Tuberculosis is a contagious disease of bacterial etiology. The disease has not only a medical, but also a social aspect, since people with a weak immunity, an unbalanced diet, living in terrible social conditions or not observing sanitary and hygienic standards are more susceptible to its causative agent.
Many are interested in the question of how long after the symptoms of tuberculosis appear. And in this case, the formation of the disease is greatly influenced by the social status of the person. And the high frequency of deaths (up to 3 million people per year) and the prevalence of the disease are also due to the long period of the latent course of tuberculosis. By the way, this period is considered more suitable for therapy, and in order to establish the likelihood of infection, a Mantoux test is used.
Causes
To know where tuberculosis comes from, it is necessary to study in more detail information about its causative agent. This microbacterium is resistant to the effects of the external sphere, high-temperature influence, for a long time it remains viable at low temperatures.
Infection with Koch's wand is what causes pulmonary tuberculosis. By the way, she does not appear to be a highly contagious infectious agent. Despite the fact that a virus carrier with an open form of the disease emits bacteria into the environment, the probability of getting sick after contact with the pathogen and its entry into the body in a healthy person is extremely low.
A tuberculosis patient does not need to be treated under supervision in a hospital with an inactive form of the disease. He is not limited in movement and social activity. But with continuous home contact, in families where there is a person with tuberculosis, it is recommended to pay attention not only to his well-being, but also to maintaining hygiene, measures to increase the immunity of other family members and constantly checking the body's response to the Mantoux test to determine the likely infection for the most early stages.
Among the conditions that reduce specific immunity and contribute to the development of the disease, in contact with an infected representative, the following reasons are identified why tuberculosis appears:
- Smoking This is a condition for the development of diseases of the bronchopulmonary system, which reduce local immunity.
- Frequent drinking.
- All varieties of addiction.
- A predisposition to diseases of the respiratory system due to the presence of pathologies of the structure, intense diseases in the anamnesis, the presence of chronic inflammatory processes in the respiratory system.
- Chronic diseases and sources of inflammation in other organs and tissues.
- Diabetes mellitus, endocrine diseases.
- Unbalanced diet, lack of vitamins and nutrients.
- Neurotic pathologies, depressive states, low stress resistance.
- Period of pregnancy.
- Unfavorable social conditions.
If you find out what causes tuberculosis in children, then the main reason in this case is contact with an infected person. After all, as you know, the named disease is transmitted by airborne droplets.
Signs
At the initial stage, tuberculosis is very difficult to distinguish from a common disease or fatigue syndrome. At the same time, it is difficult to accurately answer the question of how long the first signs of tuberculosis appear, since it depends on many factors already listed above. A person regularly feels weakness and drowsiness. He doesn’t want to eat, his mental state is oppressed, and the slightest stress causes a strong emotional reaction.
In the evenings, the infected person feels a slight chill, his night's sleep is usually restless, accompanied by sweating. Body temperature stubbornly keeps at a subfebrile mark - 37.1-37.2 ° C, a dry paroxysmal cough occurs, which is especially severe during the night and in the morning.
It is important to know how many symptoms of tuberculosis appear. The first of them can occur after the incubation period, which is characterized by a particular length in the named disease. It can last up to 3 years, and the infected person will not even suspect the presence of Koch's wand in his blood.
Appearance changes
The developed tuberculosis gives the face a haggard, dull look: the features are aggravated, the cheeks are falling out, the eyes become painfully shiny. The patient is losing weight. And if at the initial stage of the disease all the signs are not so obvious, then patients with chronic tuberculosis have such a typical appearance that the diagnosis does not raise almost any doubt.
Heat
A reliable criterion for tuberculosis is a slightly elevated temperature that does not subside for a long time, which is not explained by any objective factors. By evening, the heat can rise to 38 ° C and be accompanied by chills. The patient has increased sweating, but with this natural reaction, the body still does not manage to reduce the temperature to a physiological norm. Febrile temperature (more than 39 ° C) occurs in the last stages, in the presence of powerful sources of inflammation in the lungs.
