O potrzebie badań nad historią hematologii

On the Need for Research into the History of Hematology Hematology emerged from the study of internal diseases in the twentieth century. Its history can be divided into three periods: the first (elementary) – separation from internal diseases, the second (interdisciplinary) – development by combining the achievements from other fields and joint activities of research teams, and the third (which is difficult to label as it is ongoing) – cognition at the genetic and molecular level. Thanks to the progress of science (immunology, serology, genetics, cytogenetics, genetic engineering, etc.) and the use of their discoveries in broadly-understood hematology, there has been a spectacular change in the knowledge about blood diseases and prognosis. The spectrum of treatment of chronic diseases has been expanded, improving the quality of patients’ lives, and the diagnostic possibilities have been enlarged. The history of such an important field of medicine has been little studied in Poland. This article aims to justify the need to research the history of Polish hematology.