Illness, disease, sickness? That is our business!

The last blog post was on a medical topic, so let's go on with it. Today we have here some collocations, i.e. words that often go together, this time about illnesses.

First, let's look at some collocations about becoming ill. There are a few ways how to express what has happened to you:

catch a cold/an infectious disease/the flu/
(British English) flu/pneumonia/a virus/(informal) a bug 
get (British English) ill/(North American English) sick/a disease/AIDS/breast cancer/a cold/the flu/(British English) flu/a migraine 
come down with a cold/the flu/(British English) flu
contract a deadly disease/a serious illness/HIV/AIDS
be infected with a virus/a parasite/HIV 
develop cancer/diabetes/a rash/an ulcer/symptoms of hepatitis
have a heart attack/a stroke 
provoke/trigger/produce an allergic reaction 
block/burst/rupture a blood vessel 
damage/sever a nerve/an artery/a tendon

The next part is about being ill:

feel (British English) ill/sick/nauseous/queasy
have diabetes/heart disease/lung cancer/a headache/(British English) a high temperature/(North American English) a fever 
suffer from asthma/malnutrition/frequent headaches/bouts of depression/a mental disorder 
be laid up with/(British English) be in bed with a cold/the flu/(British English) flu/a migraine 
nurse a cold/a headache/a hangover 
battle/fight cancer/depression/addiction/alcoholism

And the last part tells you something about various treatments:

examine a patient 
diagnose a condition/disease/disorder 
be diagnosed with cancer/diabetes/schizophrenia 
prescribe/be given/be on/take drugs/medicine/medication/pills/painkillers/antibiotics
treat somebody for cancer/depression/shock 
have/undergo an examination/an operation/surgery/a kidney transplant/therapy/chemotherapy/treatment for cancer 
have/be given an injection/(British English) a flu jab/(North American English) a flu shot/a blood transfusion/a scan/an X-ray 
cure a disease/an ailment/cancer/a headache/a patient 
prevent the spread of disease/further outbreaks/damage to the lungs 
be vaccinated against the flu/(British English) flu/the measles/(British English) measles/polio/smallpox 
enhance/boost/confer/build immunity to a disease

Now let's look at the differences between illness and disease, illness and sickness, and other related words that are often mistaken.

illness, disorder, infection, condition, ailment, bug: These are all words for a medical problem. 
- disease is a medical problem affecting humans, animals or plants, often caused by infection: He suffers from a rare blood disease. 
- illness is a medical problem, or a period of suffering from one: She died after a long illness. 
Disease or illness? Disease is used to talk about more severe physical medical problems, especially those that affect the organs. Illness is used to talk about both more severe and more minor medical problems, and those that affect mental health: heart/kidney/liver illness X mental disease. Disease is not used about a period of illness: she died after a long disease.
Disorder (rather formal) is an illness that causes a part of the body to stop functioning correctly: a rare disorder of the liver. A disorder is generally not infectious. Disorder is used most frequently with words relating to mental problems, for example psychiatric, personality, mental and eating. When it is used to talk about physical problems, it is most often used with blood, bowel and kidney, and these are commonly serious, severe or rare. 
Infection is an illness that is caused by bacteria or a virus and that affects one part of the body: a throat infection.
Condition is a medical problem that you have for a long time because it is not possible to cure it: a heart condition.
Ailment (rather formal) is an illness that is not very serious: childhood ailments.
Bug (informal) is an infectious illness that is usually fairly mild: a nasty flu bug.

sickness, ill health, trouble: These are all words for the state of being physically or mentally ill.
- illness is the state of being physically or mentally ill.
- sickness is an illness; bad health: I recommend you get insurance against sickness and unemployment.
Illness or sickness? Sickness is used especially in contexts concerning work and insurance. It is commonly found with words such as pay, leave, absence and insurance. Illness has a wider range of uses and is found in more general contexts.
Ill health (rather formal) the state of being physically ill or having lots of health problems: She resigned because of ill health. Ill health often lasts a long period of time.
Trouble is an illness or pain: heart trouble. When trouble is used with this meaning, it is necessary to say which part of the body is affected. 
- chronic illness/sickness/ill health.
- to suffer from illness/sickness/ill health/heart, etc. trouble.

What were you vaccinated against? Have you ever been diagnosed with a severe illness? Do you suffer from an allergy? How many times have you had to undergo an operation?

Do you feel more confident with common medical vocabulary now? I hope all those new words won't provoke some allergic reaction in you so that you would have to be in bed with fever! :)

Collocations taken from Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.