Hematology

What is Hematology?

Hematology is the medical branch that concerns prevention, treatment, prognosis and causes of conditions related to blood. This involves treatment of diseases affecting blood production and its components like coagulation mechanism, spleen, blood vessels, platelets, bone marrow, blood proteins, hemoglobin and blood cells. Blood sample analysis is mostly performed by medical laboratory scientists or medical technologists.

Who is a Hematologist?

Hematologists are doctors specialized in dealing with blood-related conditions. Several medical conditions affect blood resulting in other conditions. Hematologists will perform clinical tests to diagnose and treat those conditions. There are doctors who are trained in both oncology and hematology.

Diseases and conditions treated by the Hematologist

What tests do hematologists perform?

CBC- It takes complete count of platelets, WBCs and RBCs
Blood film- Blood sample will smear with specific dyes for viewing under microscope as it will detect the abnormal cells
Staining- This will detect the blood parasites like microfilariasis, toxoplasmosis and malaria
Platelets- Staining and assessing megakaryocytes or platelets
Granulocytosis- It will assess the level
ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate)- This will check its rate
Bone marrow- It will check the bone marrow when necessary
Iron status- This test helps in assessing iron level and anemia using folate, vitamin B12 and serum ferritin
Coombs or antiglobulin test- It is important for blood typing and blood matching before transfusion
Platelet function- Coagulation and bleeding will be checked using the prothrombin line.

Diascopy- It is a technique for determining if a lesion is hemorrhagic, non-vascular and vascular
D-dimer- This test checks for thrombotic disorders
Electrophoresis- It examines proteins in blood like hemoglobin for sickle cell anemia and thalassemia
G6PD- This enzyme test assesses sickle cell disease
Fine-needle- Check tumors and lymph nodes
Spleen biopsy- Examining the spleen
Immunocytochemical technique- Find out antigens inside and outside of the cells
Storage disease assessment- Look for glycogen storage disease, Niemann-Pick disease and Gaucher’s disease
Chronic myeloproliferative disorder- Performing blood examination and bone marrow for assessing the disorder
Hemophagocytic syndromes- Check for the disease itself
Karyotyping- It checks for abnormalities and chromosomal disabilities

What are common symptoms of hematologic disorders?

Bleeding or bruising easily
Frequent infections
Fatigue
Fever
Night sweats
Unexplained weight loss
Bone pain (in myeloma)
Painless swelling of lymph nodes (in lymphoma)

What are the most common hematological issues?

Common disorders of blood are blood cancers like myeloma, lymphoma and leukemia, bleeding disorders like blood clots and hemophilia and anemia.

What will happen if you have high hematology?

If you have high hemoglobin levels then certain symptoms including easy bruising, fatigue and dizziness are more likely to be experienced. You must seek urgent medical care.

Visit and consult a Hematologist if you are suffering from any blood-related diseases.