TREATMENT

Treatment for TB depends on the whether the disease is active or latent. For inactive TB, an antibiotic called isoniazid (INH) is prescribed for six to twelve months.

Active TB is treated with INH as well as drugs such as rifampin, ethambutol and pyrazinamