Glossary

Selected words and phrases

sarcoma – medical term for cancer that affects bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, blood vessels, skin or other connective tissue.

Cancer: lymphoma and sarcoma.

half-life (T1/2) – the time taken a drug to clear from the highest concentration to half this level. Drugs have different half-lives in different compartments (ie half-life in blood can be different from the half-life inside a cell). It take 5 x the half-live for a drug to be considered cleared.

mega-HAART – a term for a drug combination that uses five or more HIV drugs, usually including 2–3 protease inhibitors. Rarely used now.

duration – how long in time.

Pulmonary hypertension refers to high blood pressure in the arteries taking blood from the heart to the lungs.

People living with HIV-are more likely to develop pulmonary hypertension than HIV-negative people.