The field of liver disease. The liver is the body's largest
organ and hepatology is a large field. It includes, but is not limited to, the study
of acute and chronic hepatitis, viral hepatitis, cirrhosis, genetic and metabolic
liver diseases and their complications, liver cancer, liver transplantation, drug
metabolism (which depends largely upon the liver), and immunology as it pertains
to the liver.
H istorically, hepatology grew out of gastroenterology and so became a subfield
of it, although today it appears to be emerging as a freestanding medical specialty.
The hepato- part comes from the Latin hepaticus derived from the Greek hepatikos
meaning (not too surprisingly) the liver. The -logy part comes from the Greek logos
meaning the study of, or field.
History: Dr. Sheila Sherlock (1918-2001), was a pioneer in the science
of liver disease, is considered the "mother of hepatology." Her book, "Diseases
of the Liver and Biliary System" which she first published in 1955, was the first
standard textbook on clinical liver disease. In 1959 she became the first woman
to become a professor of medicine at the Royal Free Hospital in London, where she
set up and directed a world famous clinical, research and training center on liver
disease.
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