Lesson 3: Health

Today’s lesson covers a wide variety of health problems and their treatments.
We’re going to go through the different systems of the human body one by
one, studying the most common diseases and injuries that affect each of them.

Skin
Let’s start with several common problems affecting the skin:

 A burn is an injury from heat or fire. Burns are classified into first-
degree, second-degree, and third-degree burns – from less serious to
more serious.
 A bruise is a blue, purple, or black area on the skin due to an impact.
When this area is around the eye, we call this a “black eye.”

a bruise

 A cut is a break in the skin, usually accompanied by bleeding (when

blood comes out of the body). If you are bleeding, you should keep
pressure on the wound until the blood clots – hardens. A serious cut
may require stitches – and it may leave a scar – a permanent mark on
the skin.
 stitches

 A rash is an usual pattern of discoloration (often red or white)

which can be caused by an allergic reaction or a disease. It may be
itchy.

Circulatory System
Your circulatory system consists of your heart
and blood vessels – arteries, which take blood
away from the heart/lungs and transport it to
the other parts of your body; and veins, which
take blood back to the heart/lungs.

One extremely common health problem in the

world today is high blood pressure – when the
pressure of the blood flow is elevated. Another
common problem is high cholesterol –
excessive fat in the blood. This can lead to a
heart attack – when blood stops flowing to part
of the heart, due to a blockage in one of the arteries.
If someone’s heart stops beating, one emergency treatment is to use a
machine called a defibrillator, which gives the heart an electric shock. If no
defibrillator is available, someone can perform CPR in order to keep blood
flowing through the person’s body.

Demonstration of CPR

Brain & Nervous System

Your skull protects your brain – but if you hit your head very hard, you’ll
have a concussion, a minor injury to the brain due to impact. This may cause
you to lose consciousness. Two more common expressions for “lose
consciousness” are “faint” and “pass out.”
The major nerve that runs down the center of your back is called your spinal
cord. Injuries to the spinal cord can result in a person being paralyzed –
unable to move or feel parts of their body.

Problems in the brain that result in changes to a person’s mood, behavior,

and/or personality are known as mental illness. This is a general category
that includes depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other diseases.

Internal Organs
The number of problems that can affect the internal organs is huge, so let’s
focus on two of the most common: diabetes and cancer.

Diabetes results when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin – that’s
a chemical that helps your body process sugar. A person who has diabetes is
called diabetic, and they must carefully watch their diet and measure their
blood sugar regularly.

Cancer is a growth of abnormal cells in a part of the body. There are many
different types of cancer – some of them are known by the part of the
body affected (lung cancer, breast cancer, skin cancer) – and others have
special names (leukemia – a cancer of the blood).

A mass of abnormal cells is called a tumor. When a tumor is found, it must be

biopsied (analyzed) to discover if it is benign (meaning it is not cancer) or
malignant (meaning it IS cancer). Typical treatments for cancer include
surgery to remove the tumor, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy (use of
very powerful medications).

Finally, if an internal organ is diseased or damaged beyond repair, a person

may receive a transplant – an organ from another person (the one who gives
the organ is called the donor; the one who receives the organ is called the
recipient).
Muscles & Joints
Have you ever had one of these three injuries? They’re very common in
sports:

 A fracture is a broken bone. It can be diagnosed by X-ray, and the

treatment is usually to immobilize the affected part of the body with
a cast.

a leg cast

 A sprain is an injury to a joint; a ligament is over-extended or torn.

 A strain or pulled muscle occurs when a muscle is over-extended or
torn.

If one of a person’s limbs is so badly damaged or diseased that it threatens the

person’s health, doctors may have to amputate – remove – the affected arm,
leg, hand, foot, finger, or toe. People who have undergone this process are
known as amputees. Sometimes, they can begin using a prosthetic limb (an
artificial arm/leg/etc.) to replace the body part that was lost.
 An amputee with a prosthetic arm

As people age, they are prone to develop arthritis – which results in soreness
and stiffness (immobility) in the joints – and osteoporosis, a weakening of
the bones which results in easy fractures.

