Hi, I'm Dominic, and this is the Map of Medicine. It was a real challenge to get my head around this subject because it's such a huge area of human knowledge, but this is what I've come up with. We'll look at the areas of medical practice and then also all of the surrounding supporting sciences. And like all my maps, if you want to get your hands on a physical poster, go to dosmaps.com to buy one, along with our Professor Astro Cat books, which all helps me make more videos like this. But first...
we'll start with the principles of medicine. Many medical interventions cause short-term damage or have harmful side effects, but in order to gain long-term benefits. So medical practitioners follow a set of principles to help guide them through the often difficult decisions when deciding on what treatment directions are appropriate for a given condition. First, do no harm, or the principle of non-malfeasance, which basically means don't do more harm than good. So, Given an existing problem, it may be better to not use a treatment option, or even not do anything, rather than risking causing more harm than good.
The risk-benefit or benefit-risk ratio is a way of attempting to weigh up the risks of an action compared to the benefits of that action, based on the understanding that it's necessary to accept a certain level of risk in our lives in order to achieve certain benefits. The principle of double effect says it's permissible to have a harmful side effect of a treatment. even resulting in death, so long as it's not intended and occurs as a side effect of a beneficial action. The principle of informed consent requires that the patient must be capable of making decisions for themselves, must have enough information to make an informed choice, and they must be able to give their consent freely.
The principle of autonomy means that a patient has the ultimate decision-making responsibility for their own treatment. and a medical practitioner cannot impose treatment on a patient. The principle of confidentiality means that professionals shouldn't share personal details about someone without their consent or unless it's absolutely necessary.
The principle of justice means all patients deserve advanced healthcare delivery regardless of economic status, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, etc. The principle of proportionality means that medical interventions and risks should be proportionate to the possible lives saved. And these are the main principles of medicine.
When you've gone and snapped yourself, the first thing to do is phone an ambulance. And after a short wait, you'll be treated by the first line of medical intervention, paramedics. Paramedics are trained to provide emergency medical care wherever it's needed. They typically work as part of an ambulance crew, or a rapid response team, who respond to emergencies such as accidents, heart attacks, strokes, or other life-threatening conditions. They're trained to quickly figure out what's wrong, and provide medical intervention such as providing cardiac and respiratory support, administering medications, or performing advanced airway management.
They often have to make quick decisions about the best course of action. The next step is to get you to a hospital, accident and emergency as fast as possible. A&D departments aim to provide immediate medical care to patients presenting with urgent or life-threatening medical conditions.
From accidents to heart attacks, strokes or severe infections. They are staffed by a team of healthcare professionals, emergency physicians, nurses, paramedics and other support staff who are trained to respond quickly to emergency situations and provide immediate medical care. The department is typically open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to provide round-the-clock care to patients.
They either patch you up and send you away, or refer you to other medical specialties for further evaluation or treatment, or keep you in a critical or intensive care unit, known as an ICU, where the goal is to stabilise and manage patients with severe medical conditions or injuries. This may include monitoring vital signs, administering intravenous fluids and medications, providing respiratory support, and performing procedures such as intubation or mechanical ventilation. Patients in critical care may have a range of medical conditions including sepsis, heart failure, respiratory failure, traumatic injuries, neurological emergencies, amongst many other things. In certain situations you may need surgery, which involves the use of invasive procedures to treat a wide range of conditions and diseases, from ending broken bones, minor procedures such as removing moles and cysts, to more complex procedures such as organ transplants and open heart surgery. Surgeons use a variety of tools and techniques such as scalpel, forceps and sutras to remove or repair damaged or diseased tissue, organs or bones, although increasingly surgery is performed by specialists using minimally invasive techniques.
The goal of surgery is to alleviate symptoms, prevent complications and improve the patient's quality of life. Surgeons work closely with anaesthesiologists who administer anaesthesia to numb parts of your body or knock you out so you don't experience pain during surgery. They also help patients manage pain before, during and after medical procedures.
The main goal of anaesthesiology is to ensure that the patient is as comfortable and as safe as possible during medical procedures. They also monitor the patient's vital signs and adjust anaesthesia doses as needed to maintain the patient's level of anaesthesia and ensure their safety. But most of our interactions with the field of medicine are a bit more pedestrian.
