Tuberculosis (TB) was first detected 9000 years ago by archeologists in Atlit Yam in the remnants of a mother and child buried together. TB used to be considered one of the most dangerous diseases that the human race had ever faced In the old days and there was no cure for the disease, so many people many died because of TB. In addition to that the discrimination the TB patients had to face was very physically and psychologically disturbing.
Now, the times have changed and there are various ways to do tuberculosis tests. The efforts put in by scientists, Humanity has come up with various drugs which help in TB treatment. A large amount of information present on the internet helps us to know more about tuberculosis causes and tuberculosis symptoms, this was all possible with the help of various research done on tuberculosis.
Pretty sure you have come across a patient with TB disease, maybe someone from your friends or family and you know what they have to go through. So, this is all you need to know about TB
What is TB?
TB is a kind of disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium Tuberculosis that mostly harms your lungs, it also harms other organs like kidneys, brain, or the spine. There are cases when the Tb is active and when it is inactive. TB has 3 stages which start from primary infection then to latent TB infection and the last stage would be active TB disease. It is better to get tested as soon as possible if you have been in contact with a TB patient for too long or work in mycobacteriology or the doctor has recommended to get tested. If not taken care of it, the case might get worse and lead to MDR (Multi-drug-resistant) TB.
Different Kinds of TB?
There are different kinds of TB and its causes, (pulmonary) inside lung damage, (Extrapulmonary) outside lung damage, (Meningitis) inflammation of the brain, (Sterile)high level of white blood cell in your urine, (Pott’s disease) spine damage, (lymphadenitis) neck damage, (pericardium) occurring in the sac surrounding the heart.
Symptoms of TB
Symptoms of TB disease may be as common as fatigue, fever, weight loss, bad cough (more than two weeks), and coughing out blood. If you see any tuberculosis disease symptoms and you feel like you must get tested, you can do the Mantoux Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) or the interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA), supplementary tests can be sputum test, chest X-ray, and CT-Scans.
TB treatment
You can get free TB treatment in government hospitals, recognized private Health facilities, and NGOs. TB can
be treated using drugs like
- For Pulmonary TB, 2 antibiotics(isoniazid and rifampicin for 6 months) and 2 more additional antibiotics(pyrazinamide and ethambutol for the initial 2 months)
- For Extrapulmonary TB, same as the pulmonary treatment
- For Meningitis or pericardium (prednisolone for several weeks with the antibiotics)
Side effects
- Easy bruising
- Changes in vision
- Itchy skin
- Numbness on hands or feet
Awareness
The main reason for the discrepancy of TB patients is because of lack of awareness in society but thankfully we have reached a certain where people are getting aware of the disease with the help of various initiatives taken up by governments, NGOs, hospitals, and various educational institutions. So we hope every TB patient will be treated as any other human being and we will help them to receive any treatment as possible.
