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At one time a dread killer affecting most (80%) of the population, tuberculosis is thankfully less common, at least in the United States. Because of its profound influence on body metabolism, with a general wasting of flesh and muscles in the advanced states, this disease was early called consumption. In spite of modern public health control with its improved sanitation, quarantine, x-ray screening, skin testing, and drug therapy, tuberculosis is still a problem in the United States and is a leading cause of death worldwide. Recent reports of resistant strains have caused renewed public health concern, especially in the ghettos and prisons of large cities.

The tuberculin skin test has become a very valuable screening test, demonstrating clear immune response to the tubercle bacillus after contact by a person. This does not imply that the condition is active. Many childhood infections heal with sufficient antibodies produced to prevent reinfection throughout the lifetime.

Circumstances, however, that cause an individual to lose the natural immune resistance may allow a tuberculosis carrier to become reinfected and contagious. Such habits as tobacco smoking and the occupational exposure to coal dust and other industrial pollutants produce a condition of lowered resistance in the lungs that makes active tuberculosis more likely. Crowded living conditions may coexist with an infected carrier in the family. Exposure to contaminated air, as in hospitals, tuberculosis treatment centers, or large clinics in the underdeveloped nations where infected patients are frequently seen, carries with it a higher risk of contact and exposure.

The symptoms of tuberculosis are multiple. Most infections begin silently with a slight cough or fever, resembling a cold or flu-like illness. The presence of tuberculosis in the lungs, however, nearly always produces a cough. At time the erosion into a blood vessel may produce hemoptysis, the coughing of blood-streaked material, or actual pulmonary hemorrhage. Lung abscesses can develop, while the residual germs multiply slowly in these pockets. Mucus is eliminated by coughing, thus cleansing the lungs of germs.

Often the sputum is swallowed. Since tuberculous germs are quite resistant to acid, these may then pass into the intestinal tract and create infection there. Formerly, in the United States a large amount of tuberculosis involved the small intestine, being acquired through the infection of contaminated milk. Modern pasteurization has eliminated most of this risk, but some intestinal tuberculosis is still seen. The organism can also involve the lymphatic organs or the bones. In less common cases nearly every vital organ can be infected. Meningitis, kidney involvement, and draining sinuses from the skin can all be seen in advanced TB.

It is important to recognize this illness as early as possible, since it is contagious. The use of prolonged moist heat over the lungs can aggravate tuberculosis. Cold compresses, on the other hand, can be much more helpful. Strict rest is necessary, while the body heals this invader. No simple measure is more helpful in the treatment of tuberculosis than the liberal presence of sunlight. The tuberculosis germs are killed on contact with the ultraviolet rays. Even in widespread infections involving the bone, exposure to sunlight has been helpful in effecting a cure.

Fresh air, proper diet, and public control measures of quarantine can also aid in the eradication of this difficult germ. Many antituberculosis drugs are being used by health authorities. They certainly arrest the multiplication of germs so that recovery can be made possible. As with all drugs, these too have side effects, many of them serious. So the further exploration of natural approaches will be utilized to the utmost by those maximally interested in promoting comprehensive health.

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