STDs – Sexually Transmitted Diseases

A disease that can pass from one person to another is called contagious. Some
diseases are spread by unprotected sexual relations. A few of these can be
cured (eliminated) with antibiotics (medications that kill bacteria).

Others, such as HIV/AIDS, do not yet have a cure – but the symptoms (the
visible effects of the disease) can be managed by medication. If a patient is
diagnosed early and takes all the meds, the prognosis (expectation for future
health) is good.

You’ve finished Lesson 3! Now continue to the exercises to practice the

vocabulary you’ve learned.
Pronunciation Practice
burn, bruise, cut, bleeding, clots, stitches, scar, rash, arteries, veins, high blood
pressure, high cholesterol, heart attack, defibrillator, CPR, concussion, faint,
pass out, spinal cord, paralyzed, mental illness, diabetes, cancer, diabetic,
tumor, biopsy, benign, malignant, radiation therapy, chemotherapy,
transplant, fracture, cast, sprain, strain, pulled muscle, amputate, amputee,
prosthetic limb, arthritis, osteoporosis, contagious, cured, antibiotics,
symptoms, prognosis

Quiz – Lesson 3
1) My uncle was a heavy drinker for years, and now his liver is no
longer functioning. He's on the waiting list for a .

A. cast
B. radiation therapy
C. transplant

2) As long as the disease is detected early, the for survival is excellent.

A. arthritis
B. contagious
C. prognosis

3) Peter firmly pressed a towel to his leg to try and stop the .

A. bleeding
B. bruising
C. burning

4) David saved the old woman's life by performing on her until the
ambulance arrived.
 A. CPR
B. HIV
C. STD

5) The patient's foot was run over by a bus. It couldn't be saved; doctors
had to it.

A. amputate
B. cut
C. transplant

6) Drinking lots of milk can help strengthen your bones and prevent
.

A. heart attacks
B. diabetes
C. osteoporosis

7) During the car accident, I hit my head on the window and got a mild
.

A. concussion
B. fracture
C. sprain

8) Jane suffered second-degree in the fire.

A. burns
B. stitches
C. scars

9) Tim was born with a rare genetic disease for which there is no .

A. chemotherapy
B. cure
C. tumor
10) Larry uses a wheelchair; he's from the chest down.

A. contagious
B. malignant
C. paralyzed

11) My father has a on his chest from heart surgery five years ago.

A. clot
B. stitch
C. scar

12) Nancy had multiple in her leg; she was in a cast for twelve weeks.

A. fractures
B. prosthetics
C. symptoms

13) People who eat a lot of fast food often have .

A. high cholesterol
B. mental illness
C. pulled muscles

14) The results of my mother's biopsy showed that her tumor is -

thank God!

A. benign
B. malignant
C. paralyzed

15) Valerie eats a low-sugar diet because she's .

A. arthritic
B. an amputee
C. diabetic
The quiz answers are at the end of this lesson.

Vocabulary Practice
Answer these questions. Whenever possible, use the vocabulary words from this
lesson.

1. When was the last time you had a burn, a bruise, and/or a cut?

2. Do you have any scars? What are they from?

3. Have you ever broken a bone, or had a strain or sprain? How did it happen?

4. If you had to choose, would you rather be paralyzed or have a

limb amputated? Why?

5. Are there any health problems that run in your family? (which
several people in your family have)?

6. If the doctors told you that you had advanced cancer, would you try all
the therapies, or would you let nature take its course?
7. If you were to die, would you give your organs for transplant? Why or
why not?

8. Are you the type of person to go to a doctor right away, or do you wait
until your symptoms get so bad that you can't ignore them?

9. Do you think that science will eventually find cures for every disease on
earth?

10. What's the worst health problem you (or a family member) has ever had?

Quiz Answers:

1.C 2.C 3.A 4.A 5.A 6.C 7.A 8.A 9.B 10.C 11.C 12.A 13.A 14.A 15.C