Live Well Live Long
Glossary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Adipose tissue – Another term for body fat tissue.
Aneurysm – A blood vessel that has expanded due to a weakening in the vessel wall. This weakening can be congenital, as is often the case in strokes that are due to hemorrhages from aneurysms in the brain, or caused by vascular disease.
Angina – Heart pain caused by inadequate oxygen supply to the heart muscle. This is usually due to reduced blood supply to that muscle.
Anthocyanin - A type of antioxidant. (It is one of the main antioxidants in red wine.)
Antioxidant – A compound that prevents or reverses the oxidation of another compound. They do this by providing a spare electron either to a free radical or to a compound that has been oxidized by a free radical. Antioxidants are important in reducing vessel disease. They do this by preventing LDL (bad cholesterol) from being oxidised and it is only oxidised LDL that causes vessel disease. They can also reduce the incidence of other diseases such as cancers. There are many of antioxidant compounds in our diet.
Aorta – The main artery taking blood away from the heart.
Artery – A blood vessel that transports blood flowing away from the heart
Atheroma l esion – A fatty / fibrous lesion in the wall of a blood vessel that often leads to vessel blockage.
Atherosclerosis - The process by which fatty lesions cause blockages in arteries.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare – An Australian Government organization that researches health issues in the Australian community.
Barium enema - An X-ray of the large bowel using radio-opaque dye.
BCC (Basal cell carcinoma) - This is a type of skin cancer. It does spread locally but usually does not spread through the body. It is related to sun exposure with initiation of the cancer appearing to occur relatively early in life.
Basal metabolic rate (BMR) – This is a measure of the minimum amount of energy the body uses. It is usually measured early in the morning after about eight hours of rest. It is usually very close to the resting metabolic rate, which is measured while resting during the day.
Blood glucose level (BGL) - The level of glucose measured in a sample of blood. Often also termed blood sugar level.
Blood sugar level - The level of glucose measured in a sample of blood. Often also termed blood glucose level (BGL).
BMI (Body Mass Index) - This is a method of determining the level of a person’s obesity using their height and weight.
Burden of disease – A measure of the total amount of disease in the community. The contribution of each disease category is calculated using the severity and duration of the disease. It is measured in ‘Disability adjusted life years’ (DALYs). See DALYs.
Calories - A unit of measurement for energy. It is often used to give the energy content of foods or to indicate the energy expended during exercise.
Carbohydrate - This is a compound made of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The main groups are sugars (e.g. glucose and glycogen) and starches (e.g. rice, flour, pasta, bread) It is an important source of energy in our food and the sugar glucose is the main energy source used by the body’s cells. This glucose is stored in the body (mostly in the liver) as glycogen, which is really just a string of glucose molecules joined together.
Carcinogen – A substance that can initiate cancer.
Cardiovascular disease – Vascular disease affecting arteries in the body, especially the aorta and those arteries supplying the heart muscle, the brain, the kidneys and the legs.
Cerebrovascular Disease - A disease of the main arteries supplying the brain where the deposits of fats and other compounds in the artery wall leads to blockage of the artery. If severe enough, this can cause death of brain tissue (I.e. a stroke).
Cervix - The lower part of the uterus (womb) that projects into the vagina. Cancer can develop in this area of the uterus. It can be detected early before becoming life threatening by having a Pap Smear.
Cholesterol - This is a type of fat. In our bodies it is an important component of the outside envelope surrounding all cells and it is also used in the production steroid hormones. Cholesterol can be made by our bodies and is consumed in our diets. It is the fat that causes vascular disease.
Cholesterol ester – A cholesterol molecule that has been joined to a fatty acid. Cholesterol is usually stored in an ester form when being transported inside lipoproteins.
Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease - This is caused by damage to the lining of the airways, mostly by smoking but can also be due to dusts such as coal dust. It causes the airways to produce extra mucous, makes this mucous more difficult to cough up and also narrows the airways which causes progressively increasing shortness of breath and eventually often death. It includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
Chylomicron – A type of lipoprotein that transports dietary fats absorbed from the bowel.
Colonoscopy – A procedure where the large bowel and rectum can be viewed through a fibre optic instrument.
Common Carotid Artery – The main vessel supplying blood to the head.
Coronary artery – A blood vessel that provides the heart muscle with its blood supply.
Coronary artery disease (= coronary heart disease = Coronary vascular disease =
Cardiovascular Disease) – A disease of the coronary arteries where the deposits of fats and other compounds in the artery wall leads to blockage of the artery.
