Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis

(Source: http://www.herbs2000.com/disorders/tuberculosis.htm)
A chronic or acute infection in the lungs caused by a bacterium is known as tuberculosis or TB-it is one of the most common diseases in the world. The species of bacteria known as mycobacterium tuberculae causes tuberculosis, untreated and long term infection results in the death of the affected individual. Early symptoms and the first signs of tuberculosis are easy to miss and overlook, there is great danger in this as the physical symptoms gradually become obvious and apparent only after the illness has developed to such an extent-that X-ray pictures can easily show obstructions in the lungs. Normally physical symptoms include the presence of a subtle fever, physical malaise and a sudden weight loss in the person. TB patients are affected by the production of large amounts of mucus in the lungs, gradually coughing begins with the production of scanty sputum that which appears green, and has a pus-like consistency-later on, the mucus begins to obstruct respiration and full scale TB results. The presence of a bloody cough, constant pain in the walls of the chest and a shortness of breath are the usual and most obvious signs of tuberculosis.

The initial stage of bacterial infection normally begins in the lower-middle part of the lungs, over time this infection spreads out via the lymphatic system to other organs in the body of the person. A small area of inflammation develops in the lungs in about 4 to 10 weeks of continuous illness. At this juncture, a small bacterial growth begins to affect the capacity of the immune system-it begins to weaken as a result of this problem. Unless the disease is quickly arrested at this stage of the disease, the immune system is incapable of ridding the body of the infection, which now lies dormant for some time to come. The real active form of TB will affect about 10% of the infected people, within 1 to 2 years from initial date of infection. While the infection remains in a dormant state in about 90% of the cases, it is capable of reactivating itself and affecting the person in other cases. An X-ray of the chest remains the best way to determine TB infection, other methods of detection are via a culture which may need up to two months to grow, other tests include an acid fast sputum stain or a TB skin test-any method is capable of confirming TB infection in an individual.

Surviving TB was a very hard thing to do less than a 100 years ago when medical facilities were minimal at best, the TB infection causes fast destruction of pulmonary tissues and survivors spent many months in recovery from damage to the lungs. TB is now well controlled and regulated with the recent improvements in health and with the use of effective antibiotic treatment methods-it is not a fearful and devastating disease it was once considered. For example, the disease is now not very prevalent in the continent of North America, here tuberculosis tends to affect people living in unsanitary conditions and even then it affects only individuals with very poor immune systems. The highest risk of contracting TB is in people who are affected by the HIV virus-the elderly also remain prone to the disease. As treatment methodologies have improved, it has been observed that entirely new strains of the tuberculosis causing bacteria have emerged-these bacteria are resistant to many of the antibiotics used previously in treating TB-this has created a vital necessity for developing or finding natural alternatives in addition to the traditional medications used in therapy for the full treatment of TB.

While the most common area of the body that tuberculosis can attack is the lungs-the disease can affect any number of the other organs and it can also mimic a variety of diseases before it is identified. Pulmonary TB is the main disease that is dreaded around the world. Physical symptoms of TB include the presence of persistent coughing, an abnormal physical fatigue, the presence of night sweats, and recurring fevers, the person is also affected by a general poor appetite and weight loss-these symptoms may not necessarily affect the person at one and the same time. These physical symptoms may indicate different illnesses as well; if they are present then the chances of TB should never be ruled out. The later stages of TB are characterized by coughing up of mucus with traces of blood and a persistent difficulty in breathing as the lungs fill up with mucus. The bones and the kidneys and the lymph nodes are also other common sites for tuberculosis to affect a person.

Incidences of tuberculosis is a resurgent force in North America, this can be attributed to the increasing environmental pollution, coupled with the physical stresses of big city life and poor health care, the excessive utilization of certain medications such as the corticosteroids and drug and alcohol abuse.

As a condition, tuberculosis is known to be a highly infectious illness and spreads very quickly from one person to another. Mode of transmission in the majority of TB cases that occur in North America is thought to be via tiny droplets of tuberculosis bacteria that are coughed into the air TB patients-the germ is carried into the air and when breathed in by other individuals-it lies dormant and bring on symptoms some time later. The mode of transmission of TB in the past was through contaminated milk, this changed when all milk was pasteurized in North America some time ago-contaminated milk is not longer the mode of transmission in the modern world. The majority of people subjected to infection from tuberculosis bacteria will never come down with the disease, their strong immune systems will keep the bacteria in an inactive or dormant state permanently and the disease has no chance of affecting them-in fact most people, carry the germ but never become affected by the disease. In others, decades may pass before illness strikes later in life; this is because by this time their immune system has weakened considerably. The vaccination against TB is not without its particular problems even though such vaccines exist today. The year long use of an antibiotic medication is involved in the conventional TB treatments-the use of such drugs in some cases may go for longer time periods. The combined use of many natural therapies in conjunction with conventional medical treatments is effective in treatment of TB.