Glossary

Some medical words and phrases explained

Absolute risk

This is a way of describing the chance of something happening. For example, the risk of something happening may increase by 5% to 6% - the absolute risk would be 1%. It is often confused with relative risk.

Acute

Something happening quickly 

Antibiotic resistance

When a bacteria is able to survive even when treated with certain antibiotics.

Association

The relationship between two things, for example, earning more money is associated with living longer.  It is often confused with causation.