HIV/AIDS Glossary of Terms

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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 ...

Abnormal: Outside the expected norm, or uncharacteristic of a particular patient.

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

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: AIDS. AIDS is a disease due to infection with the huma...

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...

Antiretroviral: An agent or process effective against a retrovirus. For example, a drug to...

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

AZT: Azidothymidine, now renamed zidovudine, but still best known by the abbreviation AZT....

Bacteria: Single-celled microorganisms that can exist either as independent (free-living) ...

Bacterial: Of or pertaining to bacteria, as in a bacterial lung infection.

Bacterial vaginosis: A vaginal condition characterized by an abnormal vaginal discharge du...

Brain: The portion of the central nervous system that is located within the skull. It func...

Breastfeeding: Feeding a child human breast milk. According to the American Academy of Ped...

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

CDC: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US agency charged with tracking a...

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

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The US agency charged with tracking and invest...

Chest: The area of the body located between the neck and the abdomen. The chest contains t...

Cholesterol: The most common type of steroid in the body. Cholesterol has a reputation for...

Circulation: In medicine, the movement of fluid through the body in a regular or circuitou...

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

Critical care: The specialized care of patients whose conditions are life-threatening and ...

Cure: 1. To heal, to make well, to restore to good health. 2. A time withou...

Diabetes: Refers to diabetes mellitus or, less often, to diabetes insipidus. Diabetes mell...

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. ...

DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid. One of two types of molecules that encode genetic information...

Donor: The giver of a tissue or an organ, such as a blood donor or kidney donor.

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

Enzyme: A protein (or protein-based molecule) that speeds up a chemical reaction in a livi...

Esophagus: The tube that connects the pharynx (throat) with the stomach. The esophagus lie...

FDA: Food and Drug Administration.

Fetus: An unborn offspring, from the embryo stage (the end of the eighth week after concep...

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

Finger prick: A procedure in which a finger is pricked with a lancet to obtain a small qua...

Fungi: Plural of fungus.

Gastrointestinal: Adjective referring collectively to the stomach and small and large inte...

Genes: The basic biological units of heredity. Segments of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) nee...

Genetic: Having to do with genes and genetic
information.

Genital: Pertaining to the external and/or internal organs of reproduction.

Genital herpes: An infection by human herpes virus that is transmitted through intimate co...

Gonorrhea: A bacterial infection that is transmitted by sexual contact. Gonorrhea is one o...

HAART: Stands for highly active antiretroviral therapy....

Headache: A pain in the head with the pain being above the eyes or the ears, behind the he...

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

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

Herpes: A family of viruses. Herpes also refers to infection with one of the human herpesv...

Heterosexual: A person sexually attracted to persons of the opposite sex. Or a person who...

Histoplasmosis: A disease caused by the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum. Most people with hi...

HIV: Acronym for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the cause of AIDS (acquired immunodefi...

HIV test: A test for the human immunodeficiency virus, the cause of AIDS. HIV tests are de...

HPV: Human papillomavirus.

Human immunodeficiency virus: HIV, the cause of AIDS. HIV has also been called the human...

Human papillomavirus: HPV. A family of over 100 viruses including those which cause warts ...

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

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

Immunodeficiency: The inability to form a normal immune response. Immunodeficiency can be ...

Indication: 1. In medicine, a condition which makes a particular treatment or proce...

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 ...

Insulin: A natural hormone made by the pancreas that controls the level of the sugar gluco...

Labor: Childbirth, the process of delivering a baby and the placenta, membranes, and umbil...

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

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

Lymph: The almost colorless fluid that travels through the lymphatic system, carrying cell...

Lymphoid: Referring to lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, or to tissue in which lymp...

Lymphoid tissue: The part of the body's immune system that is important for the immune res...

Lymphoma: A tumor of the lymphoid tissue. The major types of lymphoma are Hodgkin's diseas...

Maternal: 1. Pertaining to the mother as, for example, the maternal mortality rate....

Mortality: A fatal outcome or, in one word, death. The word "mortality" is derived from "m...

Mouth: 1. The upper opening of the digestive tract, beginning with the lips and con...

Mycobacterium: A large family of bacteria that have unusually waxy cell walls that are res...

Mycobacterium avium: A slow-growing bacterium found in the soil and in dust particles tha...

Mycobacterium avium complex: A serious opportunistic infection that is caused by two simil...

Neck: The part of the body joining the head to the shoulders. Also, any narrow or constric...

Nerve: A bundle of fibers that uses electrical and chemical signals to transmit sensory an...

Nucleotide: A subunit of DNA or RNA that consists of a nitrogenous base (A, G, T, or C in ...

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

Pancreas: A spongy, tube-shaped organ that is about 6 inches long and is located in the ba...

Pediatrics: The field of medicine that is concerned with the health of infants, children, ...

Penis: The external male sex organ. The penis contains two chambers, the corpora cavernosa...

Pharmacy: A location where prescription medications are sold. A pharmacy is constantly sup...

Pneumocystis: Pneumocystis jiroveci (previously classified as Pneumocystis carinii), the o...

Pneumonia: Inflammation of one or both lungs, with dense areas of lung inflammation. Pneum...

Pregnancy: The state of carrying a developing embryo or fetus within the female body. Thi...

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...

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

Protein: One of the three nutrients used as energy sources (calories) by the body. Protein...

Pulmonary: Having to do with the lungs.

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

Recipient: In medicine, someone who is given something, such as a blood transfusion or an ...

Rectum: The last 6 to 8 inches of the large intestine. The rectum stores solid waste until...

Replication: A turning back, repetition, duplication, reproduction.

Resistance: Opposition to something, or the ability to withstand something. For example, s...

Respiratory: Having to do with respiration.

Reverse transcriptase: An enzyme that permits DNA to be made, using RNA as the template. A...

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

RNA: Ribonucleic acid.

Saliva: a watery secretion in the mouth produced by the salivary glands that aids in the d...

Sarcoma: One of a group of tumors usually arising from connective tissue. Most sarcomas ar...

Semen: The fluid that is released through the penis during orgasm. Semen is made up of flu...

Shortness of breath: Difficulty in breathing. Medically referred to as dyspnea. Shortness ...

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

Stem cell: One of the human body's master cells, with the ability to grow into any one of ...

Stroke: The sudden death of brain cells due to lack of oxygen, caused by blockage of blood...

Swallowing tube: Descriptive term for the esophagus. See: Esophagus.

Syndrome: A combination of symptoms and signs that together represent a disease process.

Syphilis: A sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum, a microscopic orga...

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

Tiredness: See: Tired.

Toxicity: The degree to which a substance (a toxin or poison) can harm humans or animals. ...

Toxicology: The study of the nature, effects, and detection of poisons (toxins) and the tr...

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...

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

Vagina: The muscular canal that extends from the cervix to the outside of the body. It is ...

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

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...

Vulva: The female external genital organs, including the labia, clitoris, and entrance to ...

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

Western blot: A technique in molecular biology that is used to separate and identify parti...

Wheezing: A whistling noise in the chest during breathing. Wheezing occurs when the airway...

White blood cell: One of the cells the body makes to help fight infections. There are seve...

Yeast infection: Overgrowth of yeast can affect the skin (yeast rash), mouth (thrush), di...

Zidovudine: See: AZT.