Comprehensive knowledge of laboratory medicine

Laboratory medicine is one of the important branches of medicine. It mainly diagnoses diseases, evaluates disease progression and treatment effects by testing and analyzing samples of patients' blood, physiological functions, tissues and body fluids. This article will introduce the basic concepts of laboratory medicine, common test items and their significance, and methods for interpreting test results.

1. What is laboratory medicine?

Laboratory medicine is a comprehensive discipline that applies chemistry, biology, physics and other technologies to provide a scientific basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment through the detection and analysis of human samples. Laboratory medicine includes various professional fields such as clinical testing, hematology, microbiology, immunology, pathology, etc. In the medical field, laboratory medicine is an indispensable part. It can help doctors clarify the type of disease, the severity of the disease, the effect of treatment and other information, and provide an accurate basis for clinical decision-making.

2. Common inspection items and their significance

1. Routine blood test. Routine blood test is an important test item in hematology, used to evaluate the patient's anemia, inflammation, infection, etc. It usually includes indicators such as red blood cell count, white blood cell count, hemoglobin concentration, platelet count, etc. Through these indicators, doctors can understand the patient's anemia degree, leukocytosis or decrease, whether there is infection in the blood, etc., which helps doctors make diagnoses and formulate treatment plans.

2. Biochemical indicators. Used to evaluate the patient's liver function, kidney function, blood sugar level, etc. Including serum alanine aminotransferase (AST), serum aspartate aminotransferase (ALT), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), blood creatinine (Cr), blood sugar and other indicators.

3. Blood lipid testing. Blood lipid testing is used to assess the patient's lipid metabolism status. This test can help determine whether the patient has dyslipidemia, such as high cholesterol and high triglyceride levels, thereby predicting the risk of cardiovascular disease and guiding intervention measures such as diet, exercise and drug treatment.

4. Immunological testing. Immunological testing is used to diagnose diseases, evaluate immune function, and judge infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases by detecting the functional status of the human immune system and immune-related markers. Immunological testing includes immunohistochemistry, immunoserology, immunocytology and other technologies, which play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment monitoring of diseases.

5. Microbiological testing. Microbiological testing is to determine the type, quantity and drug sensitivity of pathogenic microorganisms through the cultivation, identification and sensitivity testing of microorganisms in samples (such as blood, urine, feces, etc.) to help diagnose and treat infectious diseases. Microbiological testing can provide accurate information on pathogenic microorganisms to guide clinical decision-making and the rational use of antibiotics.

6. Body fluid testing. This includes urine, feces, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, etc. By testing and analyzing these body fluids, we can understand the patient's biological functions and pathological conditions.

III. Interpretation of test results

1. Normal reference range. Each test item has its normal reference range, which refers to the result range of most people in the normal healthy population. Based on the relationship between the test results and the normal reference range, the patient's physiological condition can be preliminarily judged.

2. Correlation analysis. An abnormality in one indicator does not necessarily mean a disease, and it needs to be analyzed in combination with other related indicators. For example, a low hemoglobin concentration may be the cause of anemia, but it is also necessary to combine red blood cell count, platelet count and other indicators to determine the type of anemia.

3. Dynamic monitoring. Dynamic monitoring is to track and monitor the development of the disease and changes in treatment effects by continuously testing and observing patients. It can timely detect the changing trend of the disease, evaluate the effectiveness of treatment, and make adjustments based on the monitoring results to improve the success rate of treatment.

4. Clinical control. Clinical control is to combine the patient's clinical symptoms and signs with the test results for comprehensive analysis and judgment to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. It is an important evaluation method in medical clinical practice.

IV. Significance and Application of Laboratory Medicine

Laboratory medicine plays an indispensable role in clinical medicine. It can help doctors implement individualized treatment, evaluate treatment effects and prognosis, and provide a basis for decision-making. Through laboratory medicine, we can diagnose diseases early, intervene and treat them in time, avoid further deterioration of the disease, and improve the success rate of treatment. In addition, laboratory medicine also provides important data for research on the pathogenesis, etiology, epidemiology, etc. of the disease.

In summary, laboratory medicine is an important medical science that evaluates disease status and treatment effects by testing and analyzing biological samples. Understanding common test items and their significance, and interpreting test results reasonably can help us better understand our own health status and take appropriate measures in a timely manner. At the same time, it is also necessary to pay attention to the combined analysis of laboratory medicine with clinical symptoms and signs to improve the accuracy and ability of disease diagnosis. (Zhao Junguo, Lingshou County People's Hospital, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province)