Surviving Pulmonary Tuberculosis: Navigating the Long Term Respiratory Effects

Abstract

Tuberculosis is a transmissible disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is a cause of significant morbidity and mortality all over the world. Tuberculosis has a number of risk factors, such as living in a developing country, poor ventilation, smoking, male sex, etc., which not only increase the chance of infection but may be independent factors for impairment in pulmonary function as well. In this review article, we have compiled several studies to learn how tuberculosis causes impaired lung function and further explored the long-term effects of tuberculosis on the same. We studied tuberculosis's effect on the lungs even after appropriate treatment and its relationship with obstructive and restrictive lung disorders. A significant relationship exists between chronic respiratory disorders and tuberculosis even after treatment; hence, we believe prevention is far superior to cure.

The obstructive phenotype of chronic posttuberculosis disease - is there a role for the occupational exposure?

“…Obstructive phenotype of PTLD is rarely pure in treated TB patients, because TB is a disease of all anatomical structures of the lung and lung injury is associated not only with progressive tissue damage, granuloma formation, necrosis, cavitation, but also with excessive inflammation, abnormal tissue repair and lung fibrosis [15]. The severity of TB disease is a risk factor for developing a chronic obstructive lung disorder as COPD and or bronchiectasis.…”