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    Useful words


    Antibody – a specific immunoglobulin (protein) produced by the body as part of a defence reaction against an invading substance (antigen).

    Bilirubin – a breakdown product of haemoglobin. Increases of bilirubin in the blood can indicate liver disease, especially disease of the bile ducts.

    Immunoglobulins – large proteins found in body fluids and cell tissues that bind to invading organisms, such as bacteria or viruses, to destroy them.

    Jaundice – a condition in which the whites of the eyes go yellow and in more severe cases the skin also turns yellow. This is caused by a rise of bilirubin plasma (containing yellow pigment) which is normally disposed of by the liver.

    Virus – a microscopic particle that infects living cells by getting inside them and replicating. Viruses cannot reproduce by themselves and can only multiply from within the cells of their living host.