S e c o n d e d I t I o n 1 Reading for the Real World 1

Health Problems of Obesity
Discussion
Discuss the following questions.
1.
What method do you use to determine your body fat? Would you like to try the 
BMI? Why or why not?
2.
What do you think is the best way to lose weight?
Track 10
 

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Vocabulary Preview
 
Match each word or phrase with the correct definition.
1.
bark 
a.
to feel pain
2.
cluster 
b.
a small group of things close to each other
3.
insight 
c.
the covering on a tree’s trunk
4.
powder 
d.
to start; to begin
5.
set off 
e.
small pieces, like dust
6.
suffer 
f.
an understanding of something
Pre-Reading Questions
Think about the following questions.
1.
How often do you get headaches?
2. 
When you get headaches, what do you do?
3. 
Is there anything you can do to avoid headaches?
Studying 
Headaches
 
H e a l t h & M e d i c i n e
2
U N
I
T
3

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36
Studying Headaches
5
10
15
20
25
H 
eadaches are a big problem. But they are not just a problem for the 
person suffering from the headache. They are a 
problem for society as well. Each year, millions 
of people suffer from 
severe
headaches that keep them from 
doing their jobs. In fact, according to one 
estimate
, 
headaches cost individuals and businesses more than $50 
billion each year! This is one of the reasons research into 
headaches has become a worldwide effort.
Although he did not know much about how headaches work, 
Hippocrates
was the first doctor to find a way to treat them. Before 400 B.C., Hippocrates 
discovered that the bark from willow trees was useful in treating pain. He made 
a white powder from the tree’s bark and gave it to his patients.
Hippocrates did not know it, but he was actually prescribing a natural 
chemical in