Tuberculosis: Causes and Symptoms
This infectious and dreadful disease, tuberculosis, has been the reason for so many deaths all over the globe, no wonder; people say that there are diseases far worse than HIV.
Tuberculosis would never be found wanting because it is a painful, sad and frustrating period for its victims.
This article will help a great deal, to bring to the awareness of its readers a detailed explanation of what this dreadful disease is, and how it can affect one’s life negatively.
We have a compelling desire to bring to the notice of our readers certain symptoms of tuberculosis, that is, how to detect tuberculosis patient.
Also, this article would be incomplete if it does not state in detail the overview of tuberculosis has affected the globe in unimaginable ways.
Thisis what this article is entirely basedon, and it would in no way confuse its readers who no longer want to be ignorant of this disease.
It would also help to nurture the minds of people who are already experiencing this condition, even at the starting point.
What is tuberculosis?
The first information to know about Tuberculosis is that it is infectious. It is a communicable disease, in other words, it can be transferred from one individual to another.
Tuberculosis generally, is a transferable from one person to another through coughing or constant contact with breath.
This disease is very potential and dangerous as it affects the lungs and makes breathing difficult.
Tuberculosisstarted increasing in 1985, as the emergence of HIV became rampant and contagious.
Nevertheless, tuberculosis proved to be very hostile and aggressive as it claimed a lot of lives in the past.
No one wants ever to experience this disease,and this article is aimed at giving detailed information about this disease and how it can be taken care of to avoid spreading it.
Unlike HIV, no one chooses when to spread this disease; you just find out that one affected person, can affect other people in a matter of days, there is no restriction to using the affected person’s things, it just happens mostly because it is an airborne disease.
So it is essentialthat we watch our surroundings and the people we live next to, for any symptoms of tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis is one of the top ten diseases that havecaused significant deaths in the world; it is known to be caused by bacteria widely known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Thecondition can be prevented and as well cured,but there are other ways to make sure that you never fall victim of it. The experience is not okay in any way; prevention is always better than cure.
Tuberculosis is spread quickly through the air, when someone who is infected with the disease sneezes or coughs or spits out, part of the bacteria is released into the air, making the air that we breathe unfit.
But not everyone knows this. Also, tuberculosis can remain dormant in the body of an individual.
Research has shown that 10% of people in the world have these bacteria in their systems, but are unable to spread it because it remains dormant in their bodies.
Also, individuals who are unhealthy in different ways, for example, people with diabetes, malnutrition, liver problem, and people who make use of tobacco, have a higher potential to fall sick due to this bacterium in their bodies.
So it is essential to take care of one’s health properly to avoid situations like this, and we must always remember that our health is a continuum.
Tuberculosis is mostly known to affect adults in their productive years, but all age grades are likely to have this disease.
Apart from the lungs, tuberculosis can also affect and destroy other parts of the body like the heart, the kidney, the liver; it can also help to reduce the melanin in the skin as cause itching from time to time.
Tuberculosis disease has gone viral in the last couple of years, and we have seen children and even parents die from it, they probably did not have an idea of what the disease was and was too late to bring it to the attention of a physician.
They may however know but feel there was no reason to consult a doctor, being ignorant of the fact that this dreadful disease is contagious and can spread like wide fire burning bush.
Many times people have succeeded in overcoming this disease, but what happened during the experience?
It is one thing to be an asthmatic patient and be short of breath sometimes, but tuberculosis comes with a whole new and different difficulty in breathing for its patients.
There have been so many situations where people are ignorant of this disease, which leads to a fatal incident in their lives andthe lives of their young ones. To effectively prevent the body from coming in contact with this disease, hygiene is of utmost importance.
In all ramifications, we must endeavour to keep our surroundings clean at every point in timeand keep a good personal hygiene.
Thisleads us to bring to light the various symptoms of tuberculosis; the different signs to watch out for in a tuberculosis patient.
These signs vary, whereby it can be the cause of a different disease entirely, but it is better to know and study these signs to prevent a worse situation or scenario.
There are two types of categories for this disease which are Latent TB disease and Active TB disease.
The former can stay in the body for as long as it wants, but it has no effect on the body, neither does it have the capacity to spread from one person to another, it is usually termed as being dormant in the body.
But if a situation arises where the person has another disease in the body, it could trigger the TB disease, making it active.
Active TB disease, on the other hand, is fully active and at work in the body of an individual, and causes the health of such a person to be affected.
Here also, the disease has the full capacity to multiply and increase in the body. This is why when an infected person in this category sneezes even a little bit; it can spread to other people very fast in some days.
Symptoms Of Tuberculosis
There are various signs and symptoms of tuberculosis, so it would help in every way if parents and guardians knew these signs, especially for their young children who might find it difficult to express where they feel pain or dysfunction.
These symptoms include;
Coughing
A coughis the number one symptom of tuberculosis all around the world, tuberculosis is an air borne disease, and so when one is coughing, gases are released from the mouth into the air which will spread out and cause an infection on another person.
When you notice a loved one or sibling coughing uncontrollably, it could be a sign of early tuberculosis, so it is advisable to check it out immediately.
Most times, cough syrup is administered to the person, but it shows no sign of stopping the uncontrollable cough, it is better to go to the hospital immediately or isolate such a child or individual from others as soon as possible.
The coughcomes with something else that is very significant in tuberculosis patients and readily detectable. This condition is known as chest pain.
Chest Pain
Thisis another symptom of tuberculosis in an individualand should be taken note of immediately.
