World Tuberculosis Day 2014 — top 9 symptoms you should look out for

Here are the commonest symptoms of tuberculosis you should know about.

By: Pavitra Sampath | | Updated: February 25, 2015 1:30 pm

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Tuberculosis is a disease that is often surrounded by a number of myths. One of the most common ones is, ‘Having a cough means you have tuberculosis’. But not every cough is tuberculosis and ignoring one that has been troubling you for a while is also not something you should do. So, wondering what you need to do? Well, in order to help you decide here is a quick list of symptoms of tuberculosis that you should keep in mind.

You should know that there are number of types of TB, right from skin TB, genital Tb, intestinal TB and spinal TB. Of all these types pulmonary TB or TB of the lungs is the most common. Caused due to an infection by bacterium Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, this condition affects the lungs, making the patient weak and frail. Some of the common symptoms of this condition are as follows:

1. A cough that lasts longer than 3 weeks is considered the classic sign of pulmonary TB.

2. Pain in the chest is another symptom. In the case of a normal cough, a patient may experience pain in the chest due to constant coughing and its resulting effect on the muscles of the area. But in the case of tuberculosis it is pain that is present constantly and usually not only while you cough.

3. Coughing up thick, whitish coloured or cloudy sputum is also another symptom of TB. In some cases this sputum may be tinged with blood, while in other cases a patient may also cough up just blood.

4. Constant weakness and fatigue is definitely a sign that something is wrong within your body. In the case of TB a patient often experiences these symptoms due to their lung infection and inability to breathe.

5. Drastic weight loss is another very common symptom noticed in TB patients

6. Fever with chills can be confused with many conditions like malaria, but if the patient has been suffering from this symptom and all other infections have been ruled out, a doctor will suspect TB.

7. Patients with TB often experience a sudden drop in their appetite.

8. And lastly, profusely sweating at night is another symptom of TB.

9. TB of other organ systems manifest themselves differently, and these symptoms are usually in coherence with the organ that is infected. For example: TB of the skin could manifest as a non healing ulcer, TB of the spine with backache, stiffness or even swelling in the back/groin, TB of the intestines with abdominal distension and absolute constipation. Even a non-healing anal fistula could be due to TB. TB of the lymph nodes can present with swellings at multiple sites of the body. TB of the covering of the brain and spinal cord can cause TB Meningitis, especially in children.

So, if you have noticed any of these symptoms, make it a point to visit your doctor immediately and get tested for TB.

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Published : March 24, 2014 1:32 pm | Updated:February 25, 2015 1:30 pm

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