#ESL Podcast 227 – Describing Symptoms to a Doctor

##GLOSSARY

**stomachache –** a pain in the stomach

*Jenny has a stomachache because she ate too much junk food this afternoon.

**to come and go –** to appear and disappear; to arrive and leave

*Ella is tired because she was coming and going all day yesterday, between her

house, her work, the school, and store.

**heartburn –** a burning pain in the chest, usually caused by something you ate

*Whenever Dad eats pizza, he gets a bad case of heartburn.

**bloated –** uncomfortably full of food, gas, or water

*I drank too much soda with lunch and now I feel bloated.

**nauseous –** sick to one’s stomach; a feeling that one wants to vomit or throw up

*Standing on the roof of a tall building and looking down makes me feel

nauseous.

**to press –** to gently push; to push down

*The little boy pressed all of the buttons in the elevator so we had to stop on

every floor.

**headache –** a pain in the head

*Jeremiah says that his neighbors play their music too loudly and that’s why he

always has a headache.

**fatigued –** very tired

*After working 12 hours at the hospital, the doctor was very fatigued and she

needed some rest.

**stuffy nose –** the feeling that something is in one’s nose which makes it difficult

to breathe

*Grandpa always has a stuffy nose when he visits their house. Maybe he’s

allergic to their cats.

**cough –** the noise caused when air is forced through one’s throat, especially

when one is sick

*I would have enjoyed the opera, but it was difficult to hear the singers because

the man sitting behind me had a bad cough.

** sore throat –** a burning pain in one’s throat

*My mother taught me that whenever I have a sore throat, I should drink a lot of

orange juice and hot tea with lemon.

**earache –** a pain in the ear

*If a bad earache isn’t treated, the infection can cause a loss of hearing.

**stiff –** difficult to move

*My body is so stiff today because I went running yesterday for the first time in

six months.

**to lose feeling –** not to be able to feel anything; to have no feeling in a part of

one’s body

*Karen slept on her right arm, and when she woke up, she realized that she had

lost feeling in her hand.

**symptom –** a problem with one’s body that shows that someone isn’t healthy

*The symptoms of the flu include fever, body aches, and tiredness.

**in-laws –** the parents of one’s husband or wife

*Ever since my parents died, my in-laws have treated me like their own son.

**to admit (someone) –** to send someone to a clinic or hospital for special care,

usually overnight

*When the doctor couldn’t identify the cause of Carly’s symptoms, he admitted

her to the hospital for more tests.

##COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Why is Nick visiting the doctor?

a) He feels very sick and has an unusual combination of symptoms.

b) He thinks he broke his leg because it is stiff and he has trouble walking.

c) He wants the doctor to send him to the hospital so he won’t need to go home.

2. Dr. van Eyck believes that:

a) Nick isn’t really sick, but he is having trouble at home.

b) Nick should take medicine and rest in bed for three days.

c) Nick’s symptoms are very dangerous and he should go to the hospital

immediately.

##WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

to press

The verb *“to press,”* in this podcast, means to gently push: “She pressed a bag of

ice against her forehead, hoping that it would make her headache go away.” The

verb *“to press”* can also mean to try to persuade or convince someone else. For

example, “The salesperson is pressing the young family to buy the most

expensive car, even though they don’t need it.” Another meaning of *“to press”* is

to make something flat: “She pressed the flowers between the pages of a heavy

book.” As a noun, *“the press”* refers to newspapers and magazines or the people

who work for newspapers and magazines. For example, “Americans believe in

freedom of the press, which means that the government should not control what

is written in newspapers and magazines.”

to lose feeling

In this podcast, the phrase *“to lose feeling”* means to not be able to feel anything:

“After the car accident, he lost all feeling in both of his legs and now he can’t

walk.” Many idioms use the verb *“to lose.”* For example, *“to lose it”* is an

informal expression that means to be out of control and unable to stop oneself

from laughing or crying: “When she heard that she had won the lottery, she

completely lost it and began screaming, laughing, and crying at the same time.”

The phrase *“to lose oneself”* means to become very interested in something so

that nothing else is important: “Whenever he plays video games on the computer,

he completely loses himself and he doesn’t hear his mother calling his name.”

##CULTURE NOTE

Companies that create new medicines must spend a lot of money on research

and development. These companies want to know that they will receive money

for these medicines once they are ready to be sold to *“consumers”* (buyers). For

this reason, the United States allows these companies to *“patent”* (legally protect)

their medicines.

This patent system guarantees that for a certain period of time no other company

is allowed to sell the same medicine. All of the money from sales of the medicine

during this time is kept by the original company. This patent system is good for

the companies that create medicines because it lets them earn back the money

they spent on research. It also gives them an *“incentive”* or a good reason to

continue researching and developing new medicines. However, it makes

medicine extremely expensive for consumers in the United States.

For this reason, many Americans cannot afford to buy the medicines that they

need. Fortunately, there are some ways to avoid paying high prices. Some

people buy only *“generic”* (not name brand) medicines, which are much cheaper

than branded medicines, but contain the same medicine. Other people pay for

*“prescription drug”* (medicine recommended by a doctor) insurance, which pays

for a certain percentage of the cost of their medicines.

A popular way to avoid paying high prices for medicine is to buy medicines from

other countries. For example, most medicines are much less expensive in

Canada than in the United States, so some Americans choose to go on vacation

in Canada to buy medicines to bring home or buy them online. Many doctors

and politicians are concerned about the safety of buying medicines in other

countries where quality may not be as high, but until the price of medicines goes

down, many Americans will continue to buy their medicines from other countries.

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – c; 2 – a

##COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to number 227: Describing

Symptoms to a Doctor.

This is number 227. I'm your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in

beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Remember to visit our website at eslpod.com and download a copy of the

Learning Guide for this podcast.

The topic for today's podcast is *“Describing Symptoms to a Doctor.”* Let's get

started.

[start of story]

Dr. van Eyck: Good morning, I’m Dr. van Eyck. I understand that you’re not

feeling well.

Nico: That’s right, doctor. I’ve had a stomachache for three days. The pain

comes and goes, but I also have heartburn and I am feeling bloated all the time.

Dr. van Eyck: Well, let’s take a look. Have you felt nauseous? Does it hurt

when I press here?

Nico: Oh yes, that hurts, and I feel nauseous all the time. But, doctor, that’s not

all. I’ve also had bad headaches in the past week and I feel fatigued all the time.

Dr. van Eyck: Have you had a stuffy nose, a cough, a sore throat, or an

earache?

Nico: Yes, I’ve had all of those.

Dr. van Eyck: You have? All of them?

Nico: And, there’s more. I’ve been feeling pains in my leg. Sometimes it feels

stiff and sometimes I lose feeling in it. I’m having a lot of trouble walking.

Dr. van Eyck: I have to say that you have an unusual combination of symptoms.

Have there been any significant changes in your life in the past few days?

Nico: Well, my in-laws are visiting from out of town. Do you thi...