The most common way we interact with the field of medicine is through our local general practitioners, also known as family doctors. or primary care physicians, who serve as our first point of contact for our ailments. Their role is to offer routine check-ups, screenings, vaccinations, and advice on general well-being from diet and exercise to mental health, and keep track of their patients'overall health over time. They also help diagnose and treat a wide range of acute and chronic illnesses using diagnostic methods, such as physical examinations or ordering laboratory tests.
They will also refer patients to specialists who work in the many different areas of medical practice, which I'll be covering later. Family doctors also write prescriptions for drugs to, say, treat infections or for birth control, or to manage chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes, depression and many others. You'll get your prescriptions from a pharmacist who dispenses and offers expertise on the safe use of prescription medications and gives advice on how to use them most effectively. so you get the best outcomes.
Pharmacy is backed up by the basic science of pharmacology. I'm putting all the science that supports medicine in the blue sections. Pharmacology is the study of drugs and their effect on living organisms, which involves the study of their properties, actions, uses, and side effects, as well as their interaction with other drugs, and their mechanisms of action at the molecular level, cellular level, or the effect on the whole body.
Although I've put pharmacology as a basic science in the blue section, it's an important field in both research and medical practice, and plays a critical role in the development of new drugs and treatments for a wide range of diseases and conditions. An important sub-discipline of pharmacology is toxicology, which studies the hazardous effects of drugs, poisons and toxic substances like industrial chemicals, pesticides and pollutants on the body. Research in toxicology has many applications in public health, environmental science and drug development.
Toxicologists play an important role in identifying and characterising toxic substances, evaluating the risks associated to exposure to these substances, and developing strategies to mitigate those risks. Coming back to medical practice, when you're presenting to a medical practitioner with something wrong, it's their job to figure out what's going on with you and then determine the best course of action. Figuring out what's wrong with you is by no means an easy task, so there are many diagnostic methods available to doctors to help them diagnose your ailments, and we'll look at these now. Physical examination involves examining the patient's body and vital signs, including their temperature, blood pressure and pulse, as well as examination of the eyes, ears, nose, throat, skin and other parts of the body. If more investigation is warranted, laboratory tests give valuable information by analysing blood, urine and other bodily fluids to measure levels of important biomolecules or detect the presence of disease or infection.
In cases where there's an unusual growth, a biopsy can be taken which involves removing a small piece of tissue to examine under a microscope to detect the presence of cancer, abnormal cells or other diseases, which is also known as a histological examination. Microbiological tests are used to isolate and identify microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. Immunological tests are used to measure the immune system's response to infection, such as the measurement of antibodies in the blood or the body's response when introduced to certain compounds.
Seeing inside the body is very helpful for diagnosing conditions and there are many imaging tests like ultrasound, x-rays, CT scans, MRI and other imaging techniques which help to see your bones, internal organs and other structures to help detect abnormalities or injuries. Endoscopic procedures involve the use of a flexible tube with a light and camera at the end, which is inserted into your body at one end or the other to be able to see your insides. Some conditions like cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anaemia have a strong genetic component, and genetic testing analyses a person's DNA to identify inherited genetic conditions.
And psychological or psychiatric evaluations look at a person's mental health, emotions and behaviour to identify any psychological or psychiatric conditions. This gives you a good idea of the main tools at the disposal of the healthcare system to help figure out what's going on and give doctors the information they need to decide on the best course of action. Coming back to the areas of medical practice, In practice, psychiatry deals with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental illnesses and emotional disorders. It's a diverse field that encompasses a wide range of mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, bipolar disorder, eating disorders and schizophrenia, amongst others. Psychiatrists use a variety of treatments to help individuals manage their mental health conditions, such as counselling and therapy.
also known as psychotherapy, medication, and in severe cases, electroconvulsive therapy. It's worth noting that mental health, just like our physical wellbeing, affects us all, and many people, including myself, have benefited from therapy or counselling simply when navigating our lives. On a more mechanistic side, neurology looks at the diagnosis, treatment and management of disorders of the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord, and nerves.
Neurologists are experts in a wide range of neurological conditions such as headaches, stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Treatment methods include medication, physical therapy and surgery to manage neurological disorders. These branches of medicine are supported by the basic research science of neuroscience, which focuses on the biology and physiology of the human brain and nervous system. This includes its molecular and cellular mechanisms, neural circuits, behaviour and cognition.
