May 7, 2008

Here are my 10 vocabulary words:

1. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) - this destroys a type of defense cell in the body called a CD4 helper lymphocyte. People with the virus begin to get serious infections that they normally wouldn’t. This means the person becomes immune deficient.
This leads to AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome)
2. CD4 – one of two proteins on the surface on a human cell that allows HIV to attach, enter, and infect the cell. CD4 molecules are present on CD4 cells (helper t-lymphocytes), which play an important role in fighting infections (foreign bodies).
3. M.S.M – men sleeping with men
4. Lymphoma - a type of cancer involving cells of the immune system called lymphocytes. Lymphoma represents a lot of different cancers of lymphocytes. There are 35 subtypes.
5. Kaposi’s sarcoma – this is when people with AIDS get forms of lymphoma and a rare tumor of blood vessels in the skin. It’s commonly only found in men and seen now in people infected with HIV.
6. PID (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease) – this is what girls may experience if they have AIDS. They get severe yeast infections that don’t respond to normal treatment.
7. PLWH – people living with HIV
8. PLWA – people living with AIDS
9. Asymptomatic – a person showing no outward sign of infection; not feeling sick.
10. ELISA test – a commonly used test used to detect the presence or absence of HIV antibodies in the blood; a positive ELISA test result is indicative of HIV infection and must be confirmed by another different test