User:KOMF/Wiki4Cam Backups/Pulmonary tuberculosis

Pulmonary tuberculosis, which is called often as TB, is a bacterial infection caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis. It mainly involves the lungs, but it may also spread to other organs. Tuberculosis sympotms would appear only after an extended period. In many cases the bacillus may lie dormant in the body for decades. Only about 10% of people infected with mycobacterium tuberculosis ever develop tuberculosis disease. .

Causes and risk factors
The disease is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It spreads through air droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person. The infection may stay asleep or nonactive (dormant) for years and then reactivate. Such triggering, aggravating or risk factors include people infected in the past, elderly, infants, weakened immune systems, people infected with AIDS, people under chemotherapy, people who get antirejection medicines (given after an organ transplant), people who have frequent contact with TB infected persons, poor nutrition and unsanitary living conditions. In the sociological point of view the following factors like
 * 1) increase in HIV infections,
 * 2) increase in number of homeless people (poor environment and nutrition) and
 * 3) the appearance of drug-resistant strains of TB

may increase the rate of TB infection in a population.

Symptoms
Most of the symptoms develop at advanced stage of the condition. Such symptoms include mild to medium cough, mild fever, fatigue, unintentional weight loss, coughing up blood, fever and night sweats, phlegm-producing cough, wheezing, excessive sweating especially at night, chest pain and breathing difficulty.

The critical time for spreading this disease is before treatment.

Examination and test
A chest X-ray is used by a medical professional to test for the condition. A mantoux skin test is also used for people with no symptoms, this test must be interpreted by a doctor.

CAM therapy for pulmonary tuberculosis
No effective CAM therapies have been discovered. Due to the seriousness of the condition, a medical doctor should be consulted as soon as possible.

Allopathic Therapy
Standard therapy for active TB is two months with Rifater, and four months with isoniazid and rifampin. Due to the serious nature of the disease, failure to take the medication properly can result in drug-resistant organisms.