: jogging, swimming, walking, cycling. 

3.  Relaxation: it is important to eat well and exercise. But it is also important to relax. That’s because relaxation is the opposite of stress. It helps the body to rest and repair itself.

4.  Vaccination 

Children are vaccinated against some illnesses. Vaccines are administered in particular against typhus, tetanus, chicken-pox, whooping-cough, tuberculosis, polio, etc. There are illnesses and injuries, however, which cannot be helped by any vaccine. It’s hard to prevent bone fractures or appendicitis. Prevention, however, is the best medicine. That’s why, even when we’re healthy and nothing is bothering or vexing us, we shouldn’t underestimate even a mild cold.

E: PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HEALTH CARE (HEALTH INSURANCE, SPECIALIST DOCTORS)

The term "free medical care" includes any type of medical treatment – from seeing your doctor because of a common cold to the most complicated operation. The Health insurance system is undergoing some changes at present. Employers pay health insurance for their employees but everybody can pay extra money for his/her health insurance. Private people must buy their health insurance themselves.

If we fall ill or if we have an accident, we go to the Health Centre, Policlinic, Hospital or to some Private Doctor. Many factories and offices have their own doctors. To improve the situation and promote the competition we can choose our doctors now. There are various types of physicians who treat various diseases and disorders.

They are e.g. GP( general practitioners), dentists, surgeons, interns, oculists, pediatricians, gynecologists,psychiatrists, dermatologists, ear and throat specialists, orthopaedic specialists. During the communist period, there was a state monopoly in health care in our country. After the political changes in 1989, Slovakia gradually introduced a reform of the health care system.

Privatization (of pharmacies and hospitals) and the development of the insurance system were the main aims of the reform. Some hospitals became semi-independent institutions. Patients are now free to choose their doctor.