Glossary




A

  • ADR - Adverse Drug Reaction - any unexpected, unintended, undesired, or excessive response to a drug or medicine.
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C

  • Cholesterol - A waxy, fat-like substance that occurs naturally in all parts of the body. Your body needs some cholesterol to work properly, but too much can cause serious health problems.
  • CPK - Creatine phosphokinase - An enzyme present mainly in muscle. A CPK blood test is used to determine if someone has muscle damage.
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D

  • DNA - Deoxyribonucleic acid - The material that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms.
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E

  • Enzyme - A protein that speeds up a chemical reaction in the body.
  • Ethnicity - Belonging to a group that shares the same characteristics, such as country of origin, language, religion, ancestry and culture.
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G

  • Genes - A section of DNA that determines a particular characteristic of an organism.
  • Genetic association study - The discovery of genetic factors influencing the occurrence of a disease.
  • GPRD - General Practice Research Database - The world's largest computerised database of anonymised medical records, taken from GP practices around the UK.
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I

  • IEC - Independent Ethics committee - An independent body, constituted of medical professionals and non-medical members, whose responsibility it is to ensure the protection of the rights, safety and well-being of human subjects involved in a trial.
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M

  • MRC - Medical Research Council - Is a publicly-funded organisation dedicated to improving human health.
  • Myopathy - Any disease of the muscle, or any damage of the muscle tissue.
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P

  • Personalised Medicine - The use of genetic susceptibility testing to tailor an individual's preventive care or drug therapy.
  • Pharmacogenomics - The study of how genetic variation affects the response to medications.
  • Pharmacology - The science that deals with the origin, nature, chemistry, effects, and uses of drugs.
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R

  • Risk - The possibility of suffering harm or loss.
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S

  • Saliva - The watery secretion in the mouth produced by the salivary glands that aids in the digestion of food.
  • Susceptibility - In medical terms, the degree to which a person is sensitive to a remedy or a disease.
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W

  • The Wellcome Trust - The largest charity in the UK. Funds innovative biomedical research, both in the UK and internationally.