Important Symptoms of Tuberculose

Symptoms of tuberculosis disease can be grouped into two groups: general complaints and lung-specific complaints. If there is involvement of other organs other than the lung, organ-specific findings are seen. General complaints; especially in the evening, fever, night sweats, weight loss, loss of appetite and weakness. Pulmonary-specific complaints include cough lasting more than two to three weeks, sputum production, spitting up variable amounts of blood, pain in the chest and back, shortness of breath, and hoarseness.

Complaints usually start mildly and progress slowly. Patients may attribute these complaints to other causes and apply to the doctor late. This situation causes the disease to spread more and more damage to the affected organ. Meanwhile, the patient scatters bacilli around him and causes more people to become infected.

Tuberculosis “ Mycobacterium tuberculosisIt is an infectious disease caused by a respiratory bacillus (microbe) called ”. It is transmitted only by droplet infection, other than that, it is not transmitted by the towel, fork, knife, or food used by the person. When the sick person speaks, coughs or sneezes normally, the droplets emitted by the person on the opposite side are inhaled by respiration, and that person encounters the tuberculosis microbe. However, not everyone who gets the infection develops the disease. In fact, every person in society is exposed to tuberculosis bacteria in some way, but not everyone gets sick. Having an infection in the body and being sick are different situations. To be infected is to inhale the tuberculosis microbe, and to be sick is to cause disease in the body by that respiratory microbe.

It invites malnutrition and stress

In order for tuberculosis to occur, a person's body resistance must decrease. If the body's resistance is sufficient, the body gets that infection and limits that microbe with its own immune system. It is present in the body but does not cause disease. But if the person's body resistance is low, then it attacks the organs and the disease occurs. The elderly and children are susceptible to disease because their body resistance is lower. Factors such as insomnia, malnutrition, stress, drinking and smoking reduce the body's resistance. Apart from these, there is a risk of catching tuberculosis in people who have undergone surgery, kidney, liver, heart patients and diabetes, patients with diseases such as COPD, asthma, and people who use cortisone and cancer drugs.

Watch out for these symptoms!

Tuberculosis can progress very insidiously, its symptoms may not be recognized for months. There may be weakness, fatigue, small, dry, tickling coughs, and sometimes these coughs can be interpreted as allergy or asthma cough. Symptoms begin mildly and progress gradually. Therefore, the symptoms cannot be noticed for months. If tuberculosis disease is in the form of a wound in the lung, it can also manifest itself with bloody sputum or direct coughing of blood. The most prominent symptoms are:

• Prolonged dry cough
• chest pains
• Anorexia
• fire rising in the evening
• Weakness
• Weight loss
• Shortness of breath in advanced cases
• coughing up blood from the mouth
• It can be diagnosed with modern methods

Tuberculosis is not easily diagnosed. As its progression is insidious, it may not show any significant findings in the examinations. For a patient who is thought to have tuberculosis, some blood tests, especially sedimentation, are requested. Then chest X-ray and chest tomography are taken. But in fact, what makes the diagnosis of tuberculosis one hundred percent is the detection of microbes in sputum. If the patient is unable to produce sputum and other tests fail to yield results, samples are taken from the areas where the disease is suspected by bronchoscopy, and the microbe is searched for in these samples. The PPD test, on the other hand, is known as the tuberculosis test, but it does not diagnose tuberculosis. It only shows that the person has been exposed to the tuberculosis microbe. In the conditions of our country, the result of this test is positive in many people.

It can affect all organs, not just the lungs.

Since tuberculosis is inhaled, it most commonly causes disease in the lungs, but apart from this, it can cause tuberculosis disease in all other organs of the body. It can be seen in the kidney, liver, spleen, eye, cerebral cortex, that is, in all organs. In children, it occurs especially in the form of tuberculous meningitis. It can also involve the lymph nodes in the cavity called the mediastinum, where the lungs and heart are located, or the lymph nodes in the whole body. Laryngeal tuberculosis, which settles in the throat region, is also one of the most frequently transmitted types of the disease. Fluid collection in the pleura can be in the form of inflammation or a wound in the lung, also called a cavity.

Treatment duration is at least 6 months

Tuberculosis is treated with special antibiotics. These antibiotics are not antibiotics for pneumonia or normal colds. There are 4 types of antibiotics that affect the tuberculosis microbe, and these drugs must be used in appropriate doses and times. Tuberculosis treatment lasts at least 6 months, this period can be extended with the guidance of the doctor. It is very important to follow up the drugs used. Treatment follow-up is carried out in tuberculosis dispensaries.

Let the sun and fresh air enter your home for protection

Rest is the most important in the recovery of tuberculosis and other lung diseases. Proper nutrition and sleep patterns are very important. Plenty of fluids should be consumed. Smoking and alcohol should be avoided. In fact, the main thing in the treatment is that the person takes his medication in the appropriate dose and regularly every day. Clean air is also very important. The home of tuberculosis patients should be well ventilated. Sun rays also kill the tuberculosis microbe. This microbe multiplies more quickly in places with no air and low oxygen.

Incomplete treatment makes tuberculosis disease resistant

Sometimes drug-resistant tuberculosis infections may occur. The person who is treated with wrong or missing drugs and in insufficient time cannot fully recover and the microbe becomes active again, so the disease becomes resistant to drugs. Microbes that have become resistant spread this disease by infecting others. If the person has become ill with a drug-resistant microbe, then the basic 4 drugs used in normal treatment may not be enough. There is a need for additional effective drugs for drug-resistant microbes. In tuberculosis disease that does not go away with normal treatment, drug resistance tests should be performed, and it is necessary to see the resistance of the microbe to drugs and make appropriate drug changes accordingly.

If you have complaints such as cough and fever lasting longer than two weeks, night sweats, weight loss, anorexia, weakness, please apply to the nearest health institution as soon as possible!

Günceleme: 02/06/2022 11:52