Glossary

postpartum refers to the time after a baby is born. Postpartum refers to the mother.

See: antepartum and intrapartum.

elite controller (EC) – if your viral load stays undetectable for more than five years without ART you are an elite controller.

Elite controllers also have a very good CD4 count (always above 500 cells/mm³) that stays at a similar level over many years.

Even with this good immune response, ART is still generally recommended in the long-term.

This is because over decades – some ECs have been undetectable for more than 20 years – there is a concern that low level HIV in different body compartments like the brain, might lead to accumulative serious damage that isn’t easy to detect until it is too late.

This is a real concern, though evidence is limited because of the rarity of ECs.

See: long-term slow progressor (LTSP)/long-term non-progessor (LTNP).

even distribution – where most results are in the middle and a roughly similar number of results fall either side. Also called bell-shaped or ‘normal’ distribution.

PI (protease inhibitor) – a type of HIV drug.

HIV protease inhibitors include atazanavir, darunavir, fosamprenavir, indinavir, nelfinavir, lopinavir/r (Kaletra), ritonavir, saquinavir and tipranavir.

Drug targets in the virus life cycle

Different protease inhibitors have been developed to treat hepatitis C.

lipid – medical term for fat. The term ‘blood lipids’ refers to cholesterol and triglyceride levels in blood.