Pathology

Pathology (from the Greek for "the study of suffering") is the study of the nature, cause and diagnosis of disease or, in a general sense, any condition produced by a disease. It is both a medical speciality and an ongoing field of scientific study. A specialist in the field is known as a pathologist.
Pathology embraces four different fields of study:
*Etiology, the study of the mechanisms of how diseases affect the body
*Pathogenesis, the study of how disease starts in the body
*Morphology, or how cell structures are changed by disease
*Clinical manifestations of changes in cell structure
Kinds of pathology include:
*Anatomic: Studies the structural changes of disease. This is broken down into several sub-specialities such as surgical pathology, cell pathology (cytopathology), dermatopathology, and forensic pathology.
*Clinical: Uses clinical analysis and laboratory procedures in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Some of the sub-specialities of this field of study are hematopathology and molecular pathology.
*Special: Studies particular diseases or organs
*Surgical: Studies the application of pathological procedures for investigating surgically-removed tissues
Pathology at Wikipedia
Category:Physiology
Category:Medical Specialties