Immunology, and thus an immunologist, deals with the problems of the body's immune system, its disorders, including, above all, primary and secondary immunodeficiencies. It is a rapidly developing branch of medicine, closely related to other specializations, including oncology or transplantation.
Immunologistis a specialist in the field of immunology, which is a fairly wide field, the most popular sections (also strictly scientific, related to research) are:
- clinical immunology
- immunochemistry
- immunogenetics
- immunopathology
- immunoprophylaxis
- serology
- immunooncology
Immunologist: what diseases does he diagnose?
If the immune system is working properly, it protects us from disease thanks to the body's protective barriers. Its cells are located, among others in the thymus, spleen, lymph nodes, tonsils, intestines, bone marrow, where leukocytes (white blood cells) are produced, fighting all pathogenic germs.
Unfortunately, sometimes with disorders of the immune system, the immune reactions are abnormal. This happens, for example, in the case of some autoimmune diseases, when it considers the body's own tissues to be foreign and destroys them (lupus), in the case of allergies, causing allergic symptoms, or, for example, when lymphocytes, i.e. cells that make up the immune system, recognize as foreign cells transplanted organs (kidneys, liver).
This is why the immunologist's specialization is so broad. He diagnoses and treats diseases related to disorders of the immune system, he is also a specialist in the field of vaccination (also for people at risk), he also deals with patients after transplantation to prevent rejection of a transplanted organ. It also treats people with diseases of the thyroid gland, connective tissue, intestines, chronic mycoses of the skin or chronic infections, and therefore cooperates with doctors of other specializations (including oncologists, transplantologists, gastrologists, endocrinologists). People with allergic diseases (atopic dermatitis, bronchial asthma, seasonal allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis, recurrent inflammation of the respiratory tract and ears) and fertility problems (the so-calledimmune infertility). Diagnostics and immunological tests are also used to confirm or rule out the following diseases:
- rose
- cytomegaly
- mononucleosis
- Lyme disease
- toxoplasmosis
- viral hepatitis
- lupus
- Hashimoto's disease
- rheumatoid arthritis
- inflammatory bowel disease
- psoriasis
- Addison's disease
Immunologist: what does the visit look like?
During the first visit, the immunologist carries out a detailed interview with the patient. He is interested in all past (also in childhood) infections, the course of these diseases, vaccinations performed so far and possible complications after them, as well as the occurrence of chronic diseases, e.g. bronchial asthma or allergies. Such a detailed interview is especially needed when trying to diagnose primary immunodeficiencies.
The European Immunodeficiency Society (ESID) has compiled a list of ten warning symptoms that may indicate a primary immunodeficiency disease. These include: six or more respiratory or ear infections a year, two or more sinusitis a year, two months or more of antibiotic therapy with little or no improvement, two or more pneumonia a year, no weight gain or inhibition of normal growth in a child, deep abscesses of the skin or internal organs, chronic mycosis of the mouth or skin in a child over one year of age, the need for long-term use of intravenous antibiotics when the infection cannot be controlled, two or more serious infections, such as: brain, bone, skin, sepsis, family history suggesting primary immunodeficiencies.
What tests does the immunologist order?
In both primary and secondary immunodeficiencies, immunological tests play the most important role in making a diagnosis. Their goal is to detect antibodies in the blood against a specific pathogen or antigens, i.e. viruses, bacteria, fungi, or other external factors that the body treats as foreign and mobilizes the immune system to function. The doctor usually orders to determine not only the concentration of specific antibodies, but also their class. The most common determinations are: IgM antibodies - produced at the beginning of the infection, IgG - produced later, indicating that the patient has had contact with a given disease, which may persist in the body for years, IgE - related mainly to the presence of allergies and IgA - in the case of ailmentsintestinal, kidney-related or suspected autoimmune diseases. Examples of research in the field of immunology include :
- anti-Hbe - indicates a recent history of hepatitis B (hepatitis B)
- anti-HCV - detects early hepatitis infection
- anti-Tg - if it is above normal, it may indicate autoimmune thyroid disease
- TRAb - below the norm may indicate hypopituitarism and thyroid disease
- enzyme immunoassay (ELISA or EIA) - testing for HIV infection
Immunology: treatment methods
Since the range of diseases that the immunologist deals with is very wide, the methods of treating specific diseases depend on the diagnosis. At the same time, it should be emphasized that often in the case of treating diseases of the immune system, cooperation of specialists from various fields of medicine is important.