If you've been wondering what immunologists are, how they can help you, or if there are any in your area, then this post is for you! It goes over the short definition of an immunologist to what they do and more.

What is an immunologist?

An immunologist is a medical professional that deals with the scientific study of the immune system and its functions. They study many different aspects of immune cells and how they interact with other cells and diseases.

What are the treatments offered by an immunologist?

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is the use of certain drugs to stimulate the immune system to develop a response and attack cancer cells. This is done by inserting or injecting certain drugs or substances into a patient. This will awaken and activate the immune system, which then will attack the cancer cells. There are many different forms of immunotherapy. Immunotherapies have many different applications, and while they mostly focus on cancer and other autoimmune diseases, they also may be used to treat other diseases like inflammatory bowel disease or Alzheimer's disease.

Inflammation and immune-related diseases

Immunologists also study the different aspects of inflammation within the body. They investigate how the immune system can be regulated or turned on at different times to help combat diseases. They also look at how the risk and severity of diseases can be increased by inflammation in the body.

Vaccinations

Immunologists help with many aspects of disease prevention, including childhood vaccinations and adult vaccine development. Immunologists also help create vaccines for diseases that have few treatments, and they work on methods to stop the spread of disease by researching disease evolution and infectious disease control. They also look at new methods to prevent the spread of diseases like HIV and COVID. The immunology field is constantly evolving, as new diseases and conditions are discovered.

Immune surveillance of infection

Immunologists study how the immune system works to figure out if there is an infection and what pathogen(s) are in your body. They also monitor bodies for infectious disease by taking samples from the individual and performing tests on those samples. This involves looking at the immune response after the infection and looking for markers that indicate the potential of an infection.

If you would like to find out more, you should contact an immunologist at a medical facility like Darwin Dermatology. They will be happy to answer any questions you may have.