UNIT 14 SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS (PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH IN USE MEDICINE)

PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH IN USE MEDICINE

UNIT 14 SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS

A.       Describing problems

The problems which  a patient reports to the doctor are called symptoms, for example pain or nausea. Signs are what the doctor finds, also known as findings, on examining the patient, for example high blood pressure or a rapid pulse rate. Symptoms are also known as complaints. To report a patient’s symptoms or complaints, doctors say:

Mr Farnsworth was admitted complaining of chest pain.

In case notes, the abbreviation c/o is used:

c/o chest pain

B.        Presentation

Patients say they went to (see) the doctor; doctors say the patient presented. The symptom which causes the patient to visit a doctor – or to present – is called the presenting symptom, presenting complaint or presentation.

His

presenting symptom presenting complaint

was chest pain

He presented to his GP with chest pain

The usual presentation is chest pain

C.       Talking about symptoms

Symptom	Meaning	Patients say
tiredness lethargy fatigue lassitude	loss of energy	I feel tired all the time I feel completely worn out. Lately I’ve been feeling completely exhausted at the end of the day.
malaise	general feeling of being unwell	I feel unwell. I don’t feel well. I’ve been feeling off-colour for two days. I haven’t been feeling myself for a week. I’ve been out of sorts all day.
anorexia	loss of appetite	My appetite is very poor. I’ve been off my food for days.
weight gain	increase in weight	I’ve put on eight kilos in the last year. I’ve gained five kilos.
weight loss	decrease in weight	I’m not eating any less than usual but I’ve lost a lot of weight recently.
constipation	hard, infrequent faeces	My motions are very hard. I’ve been quite constipated lately I’m not very regular.

Note: the verb feel is also used with other adjectives, such as hot, cold, nervous, anxious, dizzy,weak – She said she felt dizzy.

EXERCISES

14.1.       Complete the table with words from C opposite. Put a stress mark in front of the stressed syllable in each word. The first one has been done for you.

Noun	Adjective
ex’haustion
fatigue
lethargy
tiredness

14.2       Make word combinations using a word or phrase from each box. Look at A, B and C opposite to help you.

complain off- out of present put worn

with of out on colour sorts

14.3       Complete the sentences with the correct grammatical form of present.

1	A 67-year-old man ____________ with a 9-month history of increasing shortness of breath.
2	The most common ____________ is loss of consciousness.
3	Cranial arteries may ____________ as fever without any obvious causes.
4	The patient usually ____________ with a severe sore throat.
5	The ____________ symptoms in this patient could perhaps be due to renal failure.
6	Other conditions with a similar ____________ include acute cholecystitis.
7	Reduced growth is an important ____________ complain of coeliac disease.
8	Two months following ____________, the patient was able to walk.

14.4`     Read the patient’s description of her symptoms then complete the case report. Look at C opposite to help you..

I was well until a few months ago. In the beginning, I just felt off-colour and a bit tired. But lately I’ve beeb feeling completely worn out at the end of the day. I’m not eating any more than usual but I’ve put on nine kilos in the last year. My motions are hard and my hair has started to fall out.

Case 13

A 50-year-old housewife, who had been well until four months ago previously, 1 ____________ of tiredness and 2 ____________. She had 3 ____________ 9 kg in weight in the year before she 4 ____________ to her GP although she denied eating more than usual. She was 5____________ and she noticed that her hair had started to fall out.

ANSWER KEY