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May 25, 2013


Hepatitis C Glossary of Terms

The following are health and medical definitions of terms that appear in the Hepatitis C article.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Assay: An assay is an analysis done to determine:

  1. The presence of a substance an...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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HCV: Hepatitis C virus.

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

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

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

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

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Hepatic: Having to do with the liver.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Lethargy: Abnormal drowsiness, stupor.

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

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

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

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

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

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Marrow: The bone marrow.

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

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

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

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Needle stick: See: Needlestick injury.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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RNA: Ribonucleic acid.

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

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

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

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

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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 ...

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

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Tylenol: See: Acetaminophen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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