Coronary heart disease .See coronary artery disease
Coronary vascular disease. See coronary artery disease
C-reactive protein – A compound that, when measured in a blood sample, can indicate the degree of inflammation occurring in vacular lesions.
Decibel (dB) – A unit of measurement for the volume of sound
Disability adjusted life year (DALY) – By adding the YLL and the YDL together, the total illness burden for a particular disease can be assessed (i.e. the total burden of disease). It is expressed in terms of DALYs. One DALY is one lost year of ‘healthy life’.
DCIS (Ductal carcinoma in situ) - An early form of breast cancer where the cancer cells are still located in the mammary duct i.e. they have not spead beyond the duct. (The vast majority of breast cancers originate from mammary duct tissue. Mammary ducts are the tubes that take breast milk formed in the breast lobules to the nipple.)
Embolus – A clot that breaks away from a lesion on the innewr surface of a vessel wall. This clot travels further down the vessel, eventually causing a blockage further down.
Essential fatty acids – Fatty acids that need to be consumed in the diet as they can either not be produced in the body or not produced in sufficient quantity.
Faecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) - A test for determining the presence of blood in the bowel motions. As bowel cancers tend to bleed, it is a method used to screen people with no symptoms for bowel cancer.
Fatty Acid – A fat that is basically a long chained hydrocarbon (usually 12 to 18 carbon atoms) used for providing energy. Most can be made in the body or can be ingested in the diet. They are converted to triglycerides for transport and storage.
Fibre - Fibre is defined as any food component that passes through the small intestine without being digested at all. Soluble fibe is that which can be dissolved in water. Insoluble fibre can not be dissolved in water.
Foam Cell – A cell containing cholesterol formed in an early atheroma lesion.
Free radical – A unstable compound that is short an electron in its structure. Free radicals are able to oxidize other compounds in the body. They do this by taking an electron from them. The compound that has lost the electron is often not able to function properly in the body.
Gene –Each gene is made up of a varying length of double stranded chromose material found in the cell’s nucleus. The cell’s 23 pairs of chromosomes are made up of thousands of genes and they control all functions of the cell by controlling the production proteins etc by the cell.
Gestational diabetes - Diabetes that occurs when a woman is pregnant. This condition often resolves after the pregnancy although the woman is at greater risk of diabetes in later life.
Glomerular filtration rate – A measurement of the rate which the kidneys can filter blood. This gives an accurate indication of how well the kidneys are functioning.
Glycaemic index - A measurement of how quickly a carbohydrate containing food will raise a persons blood sugar after its consumption.
Glycogen – A series of glucose molecules joined together. It is a compound for storing molecules of the sugar glucose.
Haemorrhage – The inappropriate leakage of blood out of a blood vessel.
HbA1C— A type of haemoglobin (measured by taking a blood sample) that indicates how well blood sugars have been controlled in a diabetic patient over the last few months.
HDL – A lipoprotein that removes excess cholesterol from the tissues and returns it to the liver.
Heart attack (= Myocardial infarct) - The death of heart muscle tissue due to lack of blood supply (and thus oxygen) to that tissue.
High density lipoprotein (= HDL) – A lipoprotein that removes excess cholesterol from the tissues and returns it to the liver.
Homocysteine - Homocysteine is an essential ammino acid. (Amino acids are the compounds that we make proteins from.) When in excess, homocysteine can increase the risk of coronary artery disease.
Hypertension – High blood pressure
HMG Co reductase - This is an enzyme that plays an important part in cholesterol production in the body. Drugs that inhibit this enzyme (statin drugs) are very beneficial in reducing cholesterol levels in the body.
Insoluble fibre — Insoluble fibre is fibre thatcan not be dissolved in water.
Insomnia – Difficulty sleeping
Insulin – The primary hormone responsible for regulating blood sugar levels in the body.
Insulin resistance - This occurs when the hormone insulin does not lower the blood sugar levels in the body by as much as would normally be expected. If severe enough, this problem can lead to type 2 diabetes.
Internal Carotid Artery – The main vessel supplying blood to the brain. (A branch of the Common Carotid Artery.)
Intima – The inner portion of the wall of a blood vessel.
Ischaemic Heart Disease – See Coronary Artery Disease
Ischaemic stroke - The death of brain tissue due to reduction in blood supply (and thus oxygen) to the affected brain tissue.
Kilojoules - A unit of measurement for energy. It is often used to give the energy content of foods or to indicate the energy expended during exercise.
LDL (Low density lipoprotein) – A lipoprotein that transports that transports cholesterol in the blood to the body tissues. A high level increases deposition of cholesterol in artery walls, increassing vascular disease. For this reasion it is often termed 'bad cholesterol'.
