Glossary

open label – this means that a patient in a trial knows which treatment they are taking.

substitution therapy – using a prescription drug, eg methadone or buprenorphine, to stop using heroin.

placenta – the placenta is a temporary organ that develops in pregnancy and joins the mother and foetus. The placenta acts as a filter. It transfers oxygen and nutrients from the mother to the foetus, and takes away carbon dioxide and waste products. The placenta is full of blood vessels.

The placenta is expelled from the mother’s body after the baby is born and it is no longer needed. It is sometimes called the afterbirth.

albumin – a protein made by the liver. It carries drugs, hormones and waste products through the blood and maintains fluid levels within the body. An abnormally low level of albumin is a sign of serious liver damage.

viral rebound – when your viral load has been undetectable (under 50 copies/mL) and then becomes detectable. Sometimes viral rebound can be a lab error, sometimes a small temporary blip, and sometimes a real rebound that shows your virus may have developed resistance to one or more of the drugs in a combination treatment. See: virological failure.