Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis or TB was once the leading cause of death in the United States. It has traveled with man around the world and can be found everywhere. It has afflicted man since before recorded history. The organism that causes the disease has been found in Egyptian mummies.

It was once called consumption and special sanitariums were set up to treat and to segregate TB sufferers. The disease didn't and doesn't play favorites. It afflicted the masses and people such as Chopin, John Keats and Robert Lewis Stevenson.

Drugs, discovered in the 1940's, helped bring TB under control. There was a drop of about 5 percent a year up until the 1980's, according to the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC). But, after that, TB started making a comeback and it's still a problem today.

What causes TB

TB is caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. (Read about "Microorganisms") It can attack any part of the body but usually attacks the lungs. You get TB from breathing in the tiny droplets in the air that contain the TB bacteria. They get into the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes, even just talks. Most people, who are infected this way, quickly fight off the bacteria. Their immune system (Read about "The Immune System") will do its job and the bacteria will be contained. But unless the person receives treatment, they will always be infected.

Only about one in ten people infected actually develop active TB, according to AARC.

Infection vs disease

Many people who have a TB infection never develop the disease. According to the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention, people with TB infection:

• have no symptoms
• don't feel sick
• aren't contagious
• will usually test positive to a skin test for TB
• can develop TB disease later

An infected person can move to the active phase if for some reason their immune system weakens. That happens to people with other diseases. Young children, babies and sometimes the elderly can also have weakened immune systems. The Center for TB Prevention also warns that people with the following conditions could have weakened immune systems:

• HIV infection (Read about "HIV / AIDS")
• substance abuse (Read about "Alcoholism" "Addiction")
• diabetes mellitus (Read about "Diabetes")
• silicosis, which is a disabling occupational lung disease (Read about "Occupational Respiratory Diseases")
• cancer of the head or neck (Read about "Head and Neck Cancers")
• leukemia or lymphoma (Read about "Leukemia" "Lymphoma")
• severe kidney disease (Read about "Kidney Disease")
• low body weight (Read about "Eating Disorders")
• organ transplant recipients (Read about "Transplants")

Older adults are at greater risk of TB because aging may weaken their immune systems.

If the disease becomes active, a person now becomes contagious and can easily spread the disease. The main symptoms are a bad cough that lasts a couple of weeks, pain in the chest and coughing up blood. Those symptoms can also be accompanied by fatigue, weight loss, swollen lymph nodes, night sweats (Read about "Sweating") and fever, according to AARC. People with tuberculosis may be at higher risk of pneumothorax, a condition that can lead to collapsed lung. (Read about "Pneumothorax") The lining of the lung can also become filled with fluid, a condition known as pleural effusion, (Read about "Pleurisy")

A TB test is the only sure way to find out if you have the disease or have an infection. The Center for TB Prevention recommends you get tested if:

• you have HIV or another disease that puts you at high risk
• you are from a country or have visited a country where TB is common (That includes most of Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia except Japan)
• you have spent time with a person who has active TB
• you inject drugs
• you spend considerable time or live in places where the disease is prevalent in this country (that includes homeless shelters, jails, migrant farm camps and some nursing homes)

Treatment

If you test positive for TB it is important you get treatment and follow all of the treatment guidelines. One of the reasons TB is making a comeback, according to AARC, is that people do not continue their treatment for as long as they need to. The infection isn't over and in fact, the bacteria that cause TB may get even stronger. There are now cases of TB superbugs that are drug resistant.

Treatment for TB can last months and it's important that the drug treatment continue for the required time frame.

There is a vaccine in use for TB. It is called BCG. It is not widely used in the United States, according to the Center for TB Prevention, but is often given to infants and small children in other countries. It is not positive protection from TB and can cause a reaction to a TB skin test.

Related Information:

    Respiratory System

    Hepatitis B

    Hepatitis C

    Immune System Glossary

    Glossary of Respiratory Terms

    Talking About Drug Abuse