Pathology

Pathology is the study of <a href="/facts/Disease/55eeQlGL">disease</a>. The word pathology also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of <a href="/facts/Biology/1M1ee3pB">biology</a> research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatment, the term is often used in a narrower fashion to refer to processes and tests that fall within the contemporary medical field of "general pathology", an area that includes a number of distinct but inter-related <a href="/facts/Medical_specialties/4eQo5Tz7">medical specialties</a> that diagnose disease, mostly through analysis of <a href="/facts/Tissue_(biology)/H7CpML7A">tissue</a> and <a href="/facts/Human_cell/IjWXx31l">human cell</a> samples. Idiomatically, "a pathology" may also refer to the predicted or actual progression of particular diseases (as in the statement "the many different forms of <a href="/facts/Cancer/PVW6n1D0">cancer</a> have diverse pathologies", in which case a more proper choice of word would be "<a href="/facts/Pathophysiology/Tp3Dny0c">pathophysiologies</a>"). The <a href="/facts/Suffix/Nlnft3NK">suffix</a> pathy is sometimes used to indicate a state of disease in cases of both physical ailment (as in <a href="/facts/Cardiomyopathy/rhXF3Vcj">cardiomyopathy</a>) and <a href="/facts/Psychological/duoqW7Sz">psychological</a> conditions (such as <a href="/facts/Psychopathy/ES1HW8bu">psychopathy</a>). A <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a> practicing pathology is called a pathologist.
As a field of general inquiry and research, pathology addresses components of disease: cause, mechanisms of development (<a href="/facts/Pathogenesis/o9kHHK0U">pathogenesis</a>), structural alterations of cells (morphologic changes), and the consequences of changes (clinical manifestations). In common medical practice, general pathology is mostly concerned with analyzing known clinical abnormalities that are markers or precursors for both <a href="/facts/Infectious_disease/182XrncP">infectious</a> and <a href="/facts/Non-communicable_disease/a3HxqDL3">non-infectious</a> disease, and is conducted by experts in one of two major specialties, <a href="/facts/Anatomical_pathology/CrUgh3b8">anatomical pathology</a> and <a href="/facts/Clinical_pathology/S08jcRvc">clinical pathology</a>. Further divisions in specialty exist on the basis of the involved sample types (comparing, for example, <a href="/facts/Cytopathology/za3sn0Jt">cytopathology</a>, <a href="/facts/Hematopathology/pbD1vE2t">hematopathology</a>, and <a href="/facts/Histopathology/9Eggjrg4">histopathology</a>), organs (as in <a href="/facts/Renal_pathology/jAXuffNg">renal pathology</a>), and physiological systems (<a href="/facts/Oral_pathology/gw4z2xfs">oral pathology</a>), as well as on the basis of the focus of the examination (as with <a href="/facts/Forensic_pathology/e9YXhEmV">forensic pathology</a>).
Pathology is a significant field in modern <a href="/facts/Medical_diagnosis/J47rvb0p">medical diagnosis</a> and <a href="/facts/Medical_research/lSVBFxDJ">medical research</a>.

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Pathology