What is the most important symptom of pulmonary tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis in medicine means an infectious disease that is caused by the microbacteria of tuberculosis ( Koch's stick ). It was Robert Koch in the distant 1882 discovered the causative agent of this disease. This disease causes significant economic damage to the population of our planet every year. On the territory of our country, the disease is diagnosed annually in 80 people out of 100 thousand. In this article, we will describe in more detail about this disease, and also consider which symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis occur first.

general information

If you believe the experts, the main way to transmit the pathogen to date - airborne. So, in a normal conversation or coughing, from the respiratory tract of a sick person, mucus and saliva and the pathogen are released into the external environment. Then the rod penetrates into the mucous membranes of a healthy person or is simply swallowed. At first, the immune system practically does not react to new microorganisms, allowing free reproduction. So, the causative agents of the disease calmly "conquer" the human body.

Pulmonary tuberculosis. Symptoms

Photos of patients prove that the characteristic signs of this ailment, to Unfortunately, no. Most often, patients start complaining of shortness of breath, coughing and hemoptysis.

1. Cough is due to pneumonia and subsequent involvement of lymph nodes in this process.
2. Hemoptysis is a rare symptom of pulmonary tuberculosis . The thing is that it appears only when the forms of this illness are neglected.
3. Shortness of breath is another symptom of pulmonary tuberculosis. It occurs quite often and is a consequence of a lack of oxygen. In some cases, shortness of breath can lead to an almost complete restriction of the patient's physical activity.
4. The so-called syndrome of intoxication is a very important symptom of pulmonary tuberculosis. It develops due to the absorption into the blood of certain products of tissue decay and subsequent inflammation. Specialists distinguish the following characteristic signs of intoxication:

• Consistent weight loss;
• drowsiness;
• Pallor of the skin;
• Almost complete lack of appetite;
• Sweating at night.

What should be the treatment?

After diagnosis of the disease, you can proceed to direct therapy. As a rule, treatment is carried out in specialized anti-TB dispensaries. It consists most often of four conventional parts. First of all antibacterial preparations (4-5 names simultaneously) are used. The second component of therapy is surgical intervention. It is possible only for the so-called destructive forms of the disease, as well as for complications in the form of numerous bleedings or pneumothorax. The third component is the fight against intoxication (the symptom of pulmonary tuberculosis described above). For these purposes, as a rule, vitamins, sorbents and hepatoprotectors are prescribed. The fourth component is the fight against the existing respiratory insufficiency. The thing is that it is hypoxia that often complicates the course of the disease itself and, accordingly, treatment. To combat this problem, oxygen therapy is widely used.