Hepatitis C Glossary of Terms

1. Hepatitis Slideshow Pictures
2. Digestive Disease Myths Slideshow Pictures
3. Infectious Mononucleosis Slideshow Pictures

Abdomen: The belly, that part of the body that contains all of the structures between the...

Abdominal: Relating to the abdomen, the belly, that part of the body that contains all of ...

Abdominal pain: Pain in the belly. Abdominal pain can be acute or chronic. It may reflect ...

Acetaminophen: A nonaspirin pain reliever or analgesic. Acetaminophen may be given alone t...

Acquired: Not inherited, or present at birth (congenital), but developing after birth. For...

Acute: Of abrupt onset, in reference to a disease. Acute often also connotes an illness th...

Alcoholism: Physical dependence on alcohol to the extent that stopping alcohol use would b...

Anemia: The condition of having a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells or quantity ...

Antibody: An immunoglobulin, a specialized immune protein, produced because of the introdu...

Antiviral: An agent that kills a virus or that suppresses its ability to replicate and, he...

Arthritis: Inflammation of a joint. When joints are inflamed they can develop stiffness, w...

Ascites: An abnormal accumulation of fluid within the abdomen. There are many causes of as...

Assay: An assay is an analysis done to determine:

1. The presence of a substance an...

Asymptomatic: Without symptoms. For example, an asymptomatic infection is an infection wit...

Autoimmune: Pertaining to autoimmunity, a misdirected immune response that occurs when the...

Belly: That part of the body that contains all of the structures between the chest and t...

Bilirubin: A yellow-orange compound that is produced by the breakdown of hemoglobin from r...

Biopsy: The removal of a sample of tissue for examination under a microscope to check for ...

Bone marrow: The soft blood-forming tissue that fills the cavities of bones and contains f...

Cancer: An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, ...

Cell: The basic structural and functional unit of any living thing. Each cell is a small c...

Chronic: In medicine, lasting a long time. A chronic condition is one that lasts 3 months ...

Cirrhosis: Liver disease characterized by irreversible scarring. Alcohol and viral hepatit...

Congestion: An abnormal or excessive accumulation of a body fluid. The term is used broadl...

Cough: A rapid expulsion of air from the lungs, typically in order to clear the lung airwa...

Dehydration: Excessive loss of body water. Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract that ca...

Delirium: A sudden state of severe confusion and rapid changes in brain function, sometime...

Depression: An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and that affects the way...

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A ...

Diarrhea: A common condition that involves unusually frequent and liquid bowel movements. ...

Edema: The swelling of soft tissues as a result of excess fluid accumulation. Edema is oft...

Emergency department: The department of a hospital responsible for the provision of medica...

Encephalopathy: Disease, damage, or malfunction of the brain. In general, encephalopathy i...

End stage: The last phase in the course of a progressive disease. As in end-stage liver di...

Endoscope: A lighted optical instrument that is used to get a deep look inside the body. A...

Fatigue: A condition characterized by a lessened capacity for work and reduced efficiency ...

Fever: Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 degr...

Gastroenterologist: A physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases...

Genotype: The genetic constitution (genome) of a cell, an individual, or an organism. The ...

Ginseng: Ginseng has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. Today, ginseng"...

HCV: Hepatitis C virus.

Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. ...

Heart failure: Inability of the heart to keep up with the demands on it and, specifically...

Hemodialysis: A medical procedure that uses a special machine (a dialysis machine) to fil...

Hemoglobin: The oxygen-carrying pigment and predominant protein in the red blood cells. He...

Hepatic: Having to do with the liver.

Hepatic encephalopathy: Brain dysfunction directly due to liver dysfunction, most often re...

Hepatitis: Inflammation of the liver, irrespective of the cause. Hepatitis is caused by a ...

Hepatitis A: Inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). HAV is usua...

Hepatitis B: Inflammation of the liver due to the hepatitis B virus (HBV), once thought t...

Hepatitis C: Inflammation of the liver due to the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is usuall...

Hepatitis C virus: A single-stranded RNA virus in the Flaviviridae family that causes hepa...

Immune: Protected against infection, usually by the presence of antibodies.

Immune system: A complex system that is responsible for distinguishing a person from every...

Infant: A young baby, from birth to 12 months of age.

Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, an...

Inflammation: A localized reaction that produces redness, warmth, swelling, and pain as a ...

Interferon: A naturally occurring substance that interferes with the ability of viruses t...

Itching: An uncomfortable sensation in the skin that feels as if something is crawling on ...

Jaundice: Yellow staining of the skin and sclerae (the whites of the eyes) by abnormally h...

Laboratory: A place for doing tests and research procedures, and for preparing chemicals a...

Lethargy: Abnormal drowsiness, stupor.

Liver: The largest solid organ in the body, situated in the upper part of the abdomen on t...

Liver biopsy: A procedure in which a small sample of the liver is removed for the diagnosi...

Liver disease: Liver disease refers to any disorder of the liver. The liver is a large org...

Liver transplant: Surgery to remove a diseased liver and replace it with a healthy liver (...

Lupus: A chronic inflammatory disease that is caused by autoimmunity. Patients with lupus ...

Marrow: The bone marrow.

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. T...

Nail: In medicine, there are two types of nails. One is just a plain old metal nail used t...

Nausea: Stomach queasiness, the urge to vomit. Nausea can be brought on by many causes, in...

Needle stick: See: Needlestick injury.

Nucleic acid: One of the family of large molecules which includes deoxyribonucleic acid (D...

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pa...

Pregnant: The state of carrying a developing fetus within the body.

Prognosis: The forecast of the probable outcome or course of a disease; the patient's chan...

Progressive: Increasing in scope or severity, advancing, or going forward. For example, a ...

Protease: An enzyme that can split a protein into the peptides from which it was originall...

Protease inhibitor: An agent that can keep a protease from splitting a protein into peptid...

Psoriasis: A reddish, scaly rash often located over the surfaces of the elbows, knees, sca...

Public health: The approach to medicine that is concerned with the health of the community...

Rash: Breaking out (eruption) of the skin. A rash can be caused by an underlying medical c...

Relapse: The return of signs and symptoms of a disease after a remission.

Rheumatoid arthritis: An autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of joint...

Risk factor: Something that increases a person's chances of developing a disease. For exam...

RNA: Ribonucleic acid.

Sinus: 1. An air-filled cavity in a dense portion of a skull bone. The sinuses decr...

Stage: As regards cancer, the extent of a cancer, especially whether the disease has spre...

Surgery: The branch of medicine that employs operations in the treatment of disease or inj...

Systemic: Affecting the entire body. A systemic disease such as diabetes can affect the wh...

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Transfusion: The transfer of blood or blood products from one person (the donor) into the ...

Transplant: The grafting of a tissue from one place to another, just as in botany a bu...

Tylenol: See: Acetaminophen.

Urine: Liquid waste produced by the kidneys. Urine is a clear, transparent fluid that norm...

Viral: Of or pertaining to a virus. For example, if a person has a viral rash, the rash wa...

Viral hepatitis: Liver inflammation caused by a virus. Specific hepatitis viruses have bee...

Virus: A microorganism that is smaller than a bacterium that cannot grow or reproduce apar...

Viruses: Small living particles that can infect cells and change how the cells function. I...

Vomit: Matter from the stomach that has come up into and may be ejected beyond the mouth, ...

Wasting: 1. Gradual loss (for example, of weight), deterioration, emaciation. As in...

Weight loss: Weight loss is a decrease in body weight resulting from either voluntary (die...