Lipid – A term for any fat compound.
Lipoprotein – A large membrane bound compound used for transporting lipids in the blood.
Lipoprotein a - This is a lipoprotein that can increase the risk of vascular disease when blood levels in the body are elevated.
Low density lipoprotein – A lipoprotein that transports that transports cholesterol in the blood to the body tissues. A high level increases deposition of cholesterol in artery walls, increassing vascular disease. For this reasion it is often termed 'bad cholesterol'.
Lumen – The ‘inside’ of the blood vessel through which the blood flows.
Macrovascular disease - Vascular disease that occurs in the large blood vessels, such as those supplying the heart muscle, the brain and the lower legs. It is mainly cause by fatty deposits in the artery walls (atheroma).
Mammary ducts - Mammary ducts are the tubes that take breast milk formed in the breast lobules to the nipple. Most breast cancers originate from cells that make up these ducts
Mammogram - An X-ray of the breasts. There are two types of mammogram, that used for screening asymptomatic women for breast cancers and that used to investigate a woman who has an abnormality in her breast.
Melanoma - A serious pigmented (dark) skin cancer that spreads readily throughout the body (metastasises) and thus is very dangerous.
Mesothelioma - This is a type of cxancer that occurs on the outside surface of the lung. It is caused by exposure to asbestos. (This exposure often only needs to be quite small and it therefore important to stop all exposure to asbestos.) The cancer is often very aggressive and reponds poorly to available treatments. The prognosis is usually poor.
Metabolic syndrome (Syndrome X) - This is syndrome occurs in obese people (usually men) and is associated with a significant risk of heart attacks. It consists of all or some of the following features A marked increase in atherosclerosis, an increase in blood pressure (hypertension), raised blood lipids, type 2 diabetes and protein in the urine.
Microvascular disease - Vascular disease that occurs in the small blood vessels, such as the kidneys and the retina (eyes). It is usually caused by diabetes.
Mono-unsaturated fatty acid – A fatty acid which has a structure that includes one double bond between its carbon atoms.
Myocardial infarct (= Heart attack) - The death of heart muscle tissue due to lack of blood supply (and thus oxygen) to that tissue.
Mutation – A change in the structure in a gene in the nucleus of a cell. Such changes can cause the gene to malfunction and lead to diseases such as cancer.
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) – An Australian Government body that researches medical topics and makes recommendations to the government about optimum treatments and health policy.
Nicotine - This is the addictive chemical in tobacco (cigarettes). It also causes narrowing of arteries in the body and therefore worsens vessel disease.
Occult blood – A small amount of blood that is not easily seen. The term is used in association for screening for bowel cancer. The faecal occult blood test (FOBT) looks for blood in bowel motions, which can signify the presence of bowel cancer.
Oestrogen - The princple female hormone. It is made by the body and is also one of the two hormones in the oral contraceptive pill and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) (along with progesterone.) There are several types of oestrogen used in the pill and HRT.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids – A type of polyunsaturated fatty acid found in fish (especially oily ones) and vegetable sources. Increased consumption helps reduce vessel disease and also helps reduce inflammatory conditions such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
Omega-6 Fatty Acids – A type of polyunsaturated fatty acid found mostly in ‘vegetable sources’ such as sunflowers. Increased consumption reduces vessel disease by lowering both. total cholesterol and LDL If consunption is too high, it can become out of balance with omega-3 fatty acids and this can cause an increase in inflamatory conditions such as asthma.
Oxidant – A compound that causes the oxidation of another compound. An antioxidant can reverse or prevent this oxidation effect. Free radicals are oxidants.
Peripheral vascular disease - A blockage in the large arteries supplying the legs with blood. It is mainly cause by fatty deposits in the artery walls (atheroma) and can lead to gangrene.
Polycystic Ovary Disease - In this disease cysts form on the ovaries. It is associated with several abnormalities including an increased risk of vascular disease due to increased blood lipids and hormonal problems including reduced fertility.
Phytochemicals – Chemicals found in plants
Phytoestrogens – A group of chemicals found in plants that have properties similar to those of a human oestrogenic hormone (17 beta-oestradiol). The most common ones occurring in food are isoflavones that come from soy beans and linseed (flaxseed).
Polygenic hypercholesterolaemia - This is the name given to the common problem of unexplained raised blood cholesterol. There are thought to be many contributing genetic factors. These may act independently or express themselves through interaction with external factors such as diet.
Poly-unsaturated fatty acid – A fatty acid which has a structure that includes more than one double bond between its carbon atoms.
