Page 115 - English Vocabulary in Use (Pre & Intermediate)

54. Health: illness and disease

A Common problems

J
She’s sneezing. | She’s coughing. She’s got a She’s blowing She’s got
a sore throat. her nose. a temperature.

What's the matter? How do you know? (the symptoms) — Cause of illness
I’ve got a cold a sore throat, sneezing, a cough a virus
I’ve got flu (U) (more symptoms for a cold + aching a virus
serious than a cold) muscles and a temperature, e.g. 39.5
I’ve got hay fever (U) sneezing, runny nose, sore eyes allergic reaction to
pollen from grass
I've got diarrhoea (U) I keep going to the toilet often food, or a virus
I feel sick I want to vomit (= be sick) many e.g. food, alcohol
I’ve got a hangover headache, feeling sick too much alcohol
Note: For these illnesses, you can either buy something from the chemist, or go to your
doctor, who may give you a prescription (= a piece of paper with an order for some
medicine) that you get from the chemist.

Aches and pains

Nouns: We only use ache with the following: I’ve got toothache (U), a stomach-ache,
backache (U), earache (U) and a headache. For other parts of the body we use pain,
e.g. | woke up in the night with a terrible pain in my chest.
Verbs: You can use ache for some things, e.g. my back aches; but hurt is more common to
describe real pain, and it can be used with or without a direct object:
She hurt her foot when she jumped off the bus and fell over. (also injured here) or
She hurt herself when she jumped off the bus and fell over.
l hit my leg against the table and it really hurts. (= gives me a terrible pain)
Adjectives: The only common adjective is painful (# painless):
I had an injection yesterday and it was very painful.
A: Did it hurt when you had your filling? (= when the dentist fills a hole/cavity in the tooth)
8: No, it was painless.

Serious illnesses

Doctors believe smoking is the major cause of lung cancer...
heart
He had a heart attack and died almost immediately.
Hepatitis is a liver disease.
Asthma (chest illness causing breathing problems) has stomach
become more common. liver

Note: Illness and disease are often used in the same way,
but disease is used for a serious condition caused by an
infection e.g. a liver disease. Illness is a more general word.

112 English Vocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate & intermediate)