This World Tuberculosis Day, a rather lean old man had the audience by its ears at the Diabetology Hall in Kilpauk Medical College. “Stop smoking, don't drink alcohol, eat well, exercise regularly and you don't have to worry about anything, even TB,” the 72-year old Veeraiah said.
Experientially this former patient was talking about a well-documented, scientific fact that doctors have been stressing for years now. “If you look at the total picture, the most important contribution to the spread of tuberculosis is the lack of nutrition, with its combined immune deficiency,” says C. N. Deivanayagam, former director, Government Hospital for Thoracic Medicine, Tambaram.
All individuals with severe TB disease were found to be below par with regards to weight, protein and immunity status, at the time of diagnosis, he adds.
Rajan Santhosham, of Santhosam Chest Hospital explains that while TB could affect all organs of the body, except the hair and nail, it is only pulmonary TB (Lung) that can be transmitted. The TB bacillus spreads through the air when someone coughs or spits.
Crowding, in living conditions and in public transport, has therefore been another major causative factor. That improvement in the standards of living is sure to have an impact on the health of people, was only too obvious with the British example. The British had large number of people with TB in the 18-19th centuries, Dr. Deivanayagam explains. By 1904 the number of cases was going down rapidly and by 1941, very few natives had the disease. This was primarily because of improved standards of living – good water supply, improved sanitation among the factors.
C. Chinnaswamy, State TB Officer, says nutrition is what gives one the energy and resistance to fight the infection even if the bacillus enters the body and keeps it from developing into disease. “A protein-rich diet is what we recommend,” he says. Smoking and alcohol consumption (on a regular basis) also enhance one's chances of getting the disease, particularly with smoking where the lungs are already weakened.