Scientists use a variety of tools and techniques to study the nervous system, which include brain imaging, electrophysiology, genetics and behavioural testing. And research in neuroscience has helped improve treatments in neurology and psychiatry. This leads us to a really interesting area of medical science, the placebo effect. This is where patients can be given a treatment that doesn't actually do anything physically, but if you don't tell them this and they think they're getting a proper drug or surgery, they still experience improvements in their symptoms or health condition, just on the basis that they believe it will work. The placebo effect has been well documented in several areas, especially for pain management, but we still don't know exactly why it works, although there are many theories being tested involving unnatural endorphins or neurotransmitters like dopamine.
The reason I want to point out the placebo effect is because in this map I'm not covering treatments that fall outside of evidence-based medicine like acupuncture, homeopathy or chiropractics and many other so-called alternative therapies because none of these work because of how they say they work. As far as anyone can tell any positive effect of these yet unproven interventions is because of the placebo effect. In fact, the only way to find out if something actually works is to do a clinical trial. And there, you don't have to show that your new drug or intervention performs better than nothing.
You have to prove it performs better than a placebo. And if it does, it just becomes part of established medicine. This also applies to the current crop of wellness influencers who are essentially selling modern day snake oil, which, as long as it doesn't have a negative effect, probably has a positive placebo effect. They just tend to be crazy expensive.
What's even more interesting is that the placebo effect still works even if you know that you're taking a placebo, which is why I'm launching my new product, Maximum Strength Placebo, by Domain of Science. If you need fast relief from basically anything, turn to Maximum Strength Placebo. It might be just a placebo, but it works.
Trust me, I'm a doctor. In fact, this is the cheapest way to get your magic pills, because I'm not even selling a bottle of pills. I'm just selling the label.
So you can make your own placebo at home. Take an old jar, stick on the label, and fill it with your favourite sugar pill. Bang! Placebo. The ultimate in personalised medicine, and one you can use over and over again.
So if you want to make your own placebo, go to dosmaps.com, where I'm also selling the poster. In fact, I'm giving away a free placebo label with the first 500 Map of Medicine posters. But please bear in mind, placebos could only improve a limited amount of symptoms. They can't cure you of any proper medical issues like a broken leg or cancer, you know, the heavy stuff.
So if you're actually ill, go see a proper doctor. Now the placebo effect is a truly fascinating topic that I want to spend way more time on, but fortunately my friend and cardiologist Rohin has just posted an epic video about the placebo effect on his channel Medlife Crisis, so go check that out if you want to learn more. And I've learned loads about medicine from his channel, so that's a great place to go after you've watched this video. Coming back to the areas of medical practice, one area we all interact with is dentistry. which checks and manages your teeth, gums and mouth to treat conditions like tooth decay, gum disease and oral cancer.
They use a variety of treatment methods such as fillings, extractions, root canals and dental implants to manage oral health and they work closely with other specialists such as orthodontists, periodontists and oral surgeons. For vision, ophthalmology treats disorders of the eyes and visual system. as well as supplying us with corrective lenses to help us see properly. Ophthalmologists are experts in the diagnosis and management of a wide range of eye conditions, such as cataracts, glaucoma, amongst others, and treatment methods include medication, laser therapy, and surgery to manage eye disorders. Optometrists are experts in diagnosing conditions such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism, and prescribe corrective lenses on the basis of vision tests.
And the specialty known as ENT treats conditions related to the ears, nose, throat and other connected structures of the head and neck. An ENT doctor is trained to treat a wide range of conditions including ear infections, hearing loss, sinusitis, allergies, tonsillitis, laryngitis and cancers of the head and neck, as well as being experts of airway management. They're skilled with very delicate surgical procedures in very small or cramped anatomical regions. Getting regular check-ups from your doctor is a form of preventative medicine, which is the medical specialty that focuses on promoting health and preventing disease, to try and keep people healthy rather than just treating them when they become ill, to simply avoid a lot of human suffering from happening in the first place.
Strategies include vaccinations, health screenings, and promoting a healthy lifestyle to try and reduce the risk of disease or injury, and catching chronic conditions. early when they're more manageable. Immunology is the study of the immune system, how it works, and how it defends the body against infections and diseases. It also includes cancer immunology, which looks at the body's innate ability to prevent or eliminate cancer cells, called immunosurveillance, as well as new treatments like genetically engineered CAR-T cells used to target certain forms of cancer. Immunology also studies disorders of the immune system, such as allergies and autoimmunity.
