[MERGED] Tuberculosis

[smart_594_9894]

thanks for the enlightenment... at least nabawasan ang worries ko by the way, malakas siayng kumain, siguro dahil sa vitamin supplements na tini-take niya... Pero, bumabagksak pa rin ang katawan niya

[GreekGod]

Thanks

[cho chang]

after x-ray and ct-scan, ndi pa ncconfirm ng doctors kung ano **** yung cyst like sa lungs ng bro ko... ryt now pinaiinom siya ng med for TB.. chances are daw kc is TB and cancer, we're nly ruling out cancer kc bata pa siya.. pero he was smoking..

[eyedoc]

Better to have TB than cancer. TB is very much curable, as long as you stick to the prescribed anti-Koch's regimen STRICTLY. Lung cancer is much, much harder to treat.

[GeeKGuRL]

nagka-tb kasi ako b4........alam ko na curable nga...but then lately i started smoking again....pero mga 2 sticks lang....nde naman sya daily....is der a possibility na magka-TB ulit ako or mas worst pa yung mangyari?????magle-lead kaya sa cancer????

[eyedoc]

TB is an slow infection by an organism called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is not caused by smoking.

Smoking, however, exposes the lungs to carcinogens like nicotine. There is a direct correlation in the increase of cases of lung cancer to the increase in the incidence of smoking.

Also, smokers get COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) the spectrum of which ranges from emphysema ("blue bloaters") and chronic bronchitis ("pink puffers"). So if you enjoy gasping for breath and coughing up large amounts of sputum every so often, go ahead and light up.

Morever, lung cancer is not the only cancer which is "uncovered" by smoking. Other cancers (like breast, skin, prostatic...name it!) also increase in likelihood if you are a smoker. In the eyes (humor me, I'm an ophtha), smoking also increases the chance of you getting age-related macular degeneration which is a blinding disease and for which there is still no universal definitive cure.

The effect of smoking does not affect only the "active smoker" but also the "passive smokers", or what we call "second hand smoking".

Doc Ira, did I miss anything?

[PearlM]

Originally posted by cho chang
after x-ray and ct-scan, ndi pa ncconfirm ng doctors kung ano **** yung cyst like sa lungs ng bro ko... ryt now pinaiinom siya ng med for TB.. chances are daw kc is TB and cancer, we're nly ruling out cancer kc bata pa siya.. pero he was smoking..

hi....i thought you were my daughter posting about his brother's case, 'till i came to the line "he was smoking". oh well, i don't think my son smokes....

anyways, my 14y/o son is being treated for TB just like your brother. he got sick while we were visiting the U.S. last December. people there freaked out kasi takot na takot sila sa TB. his xray and CT-scan showed massive lung infection....pati na spleen. the attending physician, a pedia-infectious disease specialist said it was indeed TB. but some pulmo doctors were not 100% convinced that it was TB. they wanted to rule out lymphoma coz xray showed swollen lymph nodes. his smears came out negative kasi he wasn't coughing much anymore when he was admitted. they did brochial washing and we're still awaiting for the result of that which could take months...we were told.

our PPDs came out positive (hubby, my 2 other kids and myself), though our chest xrays were negative. we're now taking medication for protection against the disease. i suggest you have a skin test done, too for your peace of mind.

my son is now taking 6 drugs. we want him off some of the medicines sana coz we were told they're very toxic to the liver...plus other side effects on his vision and auditory function. and one of the medicines is not available here.

we're scouting for a good lung specialist for my son. to the doctors here....who is the best pedia-pulmo in town?

[EverAfter]

Originally posted by PearlM


we're scouting for a good lung specialist for my son. to the doctors here....who is the best pedia-pulmo in town?

Dr. Campomanes from UST Hospital is good.

[cho chang]

hello!! passive smokers *** 4 more than 3 years... nun lumipat lang *** ng house ntigil., yun ***** n bcoz of brkda *** nconvince bro ko na magsmoke...

katabi ko ** kc bro ko matulog... just this week lang ako lumipat ng room kc 'away' ***, but tumatabi pa rin sya **** eh dun sa isang room... mahahawa ng ba ako ng ganun?? actually parang normal lang *** sa hse... ayaw ko naman siyang itreat ng may nakakahawang sakit.. na dapat layuan.. since hindi pa rin ** naman sure..

ndi ko pa ** nasasabi sa mom ko...

halos pareho kc *** ng nirreklamo before pa sya nagvvomit ng blood... msakit yung chest.. parang hirap ba huminga... i tried smoking before out of curiosity ngayon ndi na... wag lang akong topakin.. i am thinking na bka nkaiwas lang me... o nauna lang sya sakin...

oo nga eh, better to have TB than cancer... lagi ko kcng naaassociate ang death sa cancer...

