stay healthy while travelling in europe.......

Just as you'd give your car a good checkup before a long journey, it's smart to meet with your doctor before your trip. Get a general checkup and ask for advice on maintaining your health on the road. Obtain recommended immunizations and discuss proper care for any preexisting medical conditions while traveling. Bring along a letter from your doctor describing any special health problems and a copy of any pertinent prescriptions. If you have any heart concerns, pack a copy of a recent EKG.
Travel-medicine specialists: While I consider Europe as safe as the US, those traveling to more exotic destinations should consult a travel-medicine physician. Only these specialists keep entirely up-to-date on health conditions for travelers around the world. Tell the doctor about every place you plan to visit and anyplace you may go. Then you can have the flexibility to take that impulsive swing through Turkey or Morocco knowing that you're prepared medically and have the required shots. Ask the doctor about Havrix (a vaccine that protects against hepatitis A — see www.havrix.com), Twinrix (protects against both hepatitis A and B — see www.twinrix.com), antidiarrheal medicines, and any extra precautions. The Centers for Disease Control offers updated information on every country (www.cdc.gov/travel).
Dental checkup: Get a dental checkup well before your trip. (If you get a crown right before you leave, it's timed to fall out on the plane.) Emergency dental care during your trip is time- and money-consuming, and can be hazardous and painful. I once had a tooth crowned by a German dentist who knew only one word in English, which he used in question form — "Pain?"
Traveling Healthy
Europe is generally safe. All the talk of treating water with purification tablets is applicable only south and east of Europe. Using discretion and common sense, I eat and drink whatever I like in Europe. As our world becomes more chemical, reasons for concern and caution will increase on both sides of the Atlantic.
I was able to stay healthy throughout a six-week trip traveling from Europe to India. By following these basic guidelines, I never once suffered from Tehran Tummy or Delhi Belly.
Eat nutritiously. The longer your trip, the more you'll be affected by an inadequate diet. Budget travelers often eat more carbohydrates and less protein to stretch their travel dollar. This is the root of many nutritional problems. Protein helps you resist infection and rebuilds muscles. Get the most nutritional mileage from your protein by eating it with the day's largest meal (in the presence of all those essential amino acids). Supplemental super-vitamins, taken regularly, help me to at least feel healthy. If you have a serious dietary restriction, have a multilingual friend write it in the local language on the back of a business card and use it to order in restaurants.
Use good judgment. Avoid unhealthy-looking restaurants. Meat should be well cooked and, in some places, avoided altogether. Have "well done" written on a piece of paper in the local language and use it when ordering. Pre-prepared foods gather germs (a common cause of diarrhea). Outside of Europe, be especially cautious. When in serious doubt, eat only thick-skinned fruit...peeled.
Keep clean. Wash your hands often, keep your nails clean, and avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
Practice safe sex. Sexually transmitted diseases are widespread. Obviously, the best way to prevent acquiring an STD is to avoid exposure. Condoms (readily available at pharmacies and from rest-room vending machines) are fairly effective in preventing transmission. AIDS is also a risk, especially among prostitutes.
Exercise. Physically, travel is great living — healthy food, lots of activity, fresh air, and all those stairs! If you're a couch potato, try to get in shape before your trip by taking long walks. To keep in shape, you may want to work out during your trip. Jogging, while not as widespread in Europe as it is in the US, is not considered weird. Traveling joggers can enjoy Europe from a special perspective — at dawn. Swimmers will find that Europe has plenty of good, inexpensive public swimming pools. Whatever your racket, if you want to badly enough, you'll find ways to keep in practice as you travel. Most big-city private tennis and swim clubs welcome foreign guests for a small fee, which is a good way to make friends as well as stay fit.
Give yourself psychological pep talks. Europe can do to certain travelers what southern France did to Vincent van Gogh. Romantics can get the sensory bends, patriots can get their flags burned, and anyone can suffer from culture shock.
Europe is crowded, smoky, and not particularly impressed by America or Americans. It will challenge givens that you always assumed were above the test of reason, and most of Europe on the street doesn't really care that much about what you, the historical and cultural pilgrim, have waited so long to see.
Take a break: a long, dark, air-conditioned trip back to California in a movie theater; a pleasant sit in an American embassy reading room surrounded by eagles, photos of presidents, Time magazines, and other Yankees; or a visit to the lobby of a world-class hotel, where any hint of the local culture has been lost under a big-business bucket of intercontinental whitewash. It can do wonders to refresh the struggling traveler's spirit.
European Water
I drink European tap water and any water served in restaurants. Read signs carefully, however: Some taps, including those on trains and airplanes, are not for drinking. If there's any hint of nonpotability — a decal showing a glass with a red "X" over it, or a skull and crossbones — don't drink it. Many fountains in German-speaking countries are for drinking, but others are just for show. Look for Trinkwasser ("drinking water") or Kein Trinkwasser ("not drinking water").
The water (or, just as likely, the general stress of travel on your immune system) may, sooner or later, make you sick. It's not necessarily dirty. The bacteria in European water are different from those in American water. Our bodily systems — raised proudly on bread that rips in a straight line — are the most pampered on earth. We are capable of handling American bacteria with no problem at all, but some people can go to London and get sick. Some French people visit Boston and get sick. Some Americans travel around the world, eating and drinking everything in sight, and don't get sick, while others spend weeks on the toilet. It all depends on the person.
East of Bulgaria and south of the Mediterranean, do not drink untreated water. Water can be treated by boiling it for 10 minutes or by using purifying tablets or a filter. Bottled water, beer, wine, boiled coffee and tea, and bottled soft drinks are safe as long as you skip the ice cubes. Coca-Cola products are as safe in Syria as they are at home.
Pharmacies and Doctors
Throughout Europe, people with a health problem go first to the local pharmacy, not to their doctor. European pharmacists diagnose and prescribe remedies for most simple problems. They are usually friendly and speak English, and some medications that are by prescription only in the US are available over the counter (and surprisingly cheap) in Europe. If necessary, the pharmacist will send you to a doctor or the local health clinic.
A visit to a clinic (or the emergency drop-in section of a hospital), while time-consuming, is actually an interesting travel experience. You'll sign in with the receptionist and answer a few questions, take a seat, and eventually meet your nurse or doctor. Every year I end up in a European clinic for one reason or another, and every time I'm impressed by the efficiency, effectiveness, and price. (Visits to the doctor at the neighborhood clinic are generally free — even for a traveler.)
If you're sick in your hotel and would rather not go out, the hotel receptionist can generally call a doctor who will make a house call. In this case, you'll be diagnosed, billed, and required to pay on the spot. Prescription in hand, you'll trudge off to the local 24-hour pharmacy, pick up the necessary medicine, and be on the mend pronto.
For traveling beyond Europe, getting an English-speaking and Western-trained doctor is a reasonable concern. In that case, consider joining IAMAT, the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers. You'll get a list of English-speaking doctors in member countries who charge affordable, standardized fees for medical visits (membership is free but a donation is requested, www.iamat.org, tel. 519/836-0102). Those needing IAMAT-type services, but who don't have a membership, can get referrals for medical help from other agencies that deal with Americans on the road (such as embassies, consulates, tourist offices, large hotels, and American Express offices).