Hematology is the medical specialty that studies blood (blood cells and other components), its disorders or mutations and the organs that are part of its production, such as the bone marrow, the spleen, or the nodes, among others.
Hematology is usually associated, incorrectly, with clinical analyses. The specialist in clinical analysis works in a laboratory assessing blood cells, proteins, sugars, enzymes, and whatever element or substance that circulates within the bloodstream involved in organ function.
The hematologist is a doctor with dual training, both clinical and laboratory, whose work may be carried out individually or in collaboration with other specialties.
The most commonly treated diseases are:
• Genetic hemophilia: causes difficulty for the blood to adequately coagulate.
• Thrombophilia: a hereditary disease that causes thrombosis.
• Anemia: a common disorder that is produced when there are low levels of red blood cells or when the red blood cells do not have enough hemoglobin (a protein that transports oxygen in the blood). In this case, the cells do not have adequate nutrition, which means that anemia causes feelings of fatigue and heaviness.
• Neutropenia: reduction in the number of neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) in the blood. It may bring about an autologous blood transfusion.
• Hematological cancers:
– Leukemia: affects the cells in the bone marrow and the blood
– Lymphoma: is originated in the lymphatic system
– Myeloma: cancer in plasma cells (a type of white blood cell).
– Myelodysplastic Syndrome: mutations may occur when the cell the produce blood in the bone marrow become abnormal.
Hematology identifies such imbalances. One of the most important laboratory tests is the complete blood count, a blood analysis with a count and analysis of the different types of cells that make up the blood. A hemogram may contribute to the diagnosis of these disorders in order to facilitate the prescription of the appropriate treatment.
• Management and biological diagnosis in the laboratory of basic or specific hematological assessments (blood analyses).
• Biological and clinical diagnosis of disorders that cause hemorrhaging or thrombosis.
• Medical attention to patients with hematological diseases in every phase of the process.
• Carrying out bone marrow transplants.
• The control of blood banks, the production of products that are derived from the blood, and the safety of transfusions, from the collection of blood to the actual transfusion.
• Research and development of new procedures in order to control hematological diseases.
Haemotherapy is a therapeutic method that uses the blood or another of its components in order to treat diverse health problems.
The blood obtained may be used in the same person it comes from, as well as another receptor.
The various processes in haemotheraphy are controlled by a team of professionals, which includes a hematological technician and a medical hematologist. This team works in the unit known as the blood bank.
Sources:
American society of hematology
National Cancer Institute
Mayo Clinic
September 4, 2018
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