Clinical Immunology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Clinical Immunology - Essay Example On the other hand clinical immunology is the branch which is more important in applied medicine because it deals with those diseases which come into being due to malfunctioning of the immune system. Malfunctioning can be due to dysfunctional immune system or due to any abnormal malignant growth in the cells of immune system. The value of immunological mechanism in pathogenesis and transmission of disease is reflected in the context of prophylactic immunization or the therapeutic manipulation of immune response. These intellectual and practical considerations have created a pathway to establishment of new discipline called clinical immunology (Denman, 1981 pg.277). The diseases which cause malfunctioning of the immune system fall into two subtypes which are the autoimmune diseases and the immunodeficiency diseases. Autoimmune diseases are the ones in which our defensive immune system starts attacking are own body. Best known examples of autoimmune diseases are myasthenia gravis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and rheumatoid arthritis. Immunodeficiency diseases occur when the system cannot give proper response after foreign insult. Chronic granulomatous diseases are common immunodeficiency diseases. The most common and lethal immunodeficiency disorder is AIDS. Human immunodeficiency virus affects the body of the affected individual and starts competing with the normal cells of the body (Stern, 1981 pg.206). Another modern intervention the field of clinical immunology is dealing with is transplant rejection. Clinical immunologists work day in and day out to prevent transplant rejections which may occur if the host’s body rejects the tissu e that is being transplanted (Murphy, Porett and Turka, 2011 pg.39). Our immune system is our very own army. Its two arms, acquired and inate provide us with protection against internal and external insults. These insults can be lethal. With