Monday, August 8, 2011

How exactly does tuberculosis kill

How exactly does tuberculosis kill?
I KNOW it destroys tissue causing organ failure, usually in the lungs. So DONT tell me "you die by suffocating" I want to know how having TB bacteria in your cells results in tissue death. What does the bacteria do to kill the cells? Is it simply the inflammatory response killing your own cells? Irv, M. tuberculosis does not produce any toxins
Medicine - 4 Answers
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1 :
The cells reproduce and take over your body, immagrants such as people from india brought it to the uk but only 462 people die from it out of 1,000 we learnt about this is science :D
2 :
Bacteria don't enter cells, - that's viruses. In general: Bacteria kill and eat cells by releasing enzymes that 'digest' the cell and allow the bacteria to absorb the nutrients released. Since those enzymes destroy tissue they are poisons. The higher the number of bacteria living in the body, the greater the concentration of those poisons in the blood. When the body can no longer deal with the poison, (mostly through liver and kidneys), organs begin to fail and the body dies. With T.B., the lung damage also weakens the whole body, and it may well die from inability to oxygenate the blood before the toxicity kills.
3 :
Yeah, the host's inflammatory response has a lot to do with it in addition to the caseating necrosis that occurs at the pulmonary level. Here is a nice paper which discusses it about half way down: http://www.meddean.luc.edu/lumen/MedEd/elective/pulmonary/tb/tb_f.htm
4 :
one thing that was drilled into my head- TB causes a granulomatous inflammation and you are right these granuloms are caused by inflammation process by the activity of macrophages and activated helper T cells. the bacterium causes cell mediated response. there are release of cytokines that destroy the tissue causing caseous necrosis as was mentioned above

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Thursday, August 4, 2011

What are the effects of tuberculosis upon the body, if any

What are the effects of tuberculosis upon the body? (if any)?
im just curious. what are the short term and long term effects of tuberculosis on the body?
Respiratory Diseases - 2 Answers
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1 :
It depends on where the TB bacteria is in the body but usually it grows in the lungs. It causes a bad persistent cough sometimes a person can cough up blood or phlegm from inside the lung. Also it may cause weight loss, fever and night sweats. I guess if its not treated then you could have permanent damage to your lungs or whatever organ that the tb bacteria is growing. In the old days people died because they really didn't know how to treat it like we do now.
2 :
Bizzybee is correct. TB in the lungs can cause scarring which leads to permanent damage. TB can also affect the bones (Pott's Disease

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Monday, August 1, 2011

Can a positive Tuberculosis test result show after the usual 2-3 day timespan

Can a positive Tuberculosis test result show after the usual 2-3 day timespan?
I have never tested positive for a TB test. I had one done a month ago, and I noticed a little bump in the area where I had the test done, but this just showed up now. I am not sure if this is the exact spot where I had the test done, and when I first got it done and read, the test was negative. I just had some redness in the area, but that is not a sign for being positive. I plan on going to the MD tomorrow, but is this common?
Infectious Diseases - 4 Answers
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1 :
A positive TB test is an immune response to the material that was injected. It takes the body 48 hours to produce the appropriate response, which is usually a welt. If you didn't have a reaction within 48-72 hours, you are most likely TB negative. Sometimes the injection itself can cause some bruising/redness which can cause a little lump in time. I would double check with your MD, as TB isn't something to mess around with, but my guess it that you're absolutely fine.
2 :
PPD test is usually read after 48-72 hours. Redness, induration or itchiness may be seen and manifested after several hours. Go to your MD and have the bump seen because it seems to be impossible that such was cause by your TB test.
3 :
TB test should show redness and induration at least 5mm. if positive. This is read after 48 to 72 hours. Any sign after 72 hours is not significant.
4 :
Yes, some people even get a little bump in the area along with the redness. However, that outcome doesn't necessarily mean that it's a positive PPD.. physicians usually go by measurements of the bump to determine the pos/negativity of the skin test

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