Clinical Biochemistry tests comprise over one third of all hospital laboratory investigation. Clinical biochemistry is that branch of laboratory medicine in which chemical and biochemical methods are applied to the study of disease while in theory this embraces all non-morphological studies, in practice it is usually, though not exclusively, confined to studies on blood and urine because of the relative ease in obtaining such specimens although analysis are made on other body fluids such as gastric aspirate and cerebrospinal fluid. Biochemical investigations are involved, to varying degrees, in every branch of clinical medicine. The results of biochemical tests may be of use in diagnosis and in the monitoring of treatment. Biochemical tests may also be of value in screening for disease or in assessing the prognosis once a diagnosis has been made. The biochemistry laboratory is often involved in research into the biochemical basis of disease and in clinical trials of new drugs.
