NEW ORLEANS (BP)–Terms surrounding HIV/AIDS can sometimes seem confusing to people outside health care professions, thus this glossary of words used in connection with HIV/AIDS to help make sense of the terms.
— AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome): final stage of infection with HIV; reduces immune system’s resistance to rare infections and cancers; must be diagnosed and treated by a physician; there is no cure.
— AZT (also known as ZDV): the first approved medication for the treatment of HIV infection; inhibits one of the elements necessary for HIV’s replication in the T-helper cell.
— ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay): a test indicating the presence of HIV.
— HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus): attaches to and invades cells in the immune system, converting macrophage cells into reservoirs of viral particles and destroying T-helper cells; cripples the immune system so it is unable to fight off opportunistic infections.
— immune system: the body’s second line of defense (skin is the first) against disease-producing organisms.
— macrophage: a type of white blood cell; when invaded with HIV, the macrophage carries the virus, but is not destroyed by it.
— opportunistic infections: specific infections usually dormant or causing mild reactions in the human body, but severe and eventually fatal where HIV has disabled the immune system.
— protease inhibitors: drugs used along with older drugs which have dramatically improved therapy.
— stages of infection: six stages of HIV/AIDS progression:
1) initial exposure and infection; may be accompanied by flu-like symptoms from which the person recovers.
2) virus is carried throughout the body.
3) slow destruction of T-helper cells; may continue as long as 10 or more years; person feels well.
4) symptomatic HIV; may include fatigue, fevers, night sweats, weight loss, diarrhea and mild skin and mouth infections.
5) AIDS; the immune system can no longer function adequately; susceptibility to opportunistic infections.
6) death.
— STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease): a disease transmitted specifically through sexual intercourse.
— T-helper cell: a type of white blood cell which engulfs and destroys disease-producing organisms; when invaded by HIV, the cell’s DNA (building block of genetic material found in cells) is changed so it reproduces other diseased cells, then the T-helper cell is destroyed by the virus.
— virus: disease-producing organisms that invade and reside inside cells and use the host cell’s energy and molecules to reproduce; they have a message that can “tell” the infected cell what to do.
— Western Blot Test: a test to indicate the presence of HIV.
Definitions from the following sources: “The AIDS Epidemic: Balancing Compassion and Justice,” Glenn G. Wood and John E. Dietrich, Multnomah Press; Portland, Ore., 1990; “Terms Associated with AIDS,” Regional AIDS Interfaith Network of New Orleans, 1996; “What is AIDS?” Presentation Handout, Fred Loper, 1997.
–30–
