|
 |
 |
An ISO 2001:2008 Certified Hospital | Approved by Delhi Government.
F-1U-41, Pitampura, Delhi-110088. |
|
|
|
|
 |
| |
| TB CENTER |
 What Is Tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis, commonly known as TB, is a bacterial infection that can spread through the lymph nodes and bloodstream to any organ in your body. It is most often found in the lungs. This is called pulmonary TB. Most people who are exposed to TB never develop symptoms because the bacteria can live in an inactive form in the body. But if the immune system weakens, such as in people with HIV or elderly adults, TB bacteria can become active. In their active state, TB bacteria cause death of tissue in the organs they infect. Active TB disease can be fatal if left untreated. Treatment is often a success, but it is a long process. It usually takes about 6 to 9 months to treat TB. But some TB infections need up to 2 years to treat.
|
Types of Tuberculosis (TB)?
Tuberculosis is either latent or active:
Latent Tuberculosis (TB): Latent TB means that you have the TB bacteria in your body, but your body's defences (immune system) are keeping it from turning into active TB. This means that you don't have any symptoms of TB right now and can't spread the disease to others. If you have latent TB, it can become active TB.
Active Tuberculosis (TB): Active TB means that the TB bacteria are growing and causing symptoms. If your lungs are infected with active TB, it is easy to spread the disease to others. If active TB is not treated on time, it can damage your lungs or other organs and can be deadly. You can also spread TB by not treating an active TB infection.
|
Side Effects and Other Problems of Tuberculosis:
When you have active TB, you may feel sick or have a cough that brings up thick, cloudy, and sometimes bloody mucus from the lungs (called sputum) for more than 2 weeks, lose weight, swelling in the neck, feel tired, or have a fever or night sweats with a rapid heartbeat. Women who are pregnant, or who are breastfeeding should talk to their health care provider before taking these medicines. If you are using birth control pills, ask your health care provider if your TB medicines can make birth control pills not work as well.
Most people do not have very bad side effects from TB medicines. Problems to watch out for and tell your doctor about include:
- Bruising or easy bleeding.
- Achy joints.
- Fever.
- Tingling or aches in your toes or fingers, or around your mouth.
- Less or no appetite for food.
- Upset stomach, nausea or vomiting, and stomach cramps or pain.
- Yellow skin or eyes.
|
Who is most at risk for TB?
Some people are more likely than others to get TB. This includes people who:
- Have HIV or another illness that weakens the immune system.
- Care for a patient who has active TB, such as doctors or nurses.
- Abuse drugs or alcohol.
- Have close contact with someone who has active TB, such as living in the same house as someone who is infected with TB.
- Have poor access to health care, such as homeless people and migrant farm workers.
- Live or work in crowded places, such as prisons, nursing homes, or homeless shelters, where other people may have active TB.
- Travel to or were born in places where untreated TB is common, such as Latin America, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Russia.
|
There are different medication methods for the treatment of Tuberculosis (TB), depending on the nature or type of Tuberculosis (TB). The following treatments are common and effective in treating Tuberculosis (TB) we are providing at Maheshwari Hospital:
In case of Active Tuberculosis (TB): Latent TB means that you have the TB bacteria in your body, but your body's defences (immune system) are keeping it from turning into active TB. This means that you don't have any symptoms of TB right now and can't spread the disease to others. If you have latent TB, it can become active TB.
For active TB, there are different treatment recommendations for people who have HIV and TB, people who have drug-resistant TB, children, and pregnant women.
Multiple-drug therapy to treat TB usually involves taking four antibiotics at the same time. This is the standard treatment for active TB.
In case of Latent Tuberculosis (TB): One antibiotic usually is used to treat latent TB infection, which cannot be spread to others but can develop into active TB disease. The antibiotic usually is taken for 4 to 9 months.2 Or more than one antibiotic may be taken once a week for 12 weeks.6 For this treatment, a health professional may watch you take each dose of antibiotics. Taking every dose of antibiotic helps prevent the TB bacteria from getting resistant to the antibiotics.
In case of Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis (TB): TB disease that occurs in parts of your body other than the lungs (Extrapulmonary TB) usually is treated with the same medicines and for the same length of time as active TB in the lungs (pulmonary TB). But TB throughout the body (miliary TB) or TB that affects the brain or the bones and joints in children may be treated for at least 12 months.
Corticosteroid medicines also may be given in some severe cases to reduce inflammation. They may be helpful for children at risk of central nervous system problems caused by TB and for people who have conditions such as high fever, TB throughout the body (miliary TB), pericarditis, or peritonitis.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
