Symptoms of tuberculosis

Diseases pose a great threat to the human body. Once a disease occurs, it must be treated in time to protect the health of the body. There are many common types of diseases. Different diseases have different symptoms and causes. Treatment also needs to be based on the patient's conditions. This is also very helpful in stabilizing the patient's disease. What are the symptoms of tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis is a disease that is very harmful to the human body. The occurrence of this type of disease has a great impact on the patient's physical and mental health. So what are the symptoms of tuberculosis? There are many symptoms, and the symptoms vary depending on the physical constitution of the human body.

Symptoms of tuberculosis:

1. Symptoms

There is a history of close contact with tuberculosis. The onset can be acute or slow, mostly with low fever (especially in the afternoon), night sweats, fatigue, poor appetite, weight loss, menstrual disorders in women, etc. Respiratory symptoms include cough, sputum, hemoptysis, chest pain, varying degrees of chest tightness or dyspnea.

2. Physical signs

Pulmonary signs vary depending on the severity of the disease and the extent of the lesions. It is difficult to find positive signs in early-stage, small-scale tuberculosis. Those with a wider range of lesions will have dull percussion, increased vocal fremitus, low alveolar breath sounds and moist rales. In late stage tuberculosis, fibrosis develops and local contraction causes pleural collapse and mediastinal displacement. In the early stages of tuberculous pleurisy, there is a pleural friction sound. When a large amount of pleural effusion is formed, the chest wall becomes full, dull to percussion, and the vocal fremitus and breath sounds decrease or disappear.

3. Classification and staging of pulmonary tuberculosis

(1) Pulmonary tuberculosis classification ① Primary pulmonary tuberculosis (Type I) is a primary syndrome with intrapulmonary exudative lesions, lymphangitis and dumbbell-shaped changes of hilar lymphadenopathy, which is more common in children, or only manifested as hilar and mediastinal lymphadenopathy.

② Hematogenous disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis (type II) includes acute miliary tuberculosis and chronic or subacute hematogenous disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis. Acute miliary tuberculosis: scattered miliary-sized shadows in both lungs, which are of the same size and density. The miliary shadows are evenly distributed and may merge with each other as the disease progresses. Chronic or subacute hematogenous disseminated tuberculosis: nodules and linear shadows of different sizes, new and old lesions, uneven distribution, and blurred or sharp edges appear in both lungs.

③ Secondary pulmonary tuberculosis (type III) This type includes various changes in which the lesions are mainly proliferative, infiltrative, caseous or cavitary. Infiltrative pulmonary tuberculosis: X-rays often show cloudy or small-scale infiltrative shadows with blurred edges (exudative) or nodules or cord-like (proliferative) lesions, large areas of consolidation or spherical lesions (caseous - visible cavities) or calcifications; chronic fibrocavitary pulmonary tuberculosis: mostly in the upper part of both lungs, also unilateral, with a large amount of fibrous hyperplasia, cavities formed in them, resembling broken cotton wool, lung tissue contraction, hilum lift, hilar shadow showing "weeping willow-like" changes, pleural hypertrophy, chest collapse, and local compensatory emphysema.

④ Tuberculous pleurisy (Type IV): Pleural effusion on the affected side. A small amount of effusion will result in a shallowing of the costophrenic angle. A moderate amount or more of effusion will result in a dense shadow with an arc-shaped upper edge.

(2) Installment

① Newly discovered active pulmonary tuberculosis in the progressive stage, during follow-up, the number and size of lesions increase, cavities appear or the cavities expand, sputum bacteria examination turns positive, and clinical symptoms such as fever worsen.

② During the follow-up of the improvement period, the lesion absorption improved, the cavity shrank or disappeared, the sputum bacteria turned negative, and the clinical symptoms improved.

③ In the stable period, the cavitation disappears, the lesion is stable, and the sputum bacteria continue to turn negative (once a month) for more than 6 months; or the cavitation still exists, and the sputum bacteria continue to turn negative for more than 1 year.

The above is a detailed introduction to the symptoms of tuberculosis. When treating tuberculosis, it should also be carried out according to the patient's disease symptoms. However, in the process of treating this type of disease, the patient should also make reasonable arrangements in diet and reduce the choice of greasy and spicy foods. This will be of great help to the treatment of the disease.