Coughing rarely results in chest pain, so when there is a sharp pain in the chest area, it should be known that such a person might be suffering from tuberculosis.
As such, it is advisable to go to the hospital immediately so that various tests can be done on such a person to determine if they are suffering from tuberculosis.
Most children might find it difficult telling their parents that along with coughing, they experience sharp pains in their chest area, especially children who are unable to speak.
So it is crucial for parents or guardians to watch the movement of their children when they are coughing uncontrollably if they beat their chests hard whenever they cough, this could be a sign of tuberculosis, and should not be taken with levity.
Thisalso leads us to another symptom of tuberculosisthat is very common amongst its patients.
Coughing out blood mucus
Earlier on, we said that coughing is a symptom of the disease, but in most cases, patients who have been contaminated with this disease do not start by coughing bloody mucus.
When an individual starts coughing out blood in the form of mucus, such case is dangerous.
In this situation, the bacteria is very active and is going ahead damaging the cells in the body, therefore making a patient cough out blood.
Most of the time, when this happens, patients tend to feel dizzy and faint.
Tiredness all the time
Thisis another symptom of tuberculosis especially in children when you notice a child that has been very inactive in class and very inattentive to every lesson, such child is lacking behind and sleeping almost every time in class, this could be as a result of tuberculosis.
Such a child is weak for the most of the day, and when walking, might stagger from time to time like a drunken person.
In situations like this, attentive care should be given to such a child, and various necessary tests should be conducted on the patient to determine the cause of the abnormal tiredness.
Night sweats
This situation is not readily detectable, as a tuberculosis patient might be sweaty all through the night but wake up with a dry body, this can only be detectable for people who have a problem with heat, and cannot sleep where there are so much heat and sweat.
When a case like this is at hand, proper medical careshould take place as soon as possible.
Night sweatsis a defined symptom of tuberculosis, whereby, even in cold weather, the patient still sweats profusely at night.
Chills Or Feverish Conditions
Chills is a prevalent symptom of malaria, but also one of the symptoms of tuberculosis.
When we see a child in a feverish condition, we are too quick to categorize it as malaria or typhoid symptoms, but if we look closely, the person might just be suffering from tuberculosis.
Such a person in this condition has to go to the hospital immediately and undergo series of tests to know the real reason for the chills, irrespective of the weather condition.
You could ask a physician to come over to the house, especially for children.
Loss of weight
When you see an individual losing weightwithout control, even when they eat, it does little or nothing, such a person has to be a tuberculosis patient.
It may only mean that the bacteria have started eating deep into the blood stream of the person and has started affecting the cell walls of the person, thereby stopping food from going to the importantplaces in the body.
Loss of weight is an alarming sign and should not be taken with levity in any way.
Earlier on, it was stated that this article aimed at pointing out factual and reasonable evidenceas how people have neglected the signs of tuberculosis which has gotten worse in some cases, and in other situations had led a lot of individuals to their early graves.
It is thereby advised by most medical firms or institutions that parents or guardians, loved ones, neighbours, and school mates are to report any disturbing signs of bacterial infections or better still, compel the person to go for a check-up as soon as possible.
This could work in cases like; if the individual has been coughing for more than three weeks, if the person is suspiciously tired all the time even when they are not working.
If the individual has uncontrolled sweats, or by any means, they were able to detect the bacteria very fast in their loved ones and decided to run tests as soon as possible.
Thisis what everyone who comes in contact with this disease should have in mind. It is always easier and better to treat someone who is infected by this bacterium quickly, that way you can be assured or guaranteed 100% recovery.
But if the bacteria has eaten too deep in the body of an individual, and has destroyed successfully or partially relevant tissues and organs in the body, it might be tough to control the bacteria.
Even if it is controlled, the patient would have to undergo a lot of pain and hardship before he or she comes back to being their normal self again.
Thisis why it is relevant and of utmost importance that individuals learn to study the signs and symptoms of diseases like tuberculosis, so as not to get entangled in the after effect of tuberculosis, as it is very painful and killing at the same time.
Causes and treatments of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is mainly caused by bacteria, and so it is very potent to stay clean all the time to avoid contaminating by this disease either from the environment or froman individual.
Though tuberculosis can be spread from one person to the other, it takes a period of time, one cannot be infected on firstcontact, and both the fit and unfit individuals have to stay close to each other for a number of times.
Almost any situation involving tuberculosis can be cured as far as the right amount of drugs are taken, and in the right quantity.
In some rare cases, people with HIV, also get infected with tuberculosis, these two ailments do not go hand in hand, both have the capacity to destroy the immune system, one is curable, while the other can be suppressed to the minimum level.
Patients with tuberculosis, are always havingmicrobial drugs to help reduce the tuberculosis bacteria in their bodies to the lowest capacity and after a while, eliminating completely.
People do not in any way have to live in fear of this ailment called tuberculosis; it does not kill only if you let it.
You need to watch out carefully, study the signs in a person or a child, look for symptoms that can be related to tuberculosis, try to know all the symptoms of tuberculosis, and report or refer to the hospital immediately.
By doing so, lives can be saved, especially those of children who are very little and have no way of communicating.
This would help to do so many things in the society like;
Decrease the (mortality)death rate in the country or society
Enable women and children or individuals, in general,overcome their fear of this dreadful disease
Give rise to educating programmes on tuberculosis
Help to invest in the doctors who have taken out time to stop this disease from killing patients.
Help to build the integrity of the hospital
Helpto manage emergency situations effectively
Assist individuals to maintain a good personal hygiene no matter what
Helpto sustain lives and families, and keep a smile on their faces.