Immunologists use a variety of treatment methods such as medication, immunotherapy, and bone marrow or stem cell transplantation to manage immune disorders. Public health is a branch of medicine that focuses on the improvement of the health of communities and populations. Disease prevention, promoting healthy lifestyles, development of healthcare systems and policies, and improving the health of the population through education.
Public health works to identify and address the root causes of health problems, rather than just treating individual patients. Public health also encompasses emergency preparedness and response, and activities like vaccination campaigns and outbreak investigations. So it crosses over with epidemiology, biostatistics, and social and behavioural sciences.
This is related to nutrition science, which is the study of how the food we eat affects our health. I've put nutrition science in this section for basic medical sciences, as it's the study of the nutrients in food and how our body uses them. But there's also a practical side, dietetics, where dietitians apply nutrition science to help with conditions like allergies, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and weight and eating disorders, amongst others.
or help athletes perform at their best. Another important element of public health is epidemiology, which studies how health problems spread in populations, or tracking which populations have them, something we're all very familiar with since the COVID-19 pandemic. Epidemiologists use statistical studies and scientific methods to investigate the origins and spread of diseases or other health events in whole populations and not just in humans. They try to identify the risk factors for a disease and work out how effective different treatment plans will be, as well as measuring the impact of health policies on the population.
Which brings us to infectious disease, which deals with the diagnosis treatment and prevention of infections caused by microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. Infectious disease physicians are experts in identifying and managing infections, as well as interpreting laboratory results and identifying potential outbreaks. There are many ways infectious diseases can spread, contact with infected animals or people, contaminated food or water. or through bites from infected insects, or even in healthcare settings through contaminated surfaces or medical equipment, which is why hygiene measures are so important. Also, antibiotic resistance is one of the leading causes of death globally, as I found out in my map of doom, which is why the appropriate use of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections is vitally important.
Infectious disease physicians work closely with microbiologists who study microorganisms including viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa and other microscopic organisms like parasites. Microbiology applies to many different fields like biotechnology or food production, but in the medical setting microbiologists are also experts in antimicrobial medication, like antibiotic or antifungal medication. So although I've put microbiology in the basic sciences, it has a clinical role as well. Closely related to these sections is pathology. which studies the changes in the body that happen because of a disease, like changes in cells, their shape or size, or how they function, or changes in tissues or organs.
Pathologists use this information to help diagnose and classify diseases, and also understand what caused the disease and how it progresses and resolves. There are two main branches of pathology, anatomic pathology, which looks at tissues and organs, and clinical pathology, which looks at body fluids like blood and urine. Pathology is also used in forensic medicine to determine the cause of death.
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One kind of surgery worth highlighting is plastic surgery, which people often think of as cosmetic surgery, but there's important clinical uses where it's used to manage and repair conditions like burns, congenital defects like cleft palates, traumatic injuries, or repairs from cancer treatment. Plastic surgeons use a variety of techniques like skin grafts, tissue expansion, or reconstruction. Next is dermatology, which treats conditions of the skin like eczema and acne, psoriasis, and skin cancer, as well as disorders involving our hair and nails. Dermatologists play a vital role in the early detection and management of skin cancer, which is one of the most common and potentially deadly types of cancer. Treatment methods include cryotherapy, laser therapy, as well as medication and surgery.
In fact, in all the following areas when I'm describing treatment methods, everything uses medication and surgery. So rather than repeating myself over and over again, from now on you can assume medication and surgery are always treatment options. And so I'll just be mentioning specific treatment methods which apply to each area.
Now we're getting into the realm of internal medicine, which is an umbrella term containing many specialisms in medicine, which I'll be covering here. It's worth mentioning that there are many different ways to order the field of medicine. In this map, I've used the systems-based approach, which is the most common, and it lends itself to this kind of compartmentalisation. So now onto oncology, which deals with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cancer. It's a multidisciplinary field which encompasses a wide range of cancer types, such as lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and blood cancers, amongst others.