Cough
A person suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis coughs almost regularly, but at the beginning of the disease the cough is dry, paroxysmal and similar to a nervous reaction. And further, if granulomas grow to caverns and exudate accumulates in the lungs, intensive sputum production occurs. The cough becomes wet, and already after coughing a person feels relief for some time. It is impossible to say exactly when a cough appears during tuberculosis, since everything depends on the human body and its immune system.
Hemoptysis
This serious symptom almost certainly indicates infiltrative tuberculosis. You just need to distinguish this ailment from heart disease or lung cancer, since hemoptysis is also characteristic of them. In tuberculosis, blood is released from the respiratory tract in small quantities immediately after a wet cough with a lot of sputum. In some cases, blood literally flows like a fountain, which indicates a rupture of the cavity. In this case, emergency assistance is necessary for the patient.
Chest pain
Pain is rarely the first indication of tuberculosis. As a rule, this symptom worries patients in the acute and chronic stages of the disease. If pain is observed at the onset of the disease, then they are not sufficiently manifested, more similar to discomfort and become pronounced only with a deep breath.
Other signs of tuberculosis
Symptoms and the time when signs of tuberculosis appear depend on the location of the infection. Extrapulmonary forms of the disease are extremely rare.
We will briefly analyze their main properties:
- Pathology of the genitourinary system. The only criterion for tuberculosis of the genitourinary system is blood in the urine and its dull color. Urination is usually frequent and unhealthy. In women, tuberculosis activates intermenstrual bleeding, destruction of the fallopian tubes and, as a result, childlessness. If the disease affects the reproductive system, then the initial indicator will be stable aching pains in the lower abdomen and spotting.
- Damage to joints and bones. A similar model of the disease is observed in patients with AIDS. Tuberculosis affects the knee, hip joints and ridge. Inflammation destroys the cartilage tissue and intervertebral discs, as a result of which the patient begins to limp, and a strong curvature is observed in the spine. Over time, with insufficient treatment, the disease leads to absolute immobility. Tuberculosis of the bones is characterized by a rich symptomatology and pain, diagnosing difficulties does not cause.
- Damage to the central nervous system. Tuberculous meningitis is formed either in AIDS patients or in children with a congenital form of pathology. The signs are vivid: headaches, photophobia, impaired coordination, buzz in the ears, pathology of vision, fainting, convulsions, mental disorders and hallucinations. If untreated, the patient quickly dies. Unfortunately, modern medicines cannot save such patients.
- Miliary tuberculosis. If mycobacteria immediately spread after the bloodstream through the body and do not meet a decent rebuff from the immune system, a miliary tuberculosis model develops. It is characterized by the appearance of multiple microspheres, not more than 2 mm in diameter, on the organs. As they grow, difficulties begin in the work of these organs. Suppuration is able to affect the kidneys, liver, spleen. Long-term antibiotic therapy is needed. Initial signs may be the same as with lung damage, only cough is absent.
- Pathology of the digestive tract. One of the reasons why tuberculosis of the stomach and intestines appears is infection with AIDS, but in some cases it is observed in elderly people or in those suffering from a pulmonary form of the disease in the terminal stage. At the same time, the patient has a swelling of the abdomen, aching pains, constipation and diarrhea, blood in the excreted masses, sudden weight loss, stable low-grade fever. Tuberculosis can cause intestinal obstruction and internal bleeding. In addition to drug therapy, surgery may be necessary in this case.
- A disease that affects the skin. This shape is not difficult to recognize: strong nodules appear under the skin of the patient throughout the body, which burst when combed. At the same time, a white curd mass stands out from them. The named pathology is difficult to treat, has a long course and frequent relapses. The question of whether tuberculosis can appear in 2 months in this form should be answered in the affirmative. It all depends on the state of the body of an infected person.
Chemotherapy for tuberculosis
In modern phthisiatric practice, treatment is used with the participation of certain types of drugs, which are used only as prescribed by the doctor and after the reasons for why tuberculosis appears in a particular patient are established.
There are three treatment regimens: three-, four- and five-component:
- In the first case, the patient was prescribed drugs containing streptomycin, isoniazid, as well as para-aminosalicylic acid. This scheme is considered classic.
