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Treatment and Symptoms of Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis may not show any visible symptoms until it is quite advanced. Even when symptoms are visible they can often be mistaken as being caused by another disease, because loss of weight, poor appetite, loss of energy, a productive cough, fever, and night sweats can be symptomatic of a wide variety of other disorders. Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria.
Typical symptoms of the disease include persistent or chronic cough with sputum production. If well advanced there will be a presence of blood in the sputum. Fatigue, lack of appetite, weight loss, fever and night sweats are the common symptoms. Tuberculosis must always be considered prior to an accurate diagnosis as it can mimic a wide variety of diseases.
Treatment of the disease involves the administration of three to four different types of antibiotics that are given in a combination for a period spanning over six or nine months.
The possibility of drug resistance developing is very real which is why multiple medications are prescribed to avoid treatment failure and the possibility of multiple drug resistant organisms. If a treatment is failing single medications should never be added on. Adherence to treatment should be religious and as guided by the doctor as most cases of treatment failure stem from non compliance.
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