· Migraine, which usually occurs only on one side of the head and is associated with vomiting and visual disturbances such as flashing lights.
· Brain disease; acute as with meningitis and less acute as with raised blood pressure (by no means a common symptom) and stroke.
Treatment
Always take the patient's temperature and if it is raised, put him to bed and watch for the possible development of further signs and symptoms. Otherwise, give two acetylsalicylic acid or paracetamol tablets, which may be repeated every 4 hours.
All cases of persistent headache should be referred to a doctor at the first convenient opportunity.
I. Read and translate the text.
II. Give a synopsis of reasons for headache.
Heart pain and heart failure
When the caliber of the coronary arteries becomes narrowed by degenerative change, insufficient blood is supplied to the heart and consequently it works less efficiently. The heart may then be unable to meet demands for extra work beyond a certain level and, whenever that level is exceeded, attacks of heart pain (angina pectoris) occur. Between episodes of angina, the patient may feel well.
Any diseased coronary artery is liable to get blocked by a blood clot. If such a blockage occurs, the blood supply to a localized part of the heart muscle is shut off and a heart attack (coronary thrombosis) occurs.