Oncologists are involved in all aspects of cancer care, from screening and diagnosis to treatment, follow-up care and palliative care. And treatment includes a variety of methods such as radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy. which treats cancer by targeting proteins that control how cancer cells grow, divide and spread. This brings us to radiology, which harnesses imaging techniques such as x-ray, computed tomography or CT scans, MRI or magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, and nuclear medicine to diagnose and treat a wide range of medical conditions.
Radiologists are also experts in the interpretation of medical images. and also play an important role in guiding and monitoring the progress of treatment for medical conditions such as cancer and other diseases. Close to radiology is the basic science of radiobiology, which studies the effect of ionising radiation on living organisms.
Ionising radiation, like x-rays or gamma radiation, can cause damage to DNA, which can lead to mutations or cell death. At the cellular level, radiation can affect cell function, division and survival. At the whole body level, radiation exposure can cause acute effects such as radiation sickness or chronic effects such as an increased risk of cancer or other diseases. On the other hand, radiation can also be harnessed in radiation therapy, which is a common treatment for cancer, so that understanding of radiobiology can help mitigate against and treat illnesses. Less harmful radiation due to its lower energy is the realm of photobiology, which looks at the interactions between non-ionising radiation and living organisms.
Photobiology involves the study of how organisms from bacteria to humans interact with light and how these interactions can affect their physiology, metabolism and behaviour. This includes the effects of light on photosynthesis, vision, circadian rhythms and vitamin D synthesis amongst others. Clinical examples include phototherapy on newborns to help treat jaundice, or photodynamic therapy, which uses photosensitising agents and light to kill cancer cells.
Here I'd like to take a little detour to the basic science of medical physics, which is the study of the principles of physics as applied to medicine, and is where all of the imaging techniques like x-rays, CT and MRI scans and ultrasound were developed. But medical physics is also involved in treatments as well as imaging, for example radiation therapy or proton beam therapy, which are used to treat cancer. In general, medical physics plays an important role in developing new technologies and techniques for use in medicine. Still in the realm of physics, but distinct from medical physics, is biophysics, which focuses on the physical and mechanical properties of biological systems, including cells, tissues and organisms.
It seeks to understand the fundamental physical and chemical mechanisms that underlie biological processes, such as the structure and function of biomolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids in molecular biophysics, or in cellular biophysics which focuses on the study of the physical properties of cells and their interactions with their which focuses on the study of the physical and mechanical properties of biological systems at the level of whole organisms. Next we have biochemistry, which focuses on the chemical processes and chemical substances that occur within living organisms. It involves the study of the chemical structure and function of biological molecules such as proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates and lipids, and the biochemical reactions and pathways of the body.
that are involved in the regulation of these molecules. Biochemistry plays a crucial role in understanding the mechanisms of disease, for example the biochemical pathways involved in cancer or, say, diabetes, in order to develop new diagnostic tools or therapeutic interventions. Also, the development of new drugs often involves studying the structure of proteins to identify new drug targets. Back to the areas of medical practice, we come to cardiology, which deals with the conditions of the heart and diagnosis of a wide range of cardiovascular problems such as coronary artery disease, heart failure, arrhythmias, valvular heart disease and hypertension.
Cardiologists use a variety of diagnostic tools such as electrocardiograms, ECG, echocardiograms and angiograms to evaluate and diagnose cardiovascular disorders. They also use a variety of treatment methods such as angioplasty, stenting, heart surgery and endovascular treatment to manage cardiovascular disorders. Then we come to nephrology, which deals with the diagnosis and management of a wide range of kidney-related conditions.
such as chronic kidney disease, acute kidney injury, kidney stones, glomerulonephritis, and hypertension. The kidney is a complex organ that performs many vital functions, such as filtering waste products from the blood, generating red blood cells, regulating electrolyte balance, and regulating blood pressure. And to counteract kidney conditions, nephrologists use treatment methods such as dialysis and kidney transplantation in the case of kidney failure. Next we have haematology which looks at our blood and disorders of blood cells or the places they're produced like bone marrow or the lymphatic system.
Examples of blood disorders are anemia, leukaemia, lymphoma and bleeding disorders like haemophilia. The diagnostic tools haematologists use include blood tests, bone marrow biopsies and imaging studies. And treatment methods include chemotherapy, radiation therapy.
bone marrow or stem cell transplantation, and immune or cell-based therapies depending on the disorder being treated. Now onto the lungs and respiratory system with respiratory medicine or pulmonology. Respiratory conditions include things like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and sarcoidosis.
