Hematology
Branch of medicine focused on blood diseases and their treatment.
Last updated
DaCosta Jr., John C., 1871-1919. · Public domain
Hematology is the science or study of blood and blood diseases, frequently associated with oncology.[1] It involves treating blood disorders and malignancies including hemophilia, blood clots, leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and sickle-cell anemia.[1] Four major areas of study within hematology are hemoglobinopathy, hematologic malignancies, anemia, and coagulopathy.[1]
Key facts and history
The American Medical Association describes hematology as the internal medicine subspecialty focusing on disorders of blood, bone marrow, and lymphatic, immunologic, hemostatic, and vascular systems.[2] Nonmalignant blood disorders include bleeding and clotting problems such as hemophilia and pulmonary embolism, and red blood cell diseases like sickle cell anemia and thalassemia.[2] Hematologists who focus on nonmalignant hematology act as office- and laboratory-based detectives using critical thinking skills.[2] Those focusing on malignant disorders treat conditions such as acute and chronic leukemias and multiple myeloma.[2]
Hematology training is most often combined with oncology training within internal medicine.[2] Blood-related disease study, including cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention, defines the medical field of hematology.[3] Following residency, a fellowship of two to three years provides further training in diagnosing and treating blood disorders.[4]
What the research sources say
New techniques can isolate hematopoietic progenitor cells from blood for stem cell transplantation.[5] HPC transplantation has replaced bone marrow transplantation for many cancers and other diseases because HPCs are easier to extract and safer for donors.[5] The hematology community continues to advance transfusion systems guided by the AABB, American Red Cross, American Society of Hematology, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration.[5] The American Medical Association states that hematology is at the cutting edge of translating discoveries about genetic and molecular origins of diseases into targeted treatments.[2]
Additional career options in hematology include transfusion medicine, which encompasses therapeutic apheresis and blood banking.[2]
References
- "Hematology". facts only, no text reused. healio.com
- "Hematology", American Medical Association. facts only, no text reused. ama-assn.org
- Wikipedia, "Hematology" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Hematology"; "What is Hematology?", News-Medical.net, 24 November 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hematology" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Resources for Medical Students and Residents", Hematology.org (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Advances in Transfusion Medicine - Hematology.org", www.hematology.org. facts only, no text reused. hematology.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Hematology (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Hematology (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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