HEMATOLOGY

The discipline of hematology encompases the circulating blood and the function of blood cells throughout the body.Robert Burton, in 1628, characterized the blood as a “hot, temperate, red humor whose office is to nourish the whole body to give it strengthand color being dispersed by the veins through every part of it.” That elegantly simple and apt description of the bood can now be embellished by our deep understanding of the biology of this most excellent humor.
The mass of the circulating blood comprises 5 to 7 percent of our body weight. The blood is a suspension of cells, called a formed elements, in plasma, a solution of protein and salts. The bood and the circulatory system, the conduit of sluices, gates, and alleyways through which the blood courses, were required for the evolution of complex higher organisms the blood provides for nutritions, oxygenation, the cleansing of wastes, and the defense of body tissues against ever present asault by microbes.
Hematology is a subspecialty of internal medicine. Practitioners of this form of hematology are specialists in dealing with diseases of the bloodthey diagnose and treate anemias , coagulation disorders, and malignant neoplasms of blood cells. The treatment of malignancies of the blood is very similar to the treatment of a variety of solid tumors. Conversely, the teraphy of solid tumors often has profound effects on the blood.For these reasons, the disciplines of hematology and oncology have always been closely related., and in recent years have become even more closely linked. Another close relationship exist betweeen hematology and immunology. Abnormalities of the numbers and functions of white blood cells often cause a patient to become abnormally susceptible to infection, a state defined as immunodeficiency. On the other hand, perversion of the immune system so that it destroys normal blood cells, a state defined as autoimmunity, is frequently encountered in medical practice.
Another aspect of hematology is blood transfussion teraphy. Replacement of whole blood and blood components is a major medical enterprise, occuring during surgery and following injury. Not only are blood components infused into patients, but, increasingly, abnormal proteins are removed from patients with various diseases.
Finally, nearly every physician is, in a sense, A “Hematologist.” Because of its access to all tissues of the body, the blood is often one of the first sources of informations that indicate changes in the state of health and the development of specific diseases. Changes in the number or appearance of formed elements and in the levels of plasma components are extremely useful to all clinicians. It is not surprising, then, that diagnostic hematology laboratories are consulted by nearly all clinicians, and that the total impactof the work of these laboratories on the cost of health care is considrable.
(Bernard M. Babior & Thomas P. Stossel; 1984)
key words: Hematology, Hematologist, hematology and oncology, hematology and immunology