Written By: Debjani Arora | Published : March 28, 2018 6:53 PM IST
Yes, tuberculosis is a highly contagious and life-threatening disease. But if diagnosed early and treated with care mortality can be averted. In India, tuberculosis accounts for a large number of deaths and the epidemic is spreading like a wildfire year after year. Since it is an airborne disease, given the country s population size, it spreads easily from one person to another. The bacteria can spread from an infected person when he coughs, sneezes or just opens his mouth to breathe out. Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a group of bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. This bacterial infection can affect almost all parts of your body except for nails and hair. Here are few faqs on tuberculosis answered.
Since it is an airborne disease the first organ of the body that gets infected is usually the lungs and it is called pulmonary tuberculosis. If it spreads outside the lungs it is called extrapulmonary tuberculosis.
If the symptoms of tuberculosis are picked up early and diagnosed properly chances of getting rid of this infection is high. But if one fails to stick to the medication and stops taking the pills mid-way, this could prove to be life-threatening. First, since it is a bacterial infection it is necessary to stick to the antibiotic course to eradicate the bacteria completely and second if one stops taking the medication mid-way the bacteria develop resistance to the drugs and a relapse of TB infection can be challenging to treat. Here are some dos and don ts to be followed while suffering from tuberculosis.
We spoke to Dr Arvind Kate, Chest Physician and Pulmonologist at Zen Hospital, Mumbai to know if tuberculosis can be life-threatening. If not treated on time, the tuberculosis bacteria can proliferate from the lungs to different organs and it can become fatal. Once the infection is identified it is necessary to start the treatment and continue with the medications to complete its course. If one leaves the treatment mid-way it could make the bacteria resistant to the drug and lead to drug-resistant TB. If the condition becomes resistant to more than two drugs it could lead to multi-drug resistant TB. However, the infection can get potent and lead to extensive drug-resistant TB if the patient becomes resistant to four or more drugs, he says. Read to know why India is under the threat of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.
While the condition is preventable and treatable through antibiotics but misuse of the drugs, wrong medications, stopping treatment mid-way can make it difficult to treat TB and eradicate it completely. If the infection stays for too long it can spread from lungs to other parts of the body giving rise to extra pulmonary tuberculosis spreading to the lymph nodes, intestines, bones and joints, liver, kidney, heart or the brain. The manifestations of the symptoms depend on which organ is affected and its severity. Depending on the organ that is affected the symptoms can vary from fatigue, weight loss, abdominal pain, headache, nausea, memory, nausea, loss of memory, etc.
The complications of tuberculosis could be grave and lead to mortality if not tackled at the right time. Depending on the gravity of the infection and its spread, complications can lead to drop in blood pressure, failure of vital organs, toxicity in the blood due to drug overuse, etc. The troubling part is when the infection reaches the brain, it becomes difficult to treat it as the drugs used to treat brain tuberculosis has a slow or delayed response and the infection penetrates deep inside the brain, says Dr Gate. Read to know if surgery can help to treat tuberculosis.
When multiple organs are involved and a person fails to respond to the various drugs available to treat the condition it could cost one s life. This is a reason why we lose so many innocent lives to the menace every year. The only way to prevent TB deaths is to diagnose the problem soon and get treated for same on time.
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