Tuberculosis- Symptoms & Causes

4 February, 2011 No Comment

Tuberculosis is a disease that often affects the lungs and is considered to be a serious disease. It has lead to millions of death in the past but now deaths caused due to tuberculosis has declined significantly due to the intense research conducted in this field and effective medicines introduced.

Until 1882, nothing important was known about tuberculosis. People and scientists were unaware of the facts as to what were the possible causes of this deadly disease. But the credit goes to Robert Koch, who identified the bacteria that was responsible for causing tuberculosis disease. This great finding took place in the year 1882 and thereafter scientists and researchers paid more attention to finding the symptoms, causes and treatment for tuberculosis.

Some important symptoms of tuberculosis are given below in brief.

Most people infected with the bacteria do not exhibit tuberculosis symptoms. Even if a person is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, he or she may not develop tuberculosis because it has been found that only 10% of the infected people develop this disease.

Tuberculosis patients may not exhibit any symptom in the initial stage. But in the advanced stage, symptoms experienced by the patients may include loss of appetite, loss of weight, fatigue, fever, persistent cough and night sweats. Coughing can continue for 3 weeks or more. And cough may have traces of blood too!

Chest pain as well as pain while breathing may also be experienced by the sufferer. But these symptoms alone do not confirm that you suffer from tuberculosis. Only the tests performed can confirm that you really suffer from tuberculosis. You should not panic even if you are tested positive for tuberculosis because now this disease can be completely cured and treated.

Let us see the common causes of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a highly infectious disease and is caused by the bacteria that get released from the infected person while coughing and sneezing without covering their mouth or nose. These bacteria infect people who come in close contact of the patients. Thus, tuberculosis is caused.

Tuberculosis patients who have received suitable drug treatment for a minimum period of 2 weeks do not remain contagious and hence do not spread TB to their near and dear ones.

Earlier TB was difficult to diagnose and treat but now this is possible and hence if you notice the above mentioned signs and symptoms of TB then you must consult your doctor.

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