About Diseases and Hospitals -About Diseases- From an Uzbekistani, Nepali and Italian Perspective

If it is just a cold, I don't really go to the hospital. I drink something warm, and if the symptoms have not calmed down after a day or two, I take cold medicine. If the symptoms are still not gone, I go to a clinic. I don't go immediately.

It's the same thing in Italy. I don't go to a clinic for a cold.

In Uzbekistan, I buy and take medicine. Compared to my country, I think Japanese medicines are weaker (in their effectiveness). Sometimes I bring my own medicine from my country.

I also have the impression that Japanese medicines are not very effective. I keep cold medicine, stomach medicine, fever reducers, and others at home from Nepal. When I run out, I ask someone to help me get them.

I don't take much medicine because I don't want to depend on it if possible. I do take a cold medicine once in a while though, and it probably works right away because I don't take medicine all the time. I rarely took medicine in Italy as well, so I don't ask people to bring medicine from Italy.

In Nepal, you can buy most medicines at pharmacies. I was really surprised to find out that some medicines cannot be freely bought at pharmacies in Japan. Without a prescription from the doctor, you cannot get some medicines. I was also surprised that I did not know that prescriptions have an expiration date. I think this is a big difference between hospitals in Nepal and Japan.

Medicines are also usually available at drugstores in Uzbekistan. You can buy the same medicines with or without a doctor's prescription. Compared to Japan, people in Uzbekistan don't go to hospitals very often. Even when I had a cold, I bought medicine by myself to cure it.
But sometimes I worry that the medicine I buy for myself might be wrong, so I think the Japanese system might be safer.

I don't know about "kakaritsukei".

I didn't know the word in Japanese, but now I know.

I have a "kakaritsukei". "Kakaritsukei" is like a doctor for the family. If I catch a cold or have pain, I go to my family doctor. I feel safe because they know my medical history.

Oh yes, we have family doctors in Italy as well.

We have them in Nepal as well. I think it's a relief to have a family doctor.

I have a family doctor in Uzbekistan, but I don't go to my family doctor very often when I'm in Uzbekistan. I go directly to a large hospital to have medical exams done. In Japan, you go to your family doctor first, and if something happens, you are referred to a larger hospital. I think it is a bit of a hassle.

I have a family doctor (internal medicine) too. I also have a regular doctor for dental care and dermatology.

I don't have a family doctor for internal medicine, but I do have a family doctor for dental care. A friend of mine referred me to him and he has been my doctor ever since. I go to him for teeth cleaning about twice a year. I go to the same doctor because he is kind and communicates well with me.

Your family doctor should be close to your home. It is difficult to go somewhere far away when you are not well, so it is convenient to have a checkup at a hospital close by.

Yes, that' s true. I don't want to take a train or bus far away when I am not feeling well. I have been seeing my family doctor in my neighborhood for a long time, so I don't have to explain a lot to him when I have an appointment.

I go to the hospital if I have a toothache.

I go to the hospital if I have a toothache.

I also go to the hospital when I have a toothache, but I have not had such an experience yet. I have never visited a dentist in Japan.

I also see a dentist in my country when possible. I don't go to Japanese dentists very often.

I go back to Nepal every two years, so I get all my teeth cleaned and checked at that time. It takes about 2 to 2.5 hours, but it is done with one visit. In Japan, it takes a lot of time (a lot of visits).

I don't go to the dentist, but my father goes regularly because he has dental implants. He is too busy to go back to his country. I saw him going to the dentist so many times that it made me not want to go to the dentist.

It' s the same with my husband. He has implants so he has to go to the dentist often and sometimes I think it's a waste of time.

That is not the case for me. The first time I went for a teeth cleaning, the dentist told me he would only do the bottom, but when I asked him to do both, he did it in one visit. It is cheaper than in Italy. I don't have any problems.

It's difficult to know. I search online.

In Nepal, you can go to a general internal medicine clinic and they will see you for any symptoms you may have. In Japan, I ask friends in my neighborhood or search the Internet to find various options. I am not sure what specialist you should go to depending on your symptoms.

I go to my family doctor and explain the pain, and the doctor refers me to a specialist.

I also call my family doctor for advice. When I mention the symptoms, he gives me a brief explanation. No other place can give me advice in two minutes. I really value the relationship I have with my family doctor.

In Italy, we rarely do this. Everyone takes care of themselves. If you have pain somewhere, you go to the hospital.

In Japan, I do the health checkups. We also have them in Nepal, but we don't always do it at work or school. Only those who want to do so do, because it is at their own expense. Only about 20% of people have health checkups, since it is expensive. People who are sick or undergoing treatment do it, but healthy people don't do it very often.

Uzbekistan is similar to Nepal. Those who want to have a health checkup do. My mother had a health checkup every year, but there are more people who do not do it.
When I attended a public school in Japan, I had health checkups, but not when I attended a Russian Embassy school*.
*Uzbekistan is a former Soviet Union country.

No, we haven't had hay fever.

No, we haven't had hay fever.

No, we haven't had hay fever.

There's hay fever in Italy as well.

We don't have hay fever in Nepal.

We also have hay fever in Uzbekistan. When I go back to my country, I always take medicine because I suffer from allergies, but when I go back to Japan, I am fine. My allergies appear more when I go back to my home country.

I didn't know what hay fever was, because we don't have it in Nepal. When I asked people about it, I found that many Japanese people have hay fever, so when my friend from Nepal said he had hay fever, I said to him, "You have become a Japanese, too". Maybe I will get hay fever too if I live in Japan for a long time, but for now, I am fine.