Immunology is a specialty, like haematology, which
often involves both laboratory medicine (the testing
of specimens collected from patients) and clinical
practice (interviewing, examining and advising
patients about clinical problems).
In the laboratory, immunologists are involved in
the design, performance and supervision of
tests of the immune system. These include, for
example, testing for "allergy antibodies" (IgE) to determine whether patients have allergies to various substances, the measurement of different classes of antibody proteins to determine the state of the immune system's defence mechanisms, or monitoring the level of T-lymphocytes, the cells that disappear after HIV infection.
An important function of the immune system in any individual is to identify and destroy foreign agents within the body, such as bacteria or viruses. Unfortunately, there are a number of disorders which result from misdirected activity of the immune system against the tissues of the patient ("autoimmune" disorders"). These include diseases that affect the skin (lupus erythematosus, pemphigus), the joints (rheumatoid arthritis), the pancreas (diabetes in young persons), the thyroid gland (thyroiditis, Graves' disease), blood clotting systems (phospholipid antibody syndrome), the liver and many other systems.
Clinical activities of an Immunopathologist include providing advice on a wide variety of other disorders including recurrent miscarriage and some areas of transplantation medicine. They may also be directly involved in managing patients with autoimmune diseases and AIDS.
Click
here for the Immunopathology career brochure.
Click
here for a copy of the Day in the Life Brochure for Immunopathology.
Day in the Life - Immunology - Dr Stephen Adelstein
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