active – an active drug is a drug that still works to reduce viral load. The virus is still sensitive to that drug.
Glossary
Selected words and phrases
haemoglobin – substance in red blood cells that carries oxygen.
escape mutation – a mutation or change in the genetic structure of HIV that makes it easier to evade the persons immune system (rather than a mutation that stops an HIV drug from working).
insulin – a hormone that helps the body turn sugar into energy. Low insulin sensitivity is when the body uses insulin less well than usual (this is also called insulin resistance).
base – (also called nucleotide) – the building blocks in DNA that form amino acids. There are four bases represented by the letters A (adenine), T (thymine), C (cytosine) and G (guanine). In RNA the T is replaced by U (uricil).