Direct acting antiviral – See DAA.
Glossary
Selected words and phrases
Hypertension is the medical name for high blood pressure (BP). Blood pressure is measured as two numbers ie 120/80. The first number is systolic BP – the pressure when your heart beats. The second number is diastolic BP, which is the pressure when you heart rests between beats.
Target range for BP is usually 120/80. Drugs to reduce BP are sometimes recommended if this is above 130/85 or 140/90. This also depends on other risk factors for heart disease, including age, sex, ethnicity ajd other health factors.
Hypertension increases the risk of a heart attack or stroke, particularly when diastolic BP is high.
See: Hypotension (low blood pressure).
Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome – see: IRIS
AST (aspartate aminotransferase; also called serum glutamicoxaloacetic transaminase; SGOT) – an enzyme that is made in many places throughout the body (heart, intestines, muscle) , which is monitored (as with ALT) routinely in HIV-positive people on ARVs to detect liver toxicity from HIV drugs (or other medications). Elevated AST that is specifically made in the liver signals liver injury, but does not indicate how serious liver damage is.
cross-over study – where patients in a study ‘roll-over’ to a second related study. For example, this can be after a fixed period in a study (ie after 48 weeks) or after another event (for example, not having a treatment response).