And pulmonologists use diagnostic tools such as x-rays, CT scans, lung function tests, and bronchoscopy to evaluate and diagnose respiratory disorders. Treatment includes oxygen therapy which can help manage respiratory disorders and medication that's applied by inhalation. Now to our guts with gastroenterology which deals with disorders of the digestive system which includes the oesophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, rectum as well as the liver, gallbladder and pancreas. Examples of digestive disorders are peptic ulcer disease, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease and liver disease.
And gastroenterologists use diagnostic tools such as endoscopy, colonoscopy and imaging studies to see what's going on, with treatments commonly involving endoscopic procedures. Urology deals with the urinary tract and the male reproductive system, diagnosing and treating conditions such as urinary tract infections, prostate problems, kidney stones, and male infertility. Urologists use diagnostic tools including urine tests, blood tests, imaging studies, and biopsies to evaluate and diagnose urologic conditions. And endoscopic procedures are a common method used in treatment.
The study of hormones and their effect throughout the body is covered by the field of endocrinology. The endocrine system is made up of glands that produce and secrete hormones which are chemical messengers that regulate various bodily functions such as metabolism, growth and development, and reproduction. Examples of disorders of the endocrine system include diabetes, thyroid disorders, osteoporosis, and hormonal imbalances. Endocrinologists use blood tests, imaging studies, and hormone level measurements to evaluate endocrine disorders, and treatment can include hormone replacement therapy. Gynaecology and obstetrics, or OBGYN, is a specialty that focuses on the care of women's reproductive health and is focused on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period and is closely related to reproductive medicine and techniques like IVF.
Gynaecology deals with the diagnosis and treatment of conditions of the female reproductive system. An OBGYN provides prenatal care, delivers babies and manages complications of pregnancy. They also perform gynaecological exams. Pap tests and screenings for sexually transmitted infections. They may also provide contraceptive counselling and diagnose and treat conditions such as fibroids, endometriosis and cancer of the reproductive system.
We also have rheumatology, which focuses on disorders of the joints, muscles and bones, as well as other connective tissue disorders such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and scleroderma. Rheumatologists are experts in the diagnosis and management of a wide range of rheumatic conditions, which are often lifelong conditions which can be debilitating and include chronic pain. Diagnostic tools include physical examination, imaging studies and laboratory tests.
Physical therapy is a common treatment method. Rheumatology also shares a lot of ground with immunology, as many diseases it's concerned with are disorders of the immune system. While we're in the realm of internal medicine, this is a good time to talk about anatomy and physiology, which together form the foundation of the biological sciences and are essential to understanding the workings of the human body. Anatomy is the study of the physical structure of organisms and so is relevant to all the areas of internal medicine.
Anatomy breaks down into several sub-disciplines. Gross anatomy, also known as macroscopic anatomy, studies the structure of the body without the use of a microscope, so organs, tissues and other body structures, and typically involves the dissection of cadavers or the use of models and other educational tools to study the anatomy of the body. It's often studied by medical and healthcare students to provide a foundation for understanding the structure and function of the human body. Histology is the part of anatomy that studies the microscopic structure and function of biological tissues.
And in medical practice, histology is used to identify the presence of disease in tissues obtained from biopsies or surgical specimens. Histology involves the preparation of tissue samples, which are then stained with various dyes to highlight different structures and cellular components. These samples are then examined under a microscope to identify any abnormalities or signs of disease, which can include cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders and genetic disorders. It can also be used to monitor the progress of a disease and the effectiveness of treatment.
In basic medical science, advances in histology have led to better understanding of the mechanisms of disease, which has helped develop new treatments for many diseases. Cytology is the part of anatomy that focuses on the study of cells, including their structure, function and behaviour. In medical practice, cytology is commonly used in diagnostic medicine to identify abnormal cells that may indicate the presence of cancer or other diseases.
