Diseases

Have you imagined the following scenario? You’re in an English-speaking country and everything is going very well, until…you start to feel ill. Your stomach hurts, you start to feel like you have a fever and you wonder what to do. You’ll definitely want to seek medical advice.

Certainly, the following question will pop into your head: How can I explain to the healthcare workers what I’m feeling? And what if I can’t understand what they’re asking me or telling me to do? Don’t worry! In this article, we’re going to cover vocabulary about symptoms and diseases. 

 

Symptoms and diseases

It’s important to remember that, when visiting a healthcare service, you should stay calm; this will facilitate the processes, as well as helping you communicate better and understand the instructions you receive. We’ll start by going over some general vocabulary about symptoms and illnesses:

Allergy

Depression

Diarrhea

Ache

Pain

Headache

Stomachache

Sore throat

Earache

Sneeze

Constipation

Fever

Broken bone

Inflammation

High blood pressure

Low blood pressure

Runny nose

Feeling weak

Cough

 

Serious Diseases

In the previous list, we covered vocabulary related to general illnesses and symptoms that are usually not very serious. However, some cases could require urgent attention or hospitalisation. 

Next, we’ll see vocabulary related to some serious diseases:

Appendicitis

Seizure

Stroke

Dehydration

Haemorrhage

Renal insufficiency

Paralysis

Thrombosis (blood clots)

 

Heart Diseases

Besides the above vocabulary, it will also be useful for you to learn a little about heart diseases. Usually, healthcare professionals need information that’s as specific as possible in this regard.

Arrhythmia

Coronary artery disease

Arterioesclerosis

Heart attack

Congenital heart disease

Cardiac arrest

 

Words Related to Health

Now that you’ve learnt the most important vocabulary related to symptoms and illnesses, we’re going to cover more general vocabulary about health and some phrases that will no doubt be very useful for you when visiting the doctor.

Needle

Cotton ball

Pain killer

Plaster (UK) / Band-aid (US)

Clinic

Heal

Diagnosis

Wound

Hospital

Injection / Jab (UK)

Syrup

Syringe

Medicine

Pills

Prescription

Treatment

Bandage

Cast

Examples of phrases you’ll hear from medical personnel:

How do you feel?

What are your symptoms?

When did you start feeling like this?

We need some X-rays.

Take this medicine/syrup every 6 hours.

This is your prescription.

 

Phrases that will help you express what you feel

I don’t feel well. I have a headache.

I broke my leg while playing football.

I’m allergic to penicillin.

I’ve been feeling dizzy since last night.

I have an earache.

My skin is dry and itchy.

 

We hope this article is interesting and useful for you, and that it will help you communicate your symptoms in a medical emergency. Remember that you can never be too prepared for any situation in a country that speaks another language.

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