7. Health and Illness I try to lead a healthy way of life. I eat a lot of healthy foods, lots of vegetables and fruits. Unfortunetly, I don’t go to the gym and for swimming regularly. I’m a little bit lazy, I go everywhere by car. I I know, I must change my approach. Last month I was ill, I coughed all day and night and I had a sore throat. The GP examined me thoroughly. She told me to strip to the waist and sounded my lungs. She looked at my throat and took my blood pressure. She prescribed some antibiotics, antifebrile and vitamins. She gave me some antiseptic gargle for my throat. I was put on the sick-list, because I couldn’t to go to work. I was on sick leave 3 days and and got less pay for that period. I needed a doctor’s medical certificate to give a reason for my absence from work. The National Health Service patient is treated free and has to pay only for the medicine. A private patient payws for the treatment, too. The private surgeries and hospitals have more up-to-date equipment. On the other hand, the treatment can be rather expensive. In-patients are people, who stay in a hospital, while treating. Out-patients are people, who go to a hospital for treatment but don’t stay there. When I was 10 years, I was an in-patient. I had a tumour. I had a horrible pain in my stomach. An ambulance took me to the hospital, a paramedic dealed with me and gave me medical treatment. An ambulance is a kind of vehicle with special equipment, used for taking sick or injured people to hospital. I was taken to the operation theatre and anaesthetized. I woke up in a ward, the nurses took my temperature and made my bed. My relatives visited me in the afternoon. After a month, the stiches were removed, and I was allowed to go home. I think people should go to the dentist twice a year. Depending on the problem, the dentist drills and fills the tooth, or pulls it out. I had a very bad toothache a few months ago. I had a terrible pain, my dentist pulled this bad tooth out. My niece had braces, these are a set of wires you wear on your teeth to push them into the correct position. If you have problem with your eyesight, you should see the optician. He examines your eyes thoroughly, and on occasion he prescribes glasses or contact lenses. There are dangerous epidemics, like flu or typhoid, which spread very quickly one person to another , especially through the air, and infect many people. I don’t smoke. I don’t like people, who smoke. However, my husband sales cigarettes, nobody smokes in our family. If I were the leader of my country, I would forbid smoking. Smoking is very harmful, kill the people, cause a lot of illnesses, which are deadly. There are more expensive brands of cigarettes, a box costs about 500-600 Forint. This is waste of money. The cigarette advertisements lie, they don’t impress me. In Hungary it is forbidden to smoke in public places. Rooms must be designated for smokers in offices, restaurats, institutions and so on. Unfortunetly, I drink a lot of coffee, three times a day, but usually white coffee. This is my bad habit, I'm trying to get rid of it, because drinking too much coffee is harmful, it is full with caffeine, which increases the blood pressure.