This is typically done by analysing cells obtained from various parts of the body, such as the cervix, breast or lungs, using a technique called a cytologic smear or a cytologic brush. These cells are then examined under a microscope to look for any abnormalities or signs of disease. During treatment, cytology can also be used to assess the response of tumours to chemotherapy or radiation therapy. In basic medical research, advances in cytology have led to better understanding of cell biology, which has helped contribute to the development of new treatments for a wide range of diseases. The final section within anatomy is embryology.
which studies the development of embryos and fetuses from fertilisation to birth, and involves the study of the physical, genetic and biochemical processes that underlie the formation and growth of an organism from a single fertilised egg cell. Topics include fertilisation, cell division and differentiation, organ formation and growth and development. Embryology is important in both medical practice and research as it provides a foundation for understanding the causes of birth defects, genetic disorders and other developmental abnormalities. And so understanding the mechanisms that underlie how the body develops informs how we treat these conditions.
Next to anatomy, the other foundation of medical science is physiology, which focuses on how living organisms function compared to anatomy which focuses on their structure. physiology involves the study of the physical chemical and biochemical processes that underlie the normal functioning of living organisms at many different levels on the level of cells tissues organs or whole systems it also looks at the mechanisms that lead to disease and dysfunction physiology is an important field in both medical practice and research It provides a foundation for understanding the mechanisms of disease and the development of new treatments, as well as the effects of drugs and other interventions on the body. It's also crucial for understanding the normal functioning of the body and the ways in which it adapts to changing environments or stresses.
Strongly related to these foundations of biology is the fundamental science of genetics, which studies genes, heredity and genetic variation in living organisms. It's a broad field that encompasses many different subfields, including molecular genetics, evolutionary genetics, population genetics and medical genetics. Genes are units of heredity that are responsible for passing traits from one generation to the next.
So in medicine, genetic testing can be used to diagnose genetic disorders or identify the risk of developing certain diseases. Clinical genetics is a huge success story in medicine. Where sequencing a human genome used to take over a decade and cost many billions of dollars, it can now be done for a couple of hundred dollars in a few days due to advances in biotechnology and bioinformatics. Closely related to genetics is molecular biology, which studies the molecular basis of biological activity, such as the structure and function of biomolecules like nucleic acids and proteins. It looks at the molecular mechanisms that regulate the expression of genetic information, and the processes of replication, transcription, and translation of DNA.
Molecular biology helps us understand the genetic and biochemical processes that underlie life and has led to the development of many new technologies and techniques from genetic engineering to drug discovery and disease diagnosis and treatment. Coming back to the areas of medical practice again, there are specialties that focus on specific stages of our lives. Pediatrics focuses on the medical care of infants, children and adolescents from birth to young adulthood.
Pediatricians provide care to children with chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. and sickle cell anemia, and provide routine check-ups, immunisations and developmental assessments on youngsters. Paediatricians also provide guidance and support to parents and caregivers, helping them to understand and meet the needs of their children.
Also, paediatricians are trained to work well with kids and adapt their approach and communication to the age and development of the child. For the later stages of our lives, we have geriatrics. which focuses on older adults and the diagnosis and management of a wide range of health conditions that are more common in this population, such as arthritis, heart disease, stroke and dementia. Geriatricians are trained to understand the challenges that older adults face, such as the management of complex chronic conditions or age-related frailty and disability, and end-of-life care.
But regardless of your age, if you have a medical condition, you'll receive treatment from nurses who work in a variety of settings such as hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities and patients'homes. They have a wide range of responsibilities to help people maintain optimal health or recover quality of life. These include administering medications, performing physical exams, monitoring vital signs and collecting patient information.
They also play an important role in patient education, helping patients understand and manage their conditions. Nurses also work closely with doctors and other healthcare professionals to develop and implement treatment plans, and they also serve as advocates for their patients. Now we get to Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, or PM&R, which aims to improve the function, independence and quality of life for individuals with impairments, disabilities or pain problems.
from a wide range of conditions. These can include spinal cord injury, stroke, amputation, traumatic brain injury, chronic pain or other musculoskeletal, neurological or cardiovascular conditions. This is closely related to physiotherapy as physiatrists and physiotherapists treat similar conditions but their duties and responsibilities are different. In PM&R, physiatrists perform invasive procedures such as injections and EMG therapy, while physiotherapists focus more on body movement through methods such as exercise, manual therapy and education, aiming to help patients recover from things like surgery or injury, or manage chronic conditions such as arthritis, back pain and improve overall physical fitness, strength, flexibility and balance. This brings us to orthopaedics, which focuses on the diagnosis, treatment and management of disorders of the musculoskeletal system, which includes bones, joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments and nerves, and looks at conditions such as fractures, dislocations, arthritis, spinal disorders and sports injuries.
