The study of pathology provides a deep insight into the disease process and it serves as an essential link between the basic medical sciences and the clinical disciplines. A proper and methodical understanding of pathology has become mandatory for understanding the diseases.

Genetics, the science of heredity, is now emerging as one the most dynamic specialities in medicine. It has been established that most of the diseases have an underlying genetic basis. Thereby a knowledge of the basic concepts of genetics becomes very much essential.

This unique book provides the reader an excellent opportunity to understand the basic concepts in Pathology and Genetics together, especially for the paramedical nursing students, who will be handling sick patients in the hospital wards.

For a logical understanding, this book is divided into two parts. The deals with Pathology and deals with Human Genetics. The on Pathology is further divided into which deals with General Pathology, which provides a deep knowledge about the basic concepts of cellular pathology. to deal with Systemic Pathology which is an application of the concepts of general pathology to organ systems.

and deal with Clinical Laboratory Pathology, which provides an overview on various methodologies of basic laboratory procedures, observation and interpretation of the investigations used in the diagnosis of various disease conditions. This will be of immense help for the nursing students especially with regard to the bedside investigations.5

The of the book is dedicated to basic concepts of Human Genetics. Since genetics per se is a very vast speciality with various topics, only the most essential concepts have been incorporated in this section. It deals with basic structure of the chromosome and the various anomalies associated with it.

The chapters on Prenatal diagnosis, Genetic counseling and Role of a paramedical personnel in diagnosis of genetic diseases have been dealt with in a detailed manner as these will be areas of primary importance for a paramedical nursing student.

Have a happy reading.

The study of Pathology provides an insight into the disease processes and their effects. Pathology is a very essential link between the basic medical sciences and the clinical disciplines. A proper understanding of Pathology is mandatory to have a clear idea about the diseases.

This book is designed to provide a basic knowledge in Pathology for the paramedical nursing students, who will be handling sick patients in the hospital wards.

For a logical understanding, this book is divided into sevensections. deals with General Pathology which provides a deep knowledge about the basic concepts of cellular pathology. to deal with Systemic Pathology. It gives knowledge about the application of the concepts in General Pathology to specific organ systems.

and deal with Clinical Laboratory Pathology and provide an overview on various methodologies of basic laboratory procedures, observation and interpretation of the laboratory investigations used in the diagnosis of various diseases. This section will be of immense help to the nursing students especially with regard to the bedside investigations.

Have a happy reading!

I immensely thank all my teachers and seniors who have inspired me to take this speciality of Pathology and their enduring guidance throughout this venture.

I express my gratitude with love to my dear wife, Dr Priya Swaminathan, for her consistent help and inspiration during the tenure as well as in preparing the illustrations used in this textbook.

I profusely thank M/s Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) Ltd, New Delhi for giving me this opportunity and especially Mr Jayanandan, Senior Author Coordinator (Chennai Branch) for his constant support and cooperation in this project.

There are four main aspects which constitute the core of pathology. They are:

An adequate fundamental knowledge in pathology is very much essential for understanding the evolution of the disease process and to correlate the clinical features of the disease to the patient. It serves as a link between the basic sciences and clinical sciences.