Signs Of Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is an infection of the lungs that also affects other parts of the body caused by the bacteria known as tubercle bacilli. People who are exposed to the bacteria may not experience signs and symptoms for quite a while, it can move very slowly to the different parts of the body for many years. But when it reaches the lungs, only then will the patient manifest signs and symptoms of the disease in a span of a month.
Tuberculosis of the lungs may cause symptoms such as decreased appetite, low-grade fever that only occurs in the afternoon, night sweats, constant feeling of tiredness; difficulty of breathing and unexplained weight loss. There is an overall feeling of being sick yet the cardinal sign of the disease is coughing out blood-streaked phlegm.
The signs and symptoms that an individual manifests when he has tuberculosis is usually similar to having a cold, but with common cold, you don’t cough out bloody phlegm. A person feels sick, coughing, and sick in a span of 3 weeks to a month. Low grade fever that occurs only in the afternoon to early evening that subsides late at night for several days is one sure sign of the disease. So better seek consultation before your condition worsens and lead to further complications. Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is the medically correct term for tuberculosis of the lungs.
The disease also exhibits unexplained weight loss since the bacteria causing it feeds on calories plus the patient’s body is trying to compensate for the loss of nutrients that the bacteria consumes. Over time, the body uses up its carbohydrates, protein, and fat reserves. That’s the reason why high risk PTB patients look emaciated or malnourished. PTB is common to third world and poor countries where food is scarce and living conditions are sometimes compromised and exposed to a lot of microorganisms. That and the fact that PTB patients experience loss of appetite. So live a healthy lifestyle and boost your resistance against PTB and other opportunistic infectious diseases.