Postural hypotension - This condition occurs when a person’s blood pressure reduces pressure when getting up from a lying position. (Normally the opposite occurs.) This often results in dizziness and can cause the person to fall. It is common in older people and is often caused by medications.
Primary (first degree) relative - Your parents or siblings (i.e. brothers and sisters).
Progestins (progesterones) – A group of female steroid hormones. Progesterone ( a progestin) is produced in the body from cholesterol and is responsible, with oestrogen, for regulating the menstrual cycle. Other progestins are used in combination with an oestrogen hormone in the oral contraceptive pill and in hormone replacement therapy.
Psychosis – A major mental disturbance where the person loses touch with external reality. It often includes delusions, such as thinking that they are some one that they are not, feelings that they are being persecuted or continually watched, or seeing, hearing or smelling things that are not there. Schizophrenia is a mental illness characterised by such experiences. It is the most common psychotic illness. Such disturbances also associated with some drug use.
Resistant starch - A type of starch that is slowly digested.
Resting metabolic rate (RMR) – This is a measure of the amount of energy the body uses while resting, say in a chair. It is usually very close to the BMR, which is the minimum energy used by the body and is measured in the morning after about eight hours of rest.
Saturated fatty acid - A fatty acid which has a structure that includes no double bonds between its carbon atoms.
SCC (Squamous cell carcinoma) - This is a type of skin cancer. It spreads locally and can spread through the body. It is related to sun exposure with initiation of the cancer appearing to occur relatively later in life.
Screening - This is the process by which a selected group of the population (or all the population) are tested for the presence of a particular disease.
Second degree relatives - Grand parents and aunts and uncles.
Sleep apnoea – A condition where relaxation of throat / tongue muscles causes an obstruction in the throat above the voice box, resulting in regular episodes where the person stops breathing for short periods. Each time this happens, the brain wakes the person just enough so that the person takes a breath (often as a snort or a gasp).
Soluble fibre - Soluble fibe is fibre which can be dissolved in water.
Standard variation – A statistical method for measuring the extent to which a particular measurement varies from the average of a group of measurements. Positive levels indicate the reading is greater than the average and visa versa.Starches - Starches are a group of carbohydrates. They are an important source of energy in our diets and include pasta, breads, potatoes, rice, cereals etc.
Statin drugs - These are the most common group of drugs that are used to reduce cholesterol. They act by inhibiting an enzyme called HMG Co reductase. This is an enzyme that plays an important part in cholesterol production in the body.
Stent – An expanding metal mesh tube used to open up blocked arteries. When placed in the artery it expands, acting to increase the size of the vessel lumen.
Stroke – The death of brain tissue. This can be due to reduction in blood supply (and thus oxygen) to the affected brain tissue (an ischaemic stroke) or due to damage caused to the brain tissue by a bleed into that tissue from a break in a blood vessel (a haemorrhagic stroke).
Sugars - Sugars are a group of carbohydrates that are an important source of energy both in our bodies and in the food we eat. There are many different types of sugars. The main sugar in our diet is sucrose.
The sugar glucose is the main energy source used by the body’s cells and is transported in the blood.
Teratogenic substance – A substance, such as a drug or chemical, that causes foetal abnormalities when the mother is exposed to it.
Trans Fatty Acid – A type of polyunsaturated fatty acid that acts more like saturated fatty acids in causing vascular disease.
Transient ischaemic attack – A temporary interpution to the blood supply to a part of the brain, usually caused by a small embolus (clot) temporarily blocking an artery. Symptoms last for minutes to a few hours.
Triglyceride – A fat composed of 3 fatty acid molecules joined together by a glycerol molecule. It is the principle energy storage compound in the body and is also used as the ‘transporting form’ of fatty acids .
Unsaturated fatty acid – A fatty acid that has a structure which includes one or more double bonds between its carbon atoms.
Vascular Disease – A narrowing or blockage of a blood vessel due usually to atheroma lesions in the blood vessel wall. This leads to blockage of blood flow through the blood vessel.
Vein – A blood vessel that transports blood towards the heart
Very low density lipoprotein (= VLDL) - A compound that transports cholesterol from the liver to the tissues. It is the precursor of LDL (low density lipoprotein).
Years of life lost due to death (YLL) – This indicator is used to express death in terms of premature mortality (i.e. the burden of premature mortality). It indicates the years of normal life expectancy that is lost by a person due to their death. (See appendix 1)
Years of life lost due to disability (YLD) – This indicates the years of healthy life lost due to poor health or disability (i.e. the burden of disability). (See appendix 1)
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