Tobacco is what? Symptoms and treatment of the disease

Consumption is an obsolete name for the world-famous terrible tuberculosis. This is a chronic infection caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Respiratory organs suffer from the defeat of tuberculous mycobacteria in the majority of cases, but tuberculosis of the eyes, joints and bones, peripheral lymph nodes and genitourinary organs occurs in medical practice.

Statistical data

The disease of consumption was widespread in tsarist Russia. Most often, the poorest peasants suffered from the disease, which were subjected to cruel exploitation day after day. A sharp rise in mortality from this disease occurred in the XVIII-XIX century. The swift consumption in the 19th century became the real scourge of the country, which annually takes millions of lives. At that time, every 7th resident of Europe was dying from this disease.

In the middle of the 20th century, consumption continued to be a common disease in all countries of the world. Currently, according to the World Health Organization, there are approximately 20 million people on the planet who are consumptive, and 7 million of them have a contagious form of the disease. Every year more than 1 million people die from consumption, and about 3.5 million people become ill with it.

A bit of history

People in the distant past thought that consumption was a contagious disease, since those who looked after the sick soon began to hurt themselves. Various assumptions were made about the nature of this ailment, but they were all untenable.

Significant progress in understanding the nature of the disease was achieved in the 19th century. A huge role in this played such world-famous scientists as Jean-Antoine Vilmie, Renee-Theophile Lannek and Robert Koch. So, Lannack created an anatomical-clinical method, involving the use of the stethoscope he invented. Wilman managed to prove that consumption is contagious. And in 1882, Kokh was discovered mycobacterium tuberculosis, later named after him. Therefore, in modern ways, consumption is tuberculosis.

For 8 years after the discovery of the bacillus, Koch conducted experiments on immunology on tuberculosis cultures. The results obtained made a huge contribution not only to treatment, but also to the prevention of the disease.

Features of the disease

The causative agent of consumption is Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which for a long time (up to six months) can maintain its viability and rapidly develop resistance to various drugs.

The source of the infection is the human carrier of tuberculosis. As a rule, the disease is transmitted by airborne droplets, but it is likely that tuberculosis infection penetrates through the intestine if meat or milk from sick animals is consumed.

In the tissues where the pathogen has settled, foci of inflammation form which are subject to caseous necrosis and further meltdown due to exposure to bacterial toxins. With a high degree of resistance to immunity, these foci are able to calcify. Under adverse conditions, the creation of a cavity-cavity necrosis by a foci is observed.

Tobacco: symptoms

Consumption may be manifested by various symptoms, including the following:

• Increased temperature . A rise in body temperature is usually tolerated by the patient rather easily and is often practically not felt. Usually during the day, the temperature remains normal, and by the evening, for a short time, there is an increase of 1 or 2 degrees, and such jumps are unstable and may occur a couple of times a week.
• Increased sweating . Patients with tuberculosis in the early stages of the disease often complain of excessive sweating on the chest and head. A symptom of a "wet pillow" or severe sweating can be observed with miliary tuberculosis, caseous pneumonia and other severe forms of consumption.
• Shortness of breath . Lungs are not able to provide the body with the necessary amount of oxygen, and therefore during even a slight physical exertion, shortness of breath occurs.
• Cough . In the early stages of the disease, cough as such may be absent, the patients only occasionally notice a cough that occurs from time to time. With the progression of tuberculosis, cough is worse and can be both unproductive (dry) and productive (with sputum secretion). Dry cough is characteristic for the initial period of the development of the disease, while progressive tuberculosis is accompanied by sputum coughing.
• Hemoplegia . Usually this symptom is observed with cirrhotic, fibrous-cavernous infiltrative pulmonary tuberculosis . As a rule, hemoptysis gradually ceases, but after the allocation of fresh blood, the patient continues to cough up dark clots for several days.
• Pain in the chest . Most often they are noted during coughing. This suggests that apart from the lungs, the destructive process affected the pleural sheets.

Time of onset of symptoms

Consumption is a disease that can not be felt for a long time. The body of most infected people is able to fight the pathogen, while preventing its growth. However, the infection does not leave the body, but simply goes into an inactive form. The person will not have symptoms of the disease, moreover, consumption may not develop at all. But as soon as immunity weakens, the ailment can be transformed into an active form. In this case, the symptoms of the disease can make themselves felt in months, and even years after infection.

Features of treatment

Consumption is a disease requiring complex treatment, including the use of antibacterial drugs and vitamin therapy. For the recovery of the patient requires the simultaneous administration of several anti-TB drugs, since only the general effect of several drugs can destroy Koch's rods. The main method of combating tuberculosis is polycomponent anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy. In the late stages of the disease, surgical intervention is recommended - resection of the affected part of the lung.

In modern times, consumption is a curable disease. The main thing at the same time is to remember that the earlier this illness was revealed, the easier it will be to get rid of it.