Signs, Symptoms And Treatment For Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Usually Tuberculosis, also known as TB, is caused by bacteria that spreads to the lungs and infects that area. It can easily be spread from person to person as it is carried in air droplets and when a person sneezes or coughs, the droplets fly out of the mouth and can infect another person. This is the primary version of TB. Most of the time, people will recover from this kind of TB, particularly in the US.
When one is elderly or an infant, or someone with a very weak immune system, such as someone who has AIDS or is on chemotherapy, has diabetes, has a much higher chance of contracting it. And some people have it but it stays dormant for years and does not show up till years later. If you are in contact with people who have it or if you have a poor and unhealthy diet, then you have a higher chance of getting it. Also if you live in a very crowded area, you might also be affected with the disease. And in the entire population at large, if there is a height of HIV infections and an increase of impoverished peoples, then TB will be more likely, as well.
Some symptoms of the disease are the coughing, coughing up of blood, as well as some excess night sweats. Fatigue and lethargy will accompany a fever and you might lose lots of weight, too, if you have the disease. You will also find that it is very hard to breathe and your chest will hurt and you will wheeze and gasp for air, too. There are many different ways to diagnose the disease, such as seeing if there are enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, fluid in the lung, and crackling kind of breathing. The doctor may perform a biopsy of affected areas or even a chest CT scan or x-ray to see what is going on in your lungs. You can also have a skin test, that can determine if you have it as well. When the results come in, the doctor can gauge what part of the disease you are currently in and various treatment options are available such as rifampin and isoniazid, two drugs that are administered to help with fighting and vanquishing the TB bacteria. Both pyrazinamide and ethambutol are also drugs that are being given fight it, as they have been tested in labs as being great agents in fighting it.
However, it is very important to take all the pills given and to make sure that no matter how many are required, none are skipped or forgotten. When people forget to take some, it begins harder to fight the bacteria and then the disease remains in the body and then become resistant and then no longer can be eliminated from the body. Sometimes a health care provider or home nurse is needed to make sure that the patient takes all the medicine given, for it is essential that the medication is not forsaken and that it is consumed on a regular and diligent basis.

By: Roberto Sedycias
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
You can have access to books about health from page Books Roberto Sedycias works as an IT consultant for PoloMercantil