[eyedoc]

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is transmitted through the air. It is still endemic in the Philippines so most of us would have been exposed at one time or another, even if we don't manifest the disease.

If you think you're having some symptoms of lung problems, better have yourself checked by a pulmunologist, too.

[zwitterion]

My fiance is suspected to have that too. (Well, I hoped really was TB, than tumor) I was really desperate weeks before since it was found that he had a mass in the para-aortal part of his chest. His CT scan revealed na it was an irregular mass, consistent daw with Koch's etiology (something we couldn't understand).

He hasn't been coughing out blood pa naman, but he has fevers almost every night, and those are accompanied by tolerable chest pains.

He's been advised to be a "good".. no smoking, no inom, no puyat. He used to stay up til 4 AM, and now he sleeps na at 1. (Good sign!)

It's not really a problem for me, but I was just wondering how probable am I likely to get infected too. I mean, I don't think anything's going to change between us, activity wise.

But what I do is toughen up my resistance level by eating well. (Though sometimes, I don't get to).

[batang uliran]

zwitterion:

Did your fiance's physicians do anything to verify if he indeed has pulmonary TB? This is done by doing AFB stains and cultures of the sputum. You also did not mention if he has been started on an anti-TB regimen.

You are at high risk for infection given your exposure to him. I suggest you get tested as well.

[zwitterion]

No he hasn't been tested for verification, but yes, he's been taking anti-TB medication for almost a week now. He's been taking quite a strong dose... 5 tablets per day. (I think it's the isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide one - colored red)

He hasn't been coughing much these days but his colds are bad.. Where can we get the sputum tested? I don't think there is one in the clinic we've been going to... and our doctor didn't advise us to get the test (wonder why..)

He just told us to see him regularly.

[batang uliran]

The sputum stains/cultures may not be helpful at this time because he has been started on antibiotics and a negative test will not necessarily mean that he has no infection; it may simply indicate his quick response to therapy.

I can not speak for your doctor but I order AFB stains and cultures of the sputum as a matter of routine. After all, therapy is given for at least 6 months and the medications are not without side-effects. It is always good to be backed by specific identification of the infecting organism.

I urge you to get a PPD or Mantoux test because it sounds like you were and still are a close household contact of an infected individual. The test entails injecting a tuberculin derivative under the skin and monitoring for a positive reaction within 48-72 hours of the test.

[zwitterion]

I agree... The diagnosis may have been a little hasty. He concluded it to be tuberculosis soon after he got the CT scan results. He said that if the results are not better in 6 months, he'll be advising a fine needle CT-guided biopsy. [And that'll be scary!]

By the way, what's AFB? We'll talk it out with the doctor in our next visit. And also, my fiance's only 20 so the doctor counted out tumor (or anything related to cancer) as a possibility. (Though I think it may still be likely since his family has a "relatively rich" history of that )

ANd he still gets the fevers and chest pains. I was thinking they are side-effects of the therapy.

And where can I get the PPD or Mantoux test? Do all hospitals have it?


* sigh *

[zwitterion]

He's also been asking how come he's not allowed to drink alcohol. I couldn't give him the reason why. Could you help me out?

He says alcohol doesn't harm the health as much as smoking and sleeping late obviously does. Besides, he drinks only a little sip more than tolerable.

[batang uliran]

AFB=acid fast bacilli

Yes, hospitals have it. It may even be available in your doctor's office.

I don't think there is a direct link between pulmonary TB and alcohol. But I disagree with your fiance---alcoholism is harmful to health.

[PearlM]

zwitterion:

everyone in my family is on TB medication right now. my son was diagnosed to have TB a few months ago. the rest of the family had positive PPDs. we were told by the doctors to refrain from drinking alcohol while we're taking the medicine (isoniazid). they said that TB meds combined with alcohol will have some very harmful side effects on the liver. tama ba doc?

[batang uliran]

Side effects from the TB meds, even without alcohol, include liver toxicity or drug-induced hepatitis. Drinking alcohol would definitely not help the situation.

[crum]

did you use your thumbs to type kid?



[Watch your language, crum. What you typed was uncalled for. -Ira]