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Respiratory Diseases - Diseases of the Human Respiratory System

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Tuberculosis

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Tuberculosis, TB is short, is an infectious disease that usually attacks the lungs. However, it can attack almost any part of the body. Tuberculosis is contagious; it spread from person to person through the air.

It is important to understand that there is a difference between being infected with TB and having TB disease. Someone who is infected with TB has the TB germs, or bacteria, in their body. The body' HOLESs defences are protecting them from the germs and they are not sick. Someone with TB disease, however, is sick and can spread the disease to other people. A person with TB disease needs to see a doctor as soon as possible.

Anyone can get TB. But for various reasons, some groups of people are at higher risk to get active TB disease. The groups that are at high risk include: people with HIV infection (the AIDS virus), people in close contact with those known to be infectious with TB, people with medical conditions that make the body less able to protect itself from disease, people who are underfed, alcoholics and drug addicts.

A person with TB infection will have no symptoms. A person with TB disease may have any, all or none of the following symptoms: a cough that will not go away, feeling tired all the time, weight loss, loss of appetite, fever, coughing up blood and night sweats. Some of these symptoms can also occur with other types of lung disease so it is important to see a doctor and to let him decide.

There are two possible ways a person can become sick with TB disease:

The first applies to a person who may have been infected with TB for years and has been perfectly healthy. The time may come when this person suffers a change in health. The cause of this change in health may be another disease like AIDS or diabetes. Or it may be drug or alcohol abuse or a lack of health care.

Whatever the cause, when the body's ability to protect itself is damaged, the TB infection can become TB disease. In this way, a person may become sick with TB disease months or even years after they first breathed in the TB germs.

The other way TB disease develops happens much more quickly. Sometimes when a person first breathes in the TB germs the body is unable to protect itself against the disease. The germs then develop into active TB disease within weeks.

A skin test is the best way to find out if a person has TB. For this test, a small amount of chemical is placed just below the top layers of skin, usually on the arm. Two to three days later a health care worker checks the arm to see if a bump has developed and measures the size of the bump. If the bump is of a certain size the test is positive and the person has TB infection.

Other tests including a chest X-ray and a test of a person's mucus follow.

Treatment for TB depends on whether a person has TB disease or only TB infection. A person who has become infected with TB, but does not have TB disease, may be given preventive therapy. Preventive therapy aims to kill germs that are not doing any damage right now, but could break out later.

If a doctor decides a person should have preventive therapy, the usual prescription is a daily dose of isoniazid (also called 'INH'), an inexpensive TB medicine. The person takes INH for six months (up to a year for some patients), with periodic checkups to make sure the medicine is being taken as prescribed. After a few weeks a person can probably even return to normal activities and not have to worry about infecting others.

The patient usually gets a combination of several drugs (most frequently INH plus two to three others), usually for six to nine months. The patient will probably begin to feel better only a few weeks after starting to take the drugs. If the medicine is taken incorrectly or stopped the patient may become sick again and will be able to infect others with TB.

If the medicine is taken incorrectly and the patient becomes sick with TB a second time, the TB may be harder to treat because it has become drug resistant. This means that the TB germs in the body are unaffected by some drugs used to treat TB.

Multi-drug resistant TB is very dangerous, so patients should be sure to take all of their medicine correctly.

The drugs usually make the patient non-infectious within days or weeks. TB is spread by handling a patient's bed sheets, books, furniture, or eating utensils. Brief exposure to a few TB germs rarely infects a person. It's day-after-day close contact that usually does it.
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If you have a question about health related issues, you can now post it in our Ask An Expert section on our community website Medwonders.com and get answers from our panel of experts.
Posted by:  Campbell(Guest)  Posted on: 11/14/2012
I AM SHORT OF BREATH AND HAVE HAD THIS SINCE I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH ULCERATED COLITIS.ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO. I GAVE UP SMOKING APPROXIMATELY 2-3 YEARS BEFORE I GOT COLITIS. IT IS VERY FRIGHTENING AT TIMES AND THAT SURELY DOESN'T HELP.I PLAY TENNIS BUT FIND THAT REALLY DIFFICULT BECAUSE OF MY BREATHLESSNESS. PLEASE CAN SOME ONE HELP ME.


