Why is biochemistry important in medicine

Biochemistry, biochemical testing, and specialist biochemical practitioners have an important role in clinical practice in both diagnosis and management, as emphasized by the fact that some discussion of biochemical testing appears in almost every chapter of this book. Included in this chapter are 1 a listing of the reference intervals formerly termed reference ranges for the most widely used biochemical tests, with conversion factors included where appropriate to convert intervals from SI to conventional units, and their grouping into organ system profiles in common usage; 2 description of the pitfalls and limitations of interpretation of reference intervals; and 3 some commonly used protocols for dynamic function tests Access to the complete content on Oxford Medicine Online requires a subscription or purchase.

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Timothy M. It is a laboratory based science that brings together biology and chemistry. By using chemical knowledge and techniques, biochemists can understand and solve biological problems. Because of its breadth, biochemistry is very important and advances in this field of science over the past years have been staggering. Biochemical engineers are also critical for the development and commercialization of sustainable and economic processes to produce liquid transportation fuels from biomass, algae and waste streams from other manufacturing processes.

Your biochemistry degree could well be a good basis for an M. Many people with biomedical engineering backgrounds move on to medical school to become doctors. Doctors diagnose and treat illnesses. Biomedical engineering is a booming career field as health and technology are coming together to revolutionize the field of medicine. With the growing health consciousness in India, biomedical engineering is becoming one of the most enviable and sought-after career.

Medicine is more intense, more physically demanding, than biomedical engineering, but biomedical engineering is an excellent precursor for someone who plans to become a doctor. If you think pre-med courses are hard, BME courses are even harder.

Anatomy was easy, physiology and biomechanics were both more challenging than any pre-med courses I took. Like pacemakers are exclusive to biomedical engineering and petroleum engineering is exclusive to chemical engineering. If you want something exclusive to one or the other, that makes the choice easier.

Biomedical engineering is more closely related to pre-med and materials science than to biochemistry. In other words, chemical engineering undergrad degrees are very well suited and possibly over-prepare you for biochemical engineering graduate work. Chemical engineers working in the medical field can work on pharmaceuticals or perform research into new medical devices and procedures. Chemical engineers may also use bacteria, animal, and plant cells to increase understanding of diseases, disease pathways, and human responses to drugs.

A full complement of science courses in physics, chemistry, and biology with advanced courses such as organic chemistry and physiology are also quite usual for biomedical engineering majors. Biomedical engineering is a newly developing field which means being able to delve into the unknown to cultivate cutting- edge technology. This appeals to my interest because I am able to utilize my creativity and problem-solving skills to think outside the box and find new, possible advancements.

Most Biomedical Engineers receive excellent benefits. These generally include medical insurance, vacation leave, sick leave, dental insurance, and a retirement plan.

Other benefits may include vision and life insurance. A biomedical scientist biomedical Doctor is a scientist trained in biology, particularly in the context of medicine.

The research of biomedical scientists is referred to as biomedical research. The sheer amount of foundational chemistry needed is a lot, and combined with the already in-depth biology knowledge you have to memorise, it is definitely the more challenging course. Biochemistry graduates may choose careers in breweries; agricultural, industrial and medical research institutes; hospitals; and pharmaceutical companies; educational institutions Secondary Schools and Technical Colleges.

This degree is truly a worldwide degree with plenty of growth potential and future job options! Working in research teams alongside experts from other scientific fields, biochemists are predominantly employed across the life sciences sector including pharmaceuticals, biotech, toxicology, food technology and vaccine production.

They are also frequently employed in research roles in academic and government institutions. For anyone working in medicine or a related field, accruing sufficient biochemical knowledge is needed in order to properly understand the metabolism , function and growth of a healthy human body. In physiology, the study of body function, biochemistry has broadened our understanding of how biochemical changes relate to physiological alteration in the body. It helps us understand the chemical aspects of biological processes such as digestion, hormonal action, and muscle contraction-relaxation.

In pathology, the study of how aberrant biochemistry relates to disease conditions in the human body, physicians can use biochemical analysis to confirm predictions based on patient testimony.

For example, if a patient complains of sudden, severe pain in one or more joints, the physician may predict the problem to be gout — a form of arthritis caused by an excess of uric acid in the bloodstream.

By measuring uric acid levels, biochemistry can then confirm whether gout is the root of the problem. All diseases have a molecular basis, so biochemistry enables us to understand the chemical processes involved in conditions as varied as:. Wit information gleaned from the chemical nature of pathologies, biochemists working in medicine are able to investigate potential treatments for diseases. The action of a drug almost always involves some change in the biochemical processes taking place in the body.

As such, pharmacologists must also be acquainted with the biochemical aspects of the human body. Biochemistry is also the sole field that accurately describes the function and role of vitamins in the body. With millions of people taking daily vitamins and mineral supplements , the ongoing discoveries made my biochemists will continue to exert a huge impact on the field of nutritional deficiency. In all, the real impact of biochemistry is hard to quantify. And with biochemical research being augmented by rapid advances in artificial intelligence AI and machine learning , the ability to quickly and efficiently analyse vast pools of data enables scientists to chart previously unexplored areas of biochemistry.

Given its central role in the life sciences as a sustainable way to solve a myriad of science, health and industrial problems, employment opportunities in biochemistry are expected to skyrocket in the next decade. Of course, medical science does not exist solely to expand our knowledge of the nature of life. It exists to have a practical application: to improve clinical practice.

The molecular phenomena discovered through biochemical analysis help to facilitate this — providing research that gives on-the-ground health professionals greater scope to fulfil their duty of care.

In fact, the trajectory of medical science in the next decade rests upon the discoveries made by biochemists in the laboratory setting. In the week before the publication of this blog alone, a biochemical study found that a common acne drug can prevent artery hardening , while another suggested that women have better episodic memory than men.