Orthopaedic surgeons use x-rays, MRI and CT scans to evaluate problems, and treatments can involve surgery, medication and physical therapy. Here's a good place to talk about the basic science of biomechanics, which focuses on the study of the mechanical principles that govern the movement and structure of living organisms. It involves the application of principles from physics, engineering and mathematics to the study of biological systems, from the level of individual cells, to the movement of whole organisms. Biomechanics encompasses many subfields, including kinematics, which studies the motion of objects without considering the forces that cause the motion, kinetics, which studies the forces that cause motion, and deformation, which studies the response of biological tissues to external forces.
Biomechanics plays an important role in the development of prosthetics and other devices that assist people with mobility impairments. It's also used in the study of sports injuries and the development of sports equipment, as well as in the design of medical implants and surgical procedures. And at the end of the areas of medical practice, we come to palliative medicine, which specialises in end-of-life care for people living with serious illnesses such as heart failure, cancer, dementia, Parkinson's disease and many others.
Palliative care aims to help with symptoms and help patients understand their choices for medical treatment, as well as supporting a person's quality of life for them and their family for the time they have left. So those are all the areas of medical practice, but in the last section of the video I want to focus on how we know that a drug or treatment will actually work. It's all about data.
First, we have the field of bioinformatics, which combines computer science, mathematics, statistics, and biology to analyse and interpret biological data, particularly large-scale data generated by high-throughput technologies like genome sequencing projects, as well as other molecular biology experiments. It's got many applications in biomedicine, such as identifying disease-causing mutations or predicting drug efficacy and side effects. and also designing personalised treatments. Bioinformatics has also contributed to the development of many publicly available databases, which are essential resources for researchers in many fields.
Then we have the field of biostatistics, which is the application of statistical methods to biological, medical and public health research. It involves the design, analysis and analysis of the biological and public health health data. an interpretation of data generated by experiments or clinical trials or observational studies and other types of research. And it's used in many areas including epidemiology, genetics, clinical research and public health. The field of biostatistics has many applications such as identifying risk factors for a disease or assessing the impact of public health interventions and developing predictive models to help with diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions.
But arguably the most important application of biostatistics is evaluating the effectiveness of new medical treatments through clinical trials, essentially applying the principles of science to medicine. This is the only way we can move forwards with new treatments and be sure they actually work, work better than a placebo as I mentioned. There are many different kinds of clinical trials so let's look at them in this final section.
Phase 1 trials are the first type of trials to test a new drug or treatment in humans. They're typically conducted on a small number of healthy volunteers and are used to find the best dose of treatment, find out what the side effects are and what happens to the treatment in the body. Phase 2 trials are conducted on a larger group of patients and are used to evaluate how well the treatment works, find the best dose of treatment and find out more about the side effects.
Phase 3 trials are conducted on large groups of patients and are used to confirm the effectiveness of the drug or treatment and compare it to the standard treatment or to a placebo. Phase 4 trials are conducted after the drug or treatment has been approved by the regulatory authorities and are used to find out about the long-term benefits and side effects. A randomised control trial is a type of trial in which patients are randomly assigned to receive either the experimental treatment or a standard treatment. or a placebo. This type of trial is considered the gold standard for evaluating the effectiveness of treatment.
Adaptive trials are used to adapt the trial design in response to the data that are collected during the trial. It allows doctors to optimise the trial design and increase the efficiency and power of the trial. Interventional trials involve a change in the care that a patient receives and are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment or procedure.
Exploratory trials are used to gather preliminary data on a new drug or treatment, typically in a small number of patients. They're used to determine whether further research is warranted or not. Observational trials are used to gather information about a particular disease or condition in a population without manipulating any of the variables.
They're usually used to identify risk factors or potential causes of a disease. Meta-analyses, also known as systematic reviews, combine the results of multiple scientific studies that are looking at the same question. And they use approaches from statistics to combine all of the results to produce an overall summary of an area of research.
Meta-analytic results are considered the most trustworthy source of evidence in medicine. So that's the map of medicine. I hope this map has helped you get your head around this large and fascinating subject.
Thank you so much for watching and keeping up with my channel, and I'll see you in the next map video.