What is Hematology?
Hematology is the medical specialty which focuses on the study of blood, blood-forming organs and blood-related diseases. Doctors or scientists who study the blood are known as hematologists.
Diseases that Affect the Blood
Once the blood is unable to function normally, certain diseases can occur. The most prevalent type of blood condition is anemia. This disease occurs either when the body has a deficiency of red blood cells, or the red blood cells fail to function normally and don’t carry sufficient hemoglobin, which is a vital iron-rich protein. Other blood disorders are listed below-
- Blood cancers that originate in the blood such as leukemia or lymphoma
- Rare forms of abnormal blood clotting like hemophilia and ITP or idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.
Blood is made of red blood cells, white blood cells, as well as platelets all of which are manufactured in the bone marrow plus lymphatic organs. Blood also consists of plasma, which is its liquid part that includes proteins. Proteins in the body play a role in bleeding and clotting.
Body organs that are affected by or used to circulate blood include blood vessels (arteries and veins) bone marrow, lymph nodes, and spleen. Blood affects every organ since it travels through the body and as such, any abnormalities in it can lead to malfunctioning in all the body organs.
Any of the individual constituents of blood may be affected by some abnormalities which call for a hematologist’s diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. You may have noticed that doctors draw blood from very sick people for analysis. This is because there are certain secrets which cannot be easily seen by the naked eye but can only be revealed by our blood. Our blood reports play an important role especially if you need to go for a blood transfusion or stem cell or bone marrow transplantation.
