how is tuberculosis treated?

Approximately 3 million people die each year as a result of tuberculosis. It is twice as much as the number of people dying of AIDS and malaria. Active and latent tuberculosis must be treated.
The symptoms of the disease are treated by antitussives - medicines that suppress the tendency to cough.
To avoid the development of a resistant microbe, a combination of the following medicines is prescribed:  

• Rifampin

• Isoniazid
• Pyrazinamide
• Ethambutol

The goal of treating someone with tuberculosis is to:

• Heal the infected person;
• Prevent repetition of the disease or death;
• Eliminate the transfer of TBC to other persons.

The treatment has several stages, including taking a combination of three or more drugs. In the first stage, the infected person is hospitalized for at least two months. After these months the patient goes home and continues taking medicines for the next four months. They have to wear a surgical mask to prevent them from spreading the virus any further. The treatment in total takes a minimum of six months.

Increasing resistance to antibiotics is the most problematic issue of the TBC treatment. Antibiotics that are capable of treating the disease are used against:

• Actively growing bacteria in well oxygenated tissues;
• Slowly growing or broken bacteria in the fields of TBC lesions. Lesions are changes in lung tissue.
• Bacteria surviving in areas with low oxygen content, in areas of inflammation and in macrophages (white blood cells).
• Bacteria surviving in areas without oxygen

The combination of antibiotics must be deduced from a standardized protocol. Different types of antibiotics that are used are bactericides and bacteriostatics.
Bactericides kill the bacteria, even in the progress of division.  For this they mostly use rifampin and streptomycin.
Bacteriostatics such as ethambutol, limit the reproduction of bacteria, but do not kill them.

The discovery in 1928 of penicillin, the first antibiotic, stimulated a search for other new antibiotics. Soon scientists in the USA discovered streptomycin which promised to provide an effective treatment for TB.
Not many patients could be treated and it was important to find out how effective the new drug could actually be. So Austin Bradford Hill, a distinguished statistician, was brought in to design a randomised clinical trial. One hundred and seven patients were monitored in hospitals in London, Wales, Scotland and Yorkshire. Streptomycin was given to 55 patients and the other 52 received the only other available treatment, bed rest.
A particular patient's treatment was decided at random by the equivalent of tossing a coin. At the end of 6 months, 14 patients given bed rest had died and four had shown a considerable improvement. Of those given streptomycin only four had died and 28 were very much better. For a while streptomycin was widely used in the treatment of tuberculosis, but it has harmful side effects so it has been superseded by new antibiotics. The drug can affect the nerves from the ears to the brain leading to disturbed hearing, possible deafness and problems with balance.

The recent treatment may also give rise to very strong side effects  -  someone could become deaf, blind, and organs could become (permanently) damaged. The first side effects of using  these medicines are vomiting or having swollen hands, legs or throat. This is why more effective treatments are desperately needed, and they are still researching different ways of treating tuberculosis.

 Home remedies against TB.
These natural, basic products can function as medicines to help with the treatment of tuberculosis or for their preventive and healthy qualities.

• Custard apple is said to have renovating properties.
• Gooseberries boost the body’s capacity to function properly and give a lot of energy.
• Bananas can help boost your immune system and help against the coughing.
• Drumstick leaves have anti-inflammatory (inhibiting certain signs of inflammation) and antibacterial properties.
• Gourd boosts the body’s immune system, which helps the body fight off the germs and other symptoms.
• Mint helps in the healing of damaged tissue in the lungs and it helps to reduce the side effects caused by the drugs.
• Celery leaves do not really help in the treatment, but eating celery leaves regularly can help prevent the TB disease by keeping you healthy.
• Black pepper helps to relieve the chest pain caused by tuberculosis because it cleanses the lungs and reduces mucus production.
• Honey is active against a wide variety of microorganisms.
• Milk is known as a source of calcium, and it is said to have enough calcium to treat tuberculosis.
• Cardamom eases a sore throat and can ease clogging.
• Green tea contains a lot of antioxidants and the polyphenol in the green tea helps to fight the bacteria that cause tuberculosis.

written by: Marleen de jonge and Alica Holla