Medical advances improving lives

Vocabulary

1. Match the words with their definitions and write the transcription of the words in column 2. Translate the words in column 1 into Russian:

		3
1) rabies		a) an acute highly contagious viral disease characterized by high fever, severe prostration, and a pinkish rash changing in form from papules to pustules, which dry up and form scabs that are cast off, leaving pitted depressions
2) tetanus		b) a highly contagious viral disease commonin children, characterized by fever, profuse nasal discharge of mucus, conjunctivitis, and a rash of small red spots spreading from the forehead down to the limbs
3) diphtheria		c) a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C, characterized by anaemia, spongy gums, bleeding beneath the skin, and (in infants) malformation of bones and teeth
4) typhoid fever		d) a contagious viral disease of cows characterized by vesicles on the skin, esp on the teats and udder. Inoculation of humans with this virus provides temporary immunity to smallpox. It can be transmitted to other species, esp. cats
5) malaria		e) n acute intestinal infection characterized by severe diarrhoea, cramp, etc.: caused by ingestion of water or food contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio comma
6) anthrax		f) a highly infectious and often fatal disease of herbivores, esp cattle and sheep, characterized by fever, enlarged spleen, and swelling of the throat. Carnivores are relatively resistant. It is caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis and can be transmitted to man
7)smallpox		g) an acute infectious viral disease of the nervous system transmitted by the saliva of infected animals, esp dogs. It is characterized by excessive salivation, aversion to water, convulsions, and paralysis
8) measles		h) Also called: lockjaw an acute infectious disease in which sustained muscular spasm, contraction, and convulsion are caused by the release of exotoxins from the bacterium, Clostridium tetani: infection usually occurs through a contaminated wound
9) scurvy		i) an acute contagious disease caused by the bacillus Corynebacterium diphtheriae, producing fever, severe prostration, and difficulty in breathing and swallowing as the result of swelling of the throat and formation of a false membrane
10)cowpox		j) an acute infectious disease characterized by high fever, rose-coloured spots on the chest or abdomen, abdominal pain, and occasionally intestinal bleeding. It is caused by the bacillus Salmonella typhosa ingested with food or water. Also called: enteric fever
11) cholera		k) an infectious disease characterized by recurring attacks of chills and fever, caused by the bite of an anopheles mosquito infected with any of four protozoans of the genus Plasmodium
12) mumps		l) a disease mainly of children, characterized by softening of developing bone, and hence bow legs, malnutrition, and enlargement of the liver and spleen, caused by a deficiency of vitamin D
13) tuberculosis (TB)		m)1) any widespread and usually highly contagious disease with a high fatality rate 2) an infectious disease of rodents, esp rats, transmitted to man by the bite of the rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis)
14)pertussis (whooping cough)		o) an acute infectious disease characterized by coughing spasms that end with a shrill crowing sound on inspiration: caused by infection with the bacillus Bordetella pertussis. Technical name: pertussis
15)plague		p) a communicable disease caused by infection with the tubercle bacillus, most frequently affecting the lungs (pulmonary tuberculosis)
16) hepatitis A		q) a disease of domestic animals and humans, caused by the spirochaete Borrelia burghdorferi and transmitted by ticks, and variously affecting the joints, heart, and brain
17) rubella		r) any one of a group of acute infectious rickettsial diseases characterized by high fever, skin rash, and severe headache. Also called: typhus fever
18) typhus		s) a mild contagious viral disease, somewhat similar to measles, characterized by cough, sore throat, skin rash, and occasionally vomiting. It can cause congenital defects if caught during the first three months of pregnancy. Also called: German measles
19) lyme disease		t) a form of hepatitis caused by a virus transmitted in contaminated food or drink
20) rickets		u)an acute contagious viral disease of the parotid salivary glands, characterized by swelling of the affected parts, fever, and pain beneath the ear: usually affects children Also called: epidemic parotitis

Listening

You are going to watch a presentation about medical advances of the 21 century. Want do you think they are.

What can you tell about synthetic stem cell research, genetic engineering and the artificial heart? What is your opinion of these advances? Can you see some of their disadvantages or even dangers?

Watch the presentation and check if you were right.

Before you read

You are going to read an article in the form of a chart about the revolutionary discoveries that transformed the world of medicine to what it is today. Think of five greatest discoveries on the field of medicine and put them in order of importance for you. What do you think is the most important medical discovery in the last 100-200 years and why? Give your reasons.

· Compare your answers with a partner