Hematology, also spelled haematology, is that the branch of drugs concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases associated with blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the assembly of blood and its components, like blood cells, hemoglobin, blood proteins, bone marrow, platelets, blood vessels, spleen, and therefore the mechanism of coagulation. Such diseases might include hemophilia, blood clots (thrombus), other bleeding disorders, and blood cancers like leukemia, myeloma, and lymphoma. The laboratory work that goes into the study of blood is usually performed by a medical technologist or medical laboratory scientist.
Physicians specialized in hematology are referred to as hematologists or haematologists. Their routine work mainly includes the care and treatment of patients with hematological diseases, although some can also work on the hematology laboratory viewing blood films and bone marrow slides under the microscope, interpreting various hematological test results and blood coagulation test results. In some institutions, hematologists also manage the hematology laboratory.