What is "pathology"

pathology \pa*thol"o*gy\ (-j[y^]), n.; pl. pathologies (-j[i^]z). [Gr. pa`qos a suffering, disease + -logy: cf. F. pathologie.]

1. (Med.) The science which treats of diseases, their nature, causes, progress, symptoms, etc.

   Note: Pathology is general or special, according as it treats of disease or morbid processes in general, or of particular diseases; it is also subdivided into internal and external, or medical and surgical pathology. Its departments are nosology, [ae]tiology, morbid anatomy, symptomatology, and therapeutics, which treat respectively of the classification, causation, organic changes, symptoms, and cure of diseases.

2. (Med.) The condition of an organ, tissue, or fluid produced by disease.

   Celluar pathology, a theory that gives prominence to the vital action of cells in the healthy and diseased function of the body.
   --Virchow.

"science of diseases," 1610s, from French pathologie (16c.), from medical Latin pathologia "study of disease," from Greek pathos "suffering" (see pathos) + -logia "study" (see -logy). In reference to the study of abnormal mental conditions from 1842. Ancient Greek pathologia was "study of the passions;" the Greek word for "science of diseases" was pathologike ("pathologics").

n. 1 (context medicine English) The branch of medicine concerned with the study of the nature of disease and its causes, processes, development, and consequences. 2 The medical specialty that provides microscopy and other laboratory services (e.g., cytology, histology) to clinicians. 3 pathosis: any deviation from a healthy or normal structure or function; abnormality; illness or malformation.

1. n. the branch of medical science that studies the causes and nature and effects of diseases

2. any deviation from a healthy or normal condition

Pathology (from the Ancient Greek roots of pathos , meaning "experience" or "suffering", and -logia , "study of") is a significant component of the causal study of disease and a major field in modern medicine and diagnosis.

The term pathology itself may be used broadly to refer to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of bioscience research fields and medical practices (including plant pathology and veterinary pathology), or more narrowly to describe work within the contemporary medical field of "general pathology," which includes a number of distinct but inter-related medical specialties that diagnose disease—mostly through analysis of tissue, cell, and body fluid samples. Used as a count noun, "a pathology" (plural, "pathologies") can also refer to the predicted or actual progression of particular diseases (as in the statement "the many different forms of cancer have diverse pathologies"), and the affix path is sometimes used to indicate a state of disease in cases of both physical ailment (as in cardiomyopathy) and psychological conditions (such as psychopathy). Similarly, a pathological condition is one caused by disease, rather than occurring physiologically. A physician practicing pathology is called a pathologist.

As a field of general inquiry and research, pathology addresses four components of disease: cause/ etiology, mechanisms of development ( pathogenesis), 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 infectious and non-infectious disease and is conducted by experts in one of two major specialties, anatomical pathology and clinical pathology. 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).

The sense of the word pathology as a synonym of disease or pathosis is very common in health care. The persistence of this usage despite attempted proscription is discussed elsewhere.

Pathology (Greek for pathos, suffering) and -logia, study of) is a medical field specializing in the categorization of diseases. Pathological is the adjective form of the term.

Pathology may also refer to:

Pathology is a 2008 crime- horror film directed by Marc Schölermann and written by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. The cast was announced on April 4, 2007 and filming started in May 2007. The film premiered April 11, 2008 in the United Kingdom and opened in limited release in the United States on April 18, 2008.

Pathology is an American death metal band from San Diego, California, formed in 2006 by drummer Dave Astor (previously with The Locust and Cattle Decapitation). The band were signed to Victory Records for an over three-year period, but now are currently signed to Sevared Records, an independent New York-based death metal label.