Pathophysiology in the context of "Medical doctor"

A medical doctor, also known as a physician (American and Canadian English) or medical practitioner (British English), is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of disease, injury, and other physical and mental impairments. Doctors may focus their practice on certain disease categories, types of patients, and methods of treatment—known as specialities—or they may assume responsibility for the provision of continuing and comprehensive medical care to individuals, families, and communities—known as general practice. Medical practice properly requires both a detailed knowledge of the academic disciplines, such as anatomy and physiology, underlying diseases, and their treatment, which is the science of medicine, and a decent competence in its applied practice, which is the art or craft of the profession.

Both the role of doctors and the meaning of the word itself vary around the world. Degrees and other qualifications vary widely, but there are some common elements, such as medical ethics requiring that doctors show consideration, compassion, and benevolence for their patients.

Biomedical sciences are a set of sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology that are of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbiology, clinical virology, clinical epidemiology, genetic epidemiology, and biomedical engineering are medical sciences. In explaining physiological mechanisms operating in pathological processes, however, pathophysiology can be regarded as basic science.

Biomedical Sciences, as defined by the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education Benchmark Statement in 2015, includes those science disciplines whose primary focus is the biology of human health and disease and ranges from the generic study of biomedical sciences and human biology to more specialised subject areas such as pharmacology, human physiology and human nutrition. It is underpinned by relevant basic sciences including anatomy and physiology, cell biology, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics and molecular biology, pharmacology, immunology, mathematics and statistics, and bioinformatics. As such the biomedical sciences have a much wider range of academic and research activities and economic significance than that defined by hospital laboratory sciences. Biomedical Sciences are the major focus of bioscience research and funding in the 21st century.

Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor and non-motor systems. The motor symptoms are collectively called parkinsonism and include tremors, bradykinesia (slowness in initiating movement), rigidity, and postural instability (difficulty maintaining balance). Non-motor symptoms such as dysautonomia (autonomic nervous system failures), sleep abnormalities, anosmia (decreased ability to smell), and behavioral changes or neuropsychiatric problems, such as cognitive impairment, psychosis, and anxiety, may appear at any stage of the disease. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become more prevalent as the disease progresses.

Most Parkinson's disease cases are idiopathic, though contributing factors have been identified. Pathophysiology involves progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the substantia nigra, a midbrain region that provides dopamine to the basal ganglia, a system involved in voluntary motor control. The cause of this cell death is poorly understood, but involves the aggregation of alpha-synuclein into Lewy bodies within neurons. Other potential factors involve genetic and environmental influences, medications, lifestyle, and prior health conditions.

Physical disorder, as a medical term, is poorly defined, and typically used in contrast to a mental disorder or a genetic disorder. The term mental disorder is heavily used in psychiatric medicine, and is defined in some psychiatric medicine texts, most notably the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). However, the more generic term of medical disorder is poorly defined, and is not mentioned in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases, nor many common medical textbooks. Attempts have been made to adopt a more universal definition, but there is no widely agreed upon definition.

A physical disorder is not easily defined as the term "disorder" itself has not yet been defined by any authoritative medical body. The term "disorder" bears no special clinical relevance, and could be used interchangeably with disease. The use of the term "disorder" likely rests on historical precedent as well as the preference of the field. For example, it is common to find examples of diseases named "disorders" in psychiatry and genetics, such as autosomal dominant disorders, but uncommon in cardiology. In general, diseases called "disorders" have a relatively well understood, narrow pathophysiology, such as bipolar disorder, compared to something more generic, such as heart disease. Similarly, disorders are typically not acquired, or the result of environmental factors, such as lung disease.

Postmortem studies are a type of neurobiological research, which provides information to researchers and individuals who will have to make medical decisions in the future. Postmortem researchers conduct a longitudinal study of the brain of an individual, who has some sort of phenomenological condition (i.e. cannot speak, trouble moving left side of body, Alzheimer's, etc.) that is examined after death. Researchers look at certain lesions in the brain that could have an influence on cognitive or motor functions. These irregularities, damage, or other cerebral anomalies observed in the brain are attributed to an individual's pathophysiology and their environmental surroundings. Postmortem studies provide a unique opportunity for researchers to study different brain attributes that would be unable to be studied on a living person.

Postmortem studies allow researchers to determine causes and cure for certain diseases and functions. It is critical for researchers to develop hypotheses, in order to discover the characteristics that are meaningful to a particular disorder. The results that the researcher discovers from the study will help the researcher trace the location in the brain to specific behaviors.

A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in order to dispense them safely to the public and to provide consultancy services. A pharmacist also often serves as a primary care provider in the community and offers services, such as health screenings and immunizations.

Pharmacists undergo university or graduate-level education to understand the biochemical mechanisms and actions of drugs, drug uses, therapeutic roles, side effects, potential drug interactions, and monitoring parameters. In developing countries, a diploma course from approved colleges qualifies one for pharmacist role. This is mated to anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology. Pharmacists interpret and communicate this specialized knowledge to patients, physicians, and other health care providers.