Editing Pathology (section)

{{Short description|Study of disease}}
{{Redirect|Pathobiology|the journal|Karger Publishers||Pathology (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Pathological case|the corresponding case in engineering|Corner case}}

{{Infobox medical specialty
| title      = Pathology
| image      = [[File:Pathologists looking into microscopes (1).jpg|275px]]
| caption    = A pathologist examines a tissue section for evidence of cancerous cells while a surgeon observes.
| focus      = [[Disease]]
| subdivisions = [[Anatomical pathology]], [[clinical pathology]], [[dermatopathology]], [[forensic pathology]], [[hematopathology]], [[histopathology]], [[molecular pathology]], [[surgical pathology]]
| diseases   = All [[infectious disease|infectious]] and [[organic disease|organic]] [[diseases]] and physiological disorders
| tests      = All medical diagnostic tests, particular [[biopsy]], [[blood analysis]], [[dissection]], and other applications of medical [[microscopy]]
| specialist = Pathologist
| glossary   = [[Glossary of medicine]]
}}
{{Infobox Occupation
| name = Pathologist
| image = 
| caption = 
| official_names = 
* Physician
* Surgeon
| type = [[Medical specialty|Specialty]]
| activity_sector = [[Medicine]], [[Surgery]]
| competencies = 
| formation = 
* [[Doctor of Medicine]] (M.D.)
* [[Doctor of Osteopathic medicine]] (D.O.)
* [[Doctor of Veterinary Medicine]] (D.V.M)
* [[Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery]] (M.B.B.S./M.B.Ch.B.)
| employment_field = [[Hospital]]s, [[Clinic]]s
| related_occupation = 
}}

'''Pathology''' is the study of [[disease]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Herausgeber. |first=Cross, Simon S., Herausgeber. Underwood, James C. E. 1942- |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1043350646 |title=Underwood's pathology : a clinical approach |date=30 April 2018 |publisher=Elsevier – Health Sciences Division |isbn=978-0-7020-7212-3 |oclc=1043350646}}</ref> The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of [[biology]] 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 [[medical specialties]] that diagnose disease, mostly through analysis of [[tissue (biology)|tissue]] and [[human cell]] 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 [[cancer]] have diverse pathologies", in which case a more proper choice of word would be "[[Pathophysiology|pathophysiologies]]"). The [[suffix]] ''pathy'' is sometimes used to indicate a state of disease in cases of both physical ailment (as in [[cardiomyopathy]]) and [[psychological]] conditions (such as [[psychopathy]]).<ref>{{cite web|title=-pathy, comb. form |work=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |url=https://oed.com/view/Entry/138811|department=OED Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=23 March 2020|date=2005|edition=3rd}}</ref>  A [[physician]] practicing pathology is called a ''pathologist''.

As a field of general inquiry and research, pathology addresses  components of disease: cause, mechanisms of development ([[pathogenesis]]), structural alterations of cells (morphologic changes), and the consequences of changes (clinical manifestations).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kumar |first1=Vinay |last2=Abbas |first2=Abul K. |last3=Fausto |first3=Nelson |last4=Aster |first4=Jon C. |title= Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease |date=2010 |publisher=Saunders/Elsevier |location=Philadelphia |isbn=978-1-4160-3121-5 |edition=8th}}</ref> In common medical practice, general pathology is mostly concerned with analyzing known clinical abnormalities that are markers or precursors for both [[infectious disease|infectious]] and [[Non-communicable disease|non-infectious]] disease, and is conducted by experts in one of two major specialties, [[anatomical pathology]] and [[clinical pathology]].<ref name = october>{{cite web | title = Pathology Specialty Description | publisher = American Medical Association | url = https://www.ama-assn.org/specialty/pathology-specialty-description | access-date = 5 October 2020}}</ref> Further divisions in specialty exist on the basis of the involved sample types (comparing, for example, [[cytopathology]], [[hematopathology]], and [[histopathology]]), organs (as in [[renal pathology]]), and physiological systems ([[oral pathology]]), as well as on the basis of the focus of the examination (as with [[forensic pathology]]).

Pathology is a significant field in modern [[medical diagnosis]] and [[medical research]].