Posted by:  healthyheartpoet  Posted on: 02/18/2013
My nephew suffered with ulcerative colitus fo 10 years. He cured himself in 3 months with a product called "Aloe Vera Elite" you can order it online; from the desk of the Healthyheartpoet




Posted by:  Aneesa(Guest)  Posted on: 01/30/2012
You people are just sad



Posted by:  sing.song-17(Guest)  Posted on: 01/22/2012
How many different respiratory conditions are there??!!!



Posted by:  saher_ahmad(Guest)  Posted on: 11/26/2011
i love reading about different respiratory diseases because its my subject and i need more information to increase my knowledge and to be expert of what i like



Posted by:  Bailey11(Guest)  Posted on: 04/22/2010
thats not funny! it's a real virus!


Posted by:  jkjhjihuihuih(Guest)  Posted on: 11/29/2011
what the hell are you talking about?



Posted by:  twilight(Guest)  Posted on: 11/07/2012
about the respiratory system!




Posted by:  Meiscool(Guest)  Posted on: 10/29/2009
I am in 3 grade and i like reading about the cold. I had 4 colds in the last year and i think i was die, but i am all better now and my nose does not look like rodolf anymore. and when i wake up their is no more snot on my pillow.


Posted by:  guest  Posted on: 11/25/2009
wow



Posted by:  darthroti  Posted on: 01/27/2012
Your not funny.




Posted by:  Suzanney(Guest)  Posted on: 08/06/2009
Hey guys,

Just a quick tip from a uni student. Don't forget that while you're looking for good info about respiratory diseases, consider this: 'Is this site prepared by academic or medical staff?'

Suzanne


Posted by:  guest  Posted on: 01/09/2010
Don't be a bitch Suzanne



Posted by:  guest  Posted on: 01/14/2010
That a very dumb thing for u to say it must fit ur personality huh;



Posted by:  guest  Posted on: 04/04/2010
hahahah - that just made my day...



Posted by:  guest  Posted on: 05/02/2010
i think Suzanne madam is right



Posted by:  Suzanney(Guest)  Posted on: 05/02/2010
I'm only here with good intentions. Take it or leave it =]



Posted by:  guest  Posted on: 05/18/2010
that`s mean. don`t say that to anyone again.




Posted by:  Young_DBZ(Guest)  Posted on: 05/29/2009
I to am a 7th grade student that suffers from asthma. I usually have asthma attacks in the winter, but just in case i bring a inhaler with me at ALL TIMES. i was diagnosed with astma in the third or fourth grade once my parents split up. learning more and more about asthma is fun and at the same time interesting. learning new things is exciting. especially if you can relate to it. currently at this time i havent had a asthma attack for several months, but who knows it just might sneak up on me. ;]



Posted by:  Allyssa95(Guest)  Posted on: 05/24/2009
I love reading about different respiratory problems because i have to suffer with asthma myself. I am in 7th grade and i am doing a project on the body systems and we were able to chose between eight different systems and i chose respiratory system. I never new how many diseases there are out there until i started researching and now im attached on learning more about it and i hope that other people relize how dangerous asthma can really be. Many people tease me about it when i end up using my inhaler. so i just wanted to get that out there. I hope to read more and more about this.


Posted by:  Young_DBZ(Guest)  Posted on: 05/29/2009
Hey! looks like we have something in common about that asthma thing.Do you have severe asthma and more frequent attacks or just occasional.




Posted by:  Bailey11(Guest)  Posted on: 04/19/2009
What if you are born with RSV(Respitory System Virus)? What should you do?


Posted by:  guest  Posted on: 07/25/2009
i think you shoukd just consult a doctor and ask for instructions, as what you should do...



Posted by:  guest  Posted on: 08/06/2010
dont mind your rvs




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