- But since the bacteria that cause tuberculosis have become more resistant to chemotherapy, a new regimen has appeared that includes drugs containing rifabutin, streptomycin, pyrazinamide, as well as isoniazid. At the moment, it is used in 120 countries.
- Some experts prefer a stronger five-component scheme, including the above substances with the addition of a fluoroquinolone derivative (for example, ciprofloxacin).
Drug therapy
Supportive treatment for tuberculosis includes:
- Immunostimulants. They are prescribed after they establish why the patient has tuberculosis and what affects his development. They help improve the general condition and resistance of the body to the disease.
- Hepatoprotectors. They are needed to protect the liver from the negative effects of drugs, they are prescribed with continuous monitoring of the amount of bilirubin in the blood.
- Sorbents. They are taken during the period of withdrawal of chemotherapy, in the case of very serious third-party results.
- Vitamins of category B, glutamic acid and ATP are necessary to prevent peripheral neuropathy and other unnecessary effects from the central nervous system.
- "Methyluracil", preparations containing aloe, "Glyunat", "Fibs" are prescribed during the treatment of tuberculosis to accelerate cell recovery.
- Glucocorticoids are an extreme measure, since they have a powerful immunosuppressive effect. However, in some cases, they are still prescribed for a short time, in order to suppress inflammation in the severe form of the disease.
Surgical intervention
So, we found out why tuberculosis appears. Diagnosis of the disease in advanced cases requires surgical treatment. It involves several types of surgical intervention:
- Artificial pneumothorax or pneumoperitoneum - squeezing and securing the lung through the introduction of purified oxygen into the pleural cavity. The method is called collapsotherapy. If the organ is fixed, the caverns in it grow together over time, in addition, the allocation of the causative agent of tuberculosis stops, and the patient ceases to infect people.
- Speleotomy or cavernectomy - removal of particularly large caverns that are not amenable to conservative treatment.
- Valvular bronchial blocking - the installation of small valves in the mouth of the bronchi to avoid gluing and normalization of the respiration of the infected.
- Resection - elimination of the irreversibly affected lobe of the lung.
- Lobectomy is the elimination of one part of the organ.
- Bilobectomy is the elimination of one part of both organs.
- Removal of one organ lobe completely - pneumonectomy, pulmonectomy.
Some recipes of traditional medicine will also help in the treatment of the described ailment.
Tuberculosis Garlic
Garlic therapy is an effective way, albeit a long-term one. Its juice and water extract have a pronounced bactericidal property. The menu of tuberculosis patients must certainly include garlic.
Here are some recipes using garlic:
- You need to clean 2 cloves, grind them and pour a glass of water. This drug is infused for a day. It should be drunk in the morning and immediately prepare a serving the next day. Such an infusion is taken for 2-3 months.
- And Chinese traditional medicine advises to consume 30 g of garlic on the first day, and then increase the dose to 90-120 g (about half a glass of garlic) for 1.5 months. Having reached the maximum dose, it is necessary to begin to gradually reduce it over the next 1.5 months to the initial 30 g per day.
- Recipe with honey and horseradish. Thoroughly mix 0.5 kg of horseradish and garlic, finely chopped, 1 kg of butter and 5 kg of honey, insist on a simmering water bath for about a quarter of an hour, stirring occasionally. Take 50 g before meals.
Healing jam
In the treatment of the first signs and symptoms of tuberculosis, such a healing composition will undoubtedly help. Take a liter of unsalted pork melted lard, honey and juice of the agave. Add to this mixture a spoonful of beeswax and pure rosin, which can be purchased at the pharmacy. Add 1.5 packs of cocoa, 250 ml of vodka and in the edge of the knife - mercuric chloride.
Cooking:
- Put pork fat, honey and beeswax on gas in one pan.
- Once everything has dissolved, pour in the agave.
- Boil and gradually add the rest.
- Vodka - at the end.
- When everything is mixed, close the lid and put in the oven for an hour. The result is jam.
It is necessary to take the drug for a tablespoon 3-5 times a day, you can smear it on bread and eat with tea. This jam cleans the lungs well, improvement will come after the first day of use. Also, such a tool will be appropriate if wheezing has appeared after the start of treatment for tuberculosis. After all, all its components quickly fight the disease, and the cough will begin to gradually recede.