English for Medical Students 2 workbook.doc

I. CLOZE TESTS

1.1. Fill each gap with one of the words given in the box.

What are Vitamins?

Vitamins are nutrients required in very small _________(1) for essential metabolic reactions in the body. Vitamins are biomolecules that act both as _________(2) and substrates in chemical reactions. When acting as a catalyst, vitamins are bound to enzymes and are  _________(3)  cofactors, for example vitamin K forms part of the proteases  _________(4)  in blood _________(5) .

Vitamins also act as coenzymes to carry chemical groups between enzymes, for example folic _________(6)  carries various forms of carbon groups (methyl, formyl or methylene) in the cell.

Until the 1900s, vitamins were obtained solely through food _________(7). Many food sources contain different ratios of vitamins. Therefore, if the only source of vitamins is food, changes in diet will alter the types and amounts of vitamins _________(8). However, as many vitamins can be _________(9)  by the body, short-term deficiencies do not usually cause disease.

Vitamins have been produced as commodity chemicals and made widely-available as inexpensive pills for several _________(10), allowing supplementation of the dietary intake.

1.2. Fill each gap with one of the words given in the box.

History of Vitamin research

The value of _________(1)  certain foods to maintain health was recognized long before vitamins were identified. The ancient Egyptians knew that _________(2) a patient liver would help cure night blindness, now _________(3)  to be caused by a vitamin A deficiency. In 1747, the Scottish surgeon James Lind discovered that citrus foods helped prevent scurvy, a particularly deadly disease in which collagen is not properly formed, and is characterized by poor wound _________(4), bleeding of the gums, and severe pain. In 1753, Lind published his Treatise on the Scurvy, which recommended _________(5) lemons and limes to avoid scurvy, which was adopted by the British Royal Navy. This led to the nickname Limey for sailors of that organization. Lind's discovery, however, was not widely _________(6) by individuals in the Royal Navy's Arctic expeditions in the 19th century, where it was widely believed that scurvy could be prevented by _________(7) good hygiene, regular exercise, and by  _________(8) the morale of the crew while on board, rather than by a diet of fresh food. As a result, Arctic expeditions continued to be _________(9) by scurvy and other deficiency diseases. In the early 20th century, when Robert Falcon Scott made his two expeditions to the Antarctic the prevailing medical theory was that scurvy was  _________(10)  by "tainted" canned food.

1.3. Fill each gap with one of the words given in the box.

Vitamin Deficiencies

Deficiencies of vitamins are _________(1) as either primary or secondary. A primary deficiency _________(2)  when you do not get enough of the vitamin in the food you eat. A secondary deficiency may be due to an underlying disorder that prevents or  _________(3)  the absorption or use of the vitamin, due to a “lifestyle factor”, such as smoking, excessive alcohol  _________(4), or the use of medications that  _________(5) with the absorption or the body's use of the vitamin. Individuals who eat a varied diet are unlikely to develop a severe primary vitamin _________(6). In contrast, restrictive diets have the potential to cause prolonged vitamin deficits, which may _________(7) in often painful and potentially deadly diseases.

Because humans do not store most vitamins in their bodies, a human must consume them regularly to _________(8)  deficiency. Human corporeal stores for different vitamins vary widely; vitamins A, D, and B12 are stored in significant amounts in the human body, mainly in the _________(9), and an adult human may be deficient in vitamin A and B12 for long periods of time before developing a deficiency condition. Vitamin B3 is not stored in the human body in significant amounts, so stores may only last a _________(10) of weeks.

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MEDICAL ENGLISH 2 – WORKBOOK – tonquyenn@yahoo.com

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