Glossary

severity – a measure of how bad something is.

bradycardia is when the heart beats too slowly.

tachycardia refers to when the heart beats too fast.

See: arrhythmia

buprenorphine – strong pain-killer useful for treating heroin addiction. See also methadone.

randomise – in research, this is a way of decide at random which participants join each group. So neither you or your doctor chose which group you join in a research study. A common example is that the decision would be made similar to tossing a coin.

More information from the i-Base guide to HIV research.

opiate – a drug that comes from the opium poppy. Opiates include heroin, codeine and morphine.