GLOSSARY

Giving medications to a patient with precise instructions (number of medications, schedules, length of treatment etc ...).

A reaction of the body’s immune system to various substances (food, animals, pollens, medications). The symptoms can take various forms : respiratory track (difficulty breathing), ocular route (tears), dermal route (swelling, rash), sneezing ... There are medications to relieve allergies

Anemia is marked by a decrease in red blood cells and hemoglobin. It can be caused by a nutritional deficiency. Anemia reveals itself through a great tiredness, skin pallor, headaches, dizziness, a sensation of thirst ...

A category of medications that aims to prevent the development of bacteria. Antibiotics are not effective against diseases caused by viruses.

Taking medication on one’s own initiative with no medical staff supervision.

Bacteria are microscopic living organisms usually consisting of a single cell. Some of them are microbes and cause diseases. Others are necessary to life and are present in the air, on the ground, on the skin and in the water.

A cell is the basic structural unit of all living organisms. There are between 60 000 and 100 000 billion cells inside the human body.

Transmission of a disease from person to person through direct or indirect contact.

A list of specific situations in which a medication should not be used, for example for people suffering from certain diseases or when used with other medications. The contraindications are taken into account by the medical staff when they prescribe the medications. They are generally written clearly on the medications manual.

They are illegal and prohibited fake medications. Most of the time they don’t contain any active principle and are therefore totally ineffective in curing a disease. Because their origins are not clearly identified and taken without any medical staff prescription, they can prove very dangerous.

The date after which a medication can’t be taken safely.

The process of determining with a medical examination which disease explains a person's symptoms and signs.

Insuffisient natural body’s defenses. In case of immune deficiency the patient is more fragile and is more likely to get sick.

Handing-over the prescribed medications by the medical staff, most often the chemist.

Malnutrition is the condition that develops when the body does not get the right amount of the proper food to maintain healthy. Malnutrition leads to a deterioration of the health condition and can even result to death.

A strategy used to identify the possible presence of an as-yet-undiagnosed disease. Screening enables to manage the disease in its early stage for a more effective treatment.

Excessive loss of water from the body.

The spread of a contagious disease to a large number of people.

The Galenic form is the individual shape of a medication. It is designed to enable the active principles to reach maximum effectiveness.

A generic medication is the exact equivalent of a brand medication originally owned by the laboratory that created it and which has become off-brand. The medication belongs then to the public domain and can therefore be manufactured and marketed by other laboratories under a different name. It has the same quantitative and qualitative composition in active principles as the original medication.

Medications sold on the street, the market, outside the legal circuit. They are very often stolen, can be expired and therefore very dangerous.

A micro organism (a virus, a bacterium or a parasite) that can cause diseases.

A document written by the medical staff as for administration of medications (name of the medications, length of treatment, schedules). The prescription is handed to the chemist when the medications are dispensed.

Anyone who provides medical care in a health facility or a pharmacy.

Dose of medication prescribed by the medical staff. It is crucial to fully respect the dosage for an effective treatment and the patient’s safety. Dosage depends on many factors such as weight, age, medical history and taking other medications.

The medical staff defines treatment and cares for the sick patient. The medical prescritption will be written on a document that will be handed when the medications are dispensed. Only medical staff are authorised to write a prescription.

Substance responsible for the therapeutic effects of a medication. Every medication contains one or several different active principles each of them having a very precise role towards recovery.

Disorder, discomfort, pain, any unusual sign suggesting a disease outbreak. Symptoms appear before the actual disease but also during its progress. Observation of these symptoms allows the medical staff to identify a possible disease.

A collection of cells whose goal is to defend the human body against diseases.

Micro organism that enters a cell and uses it to multiply and infect other cells of the human body. Diseases such as AIDS are caused by viruses.