Pathology (in ancient Greek pathos = feeling, pain, suffering and logos = discourse or treatise, i.e., system of formal study) is the study of diseases. It is a form of science and a branch of medicine that involves testing samples in a medical laboratory and diagnosing health problems from their evidence. Pathologists are skilled in interpreting test results and physical evidence.

Speech pathology is not usually linked to the speciality of pathology being a quite separate area mostly involved in helping patients with stroke or speech impediments.

Fields of pathology include:

• Anatomical pathology
• Forensic pathology
• Chemical pathology
• Cytopathology (Cellular pathology?)
• Cytogenetics
• Microbiology
• Nosology (the science of classifying diseases)
• Hematology
• Immunology
• Plant pathology
• Experimental Pathology

Other uses

Pathological is also used to mean bad beyond reasonable limits:

• Pathological (mathematics)
• Pathological science
• Pathological purchasing or Pathological consumption
• Pathological narcissism

See also

• Important publications in pathology