Overview:

Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, also abbreviated and known as TB in many countries. The old name of Tuberculosis was Consumption, Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by infections, bacteria, and viruses and mostly affects the lungs.

It is a killing and life-threatening disease, it is one of the top 10 diseases in the world that causes death. 

Tuberculosis is common in developing countries and in those countries whose economical conditions are not good enough. In the United States, about 9000-10000 cases of Tuberculosis are reported every year.

Previously, it was a very serious disease and was a very common cause of death, especially in the Sub-continent. But now, many treatments and preventions of Tuberculosis are available and it can be treated easily if we start treatment in the early stages.

Causes of Tuberculosis:
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease and which is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. TB is a disease that transmits from person to person. TB can be caused by the inhalation of infected air droplets.

You can inhale the infected droplets of your nearby people, the droplets and inhalation can be transferred in the following ways.

  • Sneezing

  • Coughing

  • Speaking

A TB infection can be active or inactive means that you can experience TB symptoms and also if you have a good immune system, the TB infection could be inactive.

A Latent or an inactive TB couldn’t be transmitted from person to person but an active TB can.

Symptoms of Tuberculosis:
 People with inactive Tuberculosis don’t experience certain symptoms. Active Tuberculosis causes many symptoms which are mostly related to the respiratory system of humans. Coughing is one of the most common and major symptoms of Tuberculosis.

In the time of infection, you can experience many symptoms some dangerous symptoms including cough with bleeding. Some common symptoms of TB are given below:

TB is a lung-related disease and it mostly affects the lungs but if you don’t take it seriously then, it might be transmitted to other organs of the body including the kidney and brain.

Diagnosis of Tuberculosis:

There are several tests available in Hospitals to diagnose Tuberculosis and the cause of it. Some of them are given below:

PPD test:

PPD test of TB
PPD test of TB


A PPD test is used by the Doctors to determine the cause and type of TB in the patient’s body. This test is carried out by a syringe.

 A small amount of protein is injected into the top layer of your skin. If a welt appears on your after 2-3 days of injection, you can be a TB positive. 

This test is only used to determine that whether you have TB infection or not, the type of TB couldn’t be diagnosed with it.

A chest X-ray:

A chest X-ray is a type of X-ray test in which Doctors use a focused beam of Radiations to clearly examine your chest and lungs and the viruses, associated with it.

Chest X-ray is also used in the diagnosis of TB, a beam of radiation is used to notice some spots on your chest, that are signs of Tuberculosis. It can diagnose both active ad inactive TB.

 So that if you have an active TB, you could take instant treatment, and if you have a latent TB, you can take steps to avoid TB becoming reactive. 

Treatment of Tuberculosis:
TB is not that type of disease in which you need surgery or many other dangerous treatments. Usually, there is a course of almost 6-9 months of medications for active Tuberculosis.

TB should not be taken lightly if you are diagnosed with it because like cancer, it can also recur and the second time, treatment would be difficult. There are certain medications used worldwide to treat Tuberculosis. Some of them are given below.

  • Rifapentine

  • Pyrazinamid

  • Isoniazed

  • Ethambutol

These medications could also produce some side effects like they can damage your liver, so if notice any side effects, contact your Doctor. 

Preventions of Tuberculosis:
Tuberculosis is not an age-specified disease, it can attack a toddler, a child, a young man, and people as well. So, if you are living in a region in which people around you are infected with Tuberculosis, you should practice some particular preventions.

If you have latent TB, you can use certain Antibiotics including Rifapentine, Isoniazid, and Ethambutol which can protect you and can lower the risk of developing it into an active TB. 

There is also a vaccine used to develop immunity against Tuberculosis, called Bacillus Calmette-Guerin, which is being used in many countries.

If somebody has been diagnosed with active Tuberculosis, he has to take many preventions to save himself and others. A TB patient should take the following measures.

  • Avoid Crowded Places
    Use a tissue or elbow while coughing

  • Always make a distance from the others

  • Wash your hands after coughing or Sneezing

  • Wear a Surgical Mask

Risk of Tuberculosis:

Developing countries and those countries which are not economically strong have a great rate of Tuberculosis. Similarly, people who have a good financial situation have a low risk of Tuberculosis than poor people. 

People who smoke and drink alcohol are also at great risk of developing Tuberculosis.

HIV patients are not high risk but yeah, once they develop TB, the treatment could be difficult.

Patients of the following conditions cold develop TB:

People who have a low income can develop Tuberculosis because they don’t have the resources to treat and diagnose TB. People whose a family member or a friend is a patient of Tuberculosis are also at risk of Tuberculosis.

Also read: Malnutrition-causes, symptoms, and preventions