empirical treatment – treating an illness based on its symptoms to see if it gets better.
Glossary
Selected words and phrases
diarrhoea – when stools (faeces) is less than firm. This can range from loose to being very watery. As a medical condition it is usually also associated with needing to go to the toilet more frequently.
For example, this is commonly defined as three or more liquid/watery faeces over 24 hour period.
See this information from the i-Base guide to side effects for ways to manage and treat diarrhoea.
https://i-base.info/guides/side/diarrhoea
cryoglobulinemia – increased blood levels of abnormal proteins called cryoglobulins that can inflame blood vessels and thicken blood.
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.
HIV transmission is when the virus passes from one person to another. When this is from mother to baby it is called mother-to-child transmission (MTCT), perinatal or vertical transmission. Children who become HIV-positive in this way are called vertically infected children