Tuberculosis, or TB,
as it’s commonly called, is a dreaded bacterial infection that usually attacks
the lungs and can also spread to other parts of the body, like the brain and
spine. It’s caused by the bacteria, Mycobacterium
tuberculosis and usually spread by inhaling the droplets from the coughs or
sneezes of an infected person. The people who are old or young and ill-developed
and declining immune system are at a greater risk to get this disease. Besides,
the people who are infected with HIV or like smoking very much are also the
target group. TB has been found since ancient ages and used to be the leading
cause of the death of people in the worldwide, which is also one of the top ten
causes of death now. The common symptoms of this disease include coughing,
sometimes with mucus or blood, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and
night sweats.
Due to it’s a
severe infectious disease, its prevention and treatment are very important and
with the development of technology and society, TB has been a preventive and
curable disease though it takes a long time. Then what can be used to treat the
tuberculosis?
Antioxidants have
been studied to confirm whether they can be one of effective things for the
treatment of tuberculosis. Because the oxidative stress, which can be inhibited
via the antioxidants, has been proved to contribute to the development of a
wide range of diseases, including tuberculosis, the antioxidants seem to benefit
TB patients; while for they are compounds that cause chelation of
reactive oxygen species, they are expected to have negative effects on the
treatment of TB. The final result shows that co-administration of antioxidants
and anti-tubercular drugs has the potential to serve benefit to tuberculosis
patients for multiple causes, but the disadvantages will be greater than
advantages for the TB patients if the antioxidants are used blindly.
So the
reasonable usage of antioxidants should be the key to treat the dreaded
infection, TB.
Article by Rajasri
Bhattacharyya and Dibyajyoti Banerjee, from India.
Full access: http://mrw.so/3CQkHZ
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Image by Practical Cures, from
Flickr-cc.
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