Tuberculosis, when left untreated, is a deadly disease that is the seventh leading cause of death in the world today. Medications are the cornerstone of treatment for this disease. However, the use of medications takes much longer than treating other types of bacterial infections. Normally, an individual may take antibiotics for seven to 14 days depending upon the bacteria being treated. In the case of individuals with tuberculosis, they will take antibiotics for at least six to nine months to totally destroy the activity of the tuberculosis bacteria in their body.
The exact drugs and length of treatment prescribed for an individual case of tuberculosis will be developed based on the individual\’s age, overall health, possible drug resistance of the bacteria, the form of tuberculosis (latent or active) and the location in the body. Individuals who suffer from latent tuberculosis located only in the lungs will be treated differently than those who have tuberculosis meningitis, an infection of the meninges or covering of the brain and spinal cord.
When tests indicate that your tuberculosis infection is not active the doctor may recommend preventative drug therapy to destroy the bacteria which can become active in the future. The most common form of treatment is a daily or twice a week dose of isoniazid. For the treatment to be completely effective, and not cause another drug-resistant strain of the bacteria, the medication should be taken for nine months. Long-term side effects of this medication can be life-threatening liver disease. For this reason the physician will monitor the patient very closely, taking blood work to monitor liver function and recommending that the patient avoid Tylenol and alcohol, both of which are metabolize through the liver.
If an individual has been diagnosed with active tuberculosis the physician will recommend for medications taken simultaneously. These medications are isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol and pyrazinamide. The regimen can change if further testing show that these drugs proved to be ineffective because the bacteria being carried is drug-resistant. Even if this is the case, the individual will continue to take several medications.
Depending upon the severity of the disease, whether the infection is drug-resistant and the organs which are affected, one or two of the four drugs can be stopped after two to three months. Also, depending upon these same factors, your physician may hospitalize you for the first two weeks of therapy or until tests show that you are no longer contagious.
In some cases the drugs have been combined into a single tablet which makes the treatment less complicated, while ensuring that the individual gets all the drugs needed to completely destroy the tuberculosis bacteria.
Side effects of the drugs used to treat tuberculosis are not common. However, when they do occur, they can\’t be serious. All of the medications are metabolized through the liver and, because of the dosages and length of time being taken, can be highly toxic. When taking medications for tuberculosis individuals should report side effects to their physicians which include nausea or vomiting, loss of appetite, a yellow color to the skin, dark urine, a fever that last three or more days and has no obvious cause, tender or soreness in the stomach and blurred vision or colorblindness.
In a study done at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Care Center scientists have described a new potential treatment for individuals who suffer from latent form of tuberculosis. Because this form shows no symptoms, is not contagious and is often walled off by the body it poses a big challenge to controlling the disease.
Currently, when an individual is diagnosed with latent tuberculosis they are treated for nine months with a daily dose of isoniazid. Although effective it has major side effects on the liver. New research has shown that rifampin taken for only four months will show less liver damage and effectively treats the latent form of tuberculosis.
(1) McGill: New Treatment Option for Latent Tuberculosis
RESOURCES
Center for Disease Control and prevention: TB Treatment
MayoClinic: Tuberculosis Treatment and Drugs
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease: Tuberculosis Treatment
Global Tuberculosis Institute: Treatment of Tuberculosis Infection and Disease