Tuberculosis - A Leading Health Issue
Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease that affects lungs. It is a caused by the bacteria mycobacteria tuberculosis and spread through airborne droplets from an infected person. Before the discovery of certain drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis in 1940, TB was the leading cause of the maximum number of deaths. TB has been seen more in recent years due to HIV/AIDS and drug resistant forms of TB. It is one of the major health issues these days. About one third of the population is affected from TB. Tuberculosis is a contagious bacterial infection however may spread to other organ as well.Consumption, phthisis, scrofula, Pott's disease and the white plague are all terms used throughout the history.
Whatever be its route of entry to the body, the tubercle bacillus will always reach the lungs. Usually this takes place in childhood from negligible infection. It commonly produces but little medical effect, leaving only a small hard nodule, called a Ghon's focus, in the lung substance, and calcified glands at the root of the lung.
Cause
The main cause of the disease is the bacteria bacillus. This disease is generally transmitted when an infected person coughs and sneezes. There are no known vaccines which are available today for the prevention of the disease.
Pulmonary tuberculosis is caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis; an acid fast bacillus discovered by Robert Koch, a German scientist is 1882.
Symptoms
There are several symptoms which can be observed when a person is infected with tuberculosis. Weight loss, chronic coughing and blood in the sputum are very common signs of tuberculosis.
Later symptoms are, the body is wasted, cheeks are flushed, eyes sunken and the lips are dry. The breath has a peculiar odor.
Treatment
The main treatment of the disease uses antibiotics. These antibiotics attack the bacteria and eliminate them. The most important discovery was made by the French Calmette and Guerin who instituted the basis for the vaccine against tuberculosis by using a low virulence Tb bacteria vaccine. The last step needed in the therapy of tuberculosis was made in the middle of the Second World War when chemotherapy was invented.
Tuberculosis Symptoms
Tuberculosis, a bacterial infection, most commonly affects the lungs. Tuberculosis can also affect the central nervous system, lymphatic system, circulatory system, genitourinary system, bones and joints. Often Called TB for short, tuberculosis is the most common major infectious disease today. With that title the virus is infecting two billion people which is approximately one-third of the world's population.
Tuberculosis is one of the major killer diseases of modern times. Till recently, anti-tuberculosis drug regimes were successful in curing the disease in a majority of affected patients. However, multi-drug resistance is fast becoming a major concern for health providers the world over. Moreover, tuberculosis is no more a disease of only the poor or developing nations.
The disease tuberculosis is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis can affect any part of the body although usually infects the lungs. Tuberculosis is spread through airborne droplets occurring when an infected individual sneezes, talks, or coughs.
Immunity plays a tremendous role in prevention and treatment of Tuberculosis. A healthy immune system lowers the risk of catching Tuberculosis to 1 in 10 cases per year and only seldom an infected healthy organism gets to develop the active condition. HIV+ patients have a suppressed and weaken immune system and are mostly incapable to fight Mycobacterium.
Latent tuberculosis infection is when a person is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis however does not have symptoms of disease. They are said to be asymptomatic. Active tuberculosis disease is the full-blown disease which, if not treated, will kill half of the patients.
Tuberculosis Home Remedies:
1. Prepare a decoction by boiling equal parts of garlic (lahsun) and vayu- vidanga (embelia ribes). Take the decoction and also apply externally on the chest. This is an effective home remedy for tuberculosis
2. Grapes are beneficial as they are expectorant and also exceptionally strengthening for the lungs.
3. The patient suffering from tuberculosis must include the flour of groundnuts in their daily diet.
4. The bark of margosa (neem) tree contains an oily substance which is believed to be useful in treating tuberculosis.
Signs and symptoms, cough with expectoration, weight loss, feverishness, night sweats. All these symptoms slowly over several months. The diagnosis is made by highlighting the Koch bacillus in sputum samples of virus and lesions in the lung. Once diagnosed, TB requires treatment with a combination of at least 4 types of drugs taken daily for 2 months, then 2 kinds of medicines to be taken 3 times per week for 4 months yet.
Early symptoms:
- Excessive fatigue
- Slight rise in temperature in the evening
- Slight palpitation and rapid pulse.
- Chest pain
The basic treatment of Tuberculosis is a combination of more antibiotics found to be efficient against the particular type of bacterial strain. One single antibiotic is likely to lead to resistance developing. The cure must last for at least 6 months but the duration of treatment will go up to 9 months or a whole year. Most common, the combination of Hydrazid, Rifampicin, Pyrazinamid and Ethambutol is used in treating tuberculin infection.
Prevalence of kidney tuberculosis differs all over the developing world where the infection is widespread. The disease is more widespread in higher socioeconomic groups, akin to the pattern discovered in Europe. Kidney tuberculosis is unusual in tropical Africa in spite of the fact that other kinds of tuberculosis are usual.
Tuberculosis can give a lot of symptoms to a person but there are cases in which patients came to the health practitioner for other problems and they are discovered this disease too. Sometimes tuberculosis gives only night sweats and the patient will not go to the physician only for such a mild symptom.
However, in places where the incidence of tuberculosis is high, all persons in such areas are expected to be infected with tubercle bacilli, i.e. they will be found as tuberculin positive. Hence the tuberculin test is of little value at such places, for epidemiological survey, and therefore, one can directly switch on to MMR study, for the detection of both hidden and active cases of tuberculosis.
The Tuberculosis suffering Doctor Trudeau opened the most famous sanatorium in America, Saranac Lake, where he also conducted laboratory testing and investigation concerning the cure of Tuberculosis. Patients in his sanatorium were strictly supervised, had to stay in bed the whole first three months to rest, eat healthy and drink high amounts of milk.
The primer stage of Tuberculosis or primo infection doesn't show clinical signs of the disease and the patient is frequently unaware of his <#Keyword> condition. The disease is not contagious in the primer stage and cannot cause further cases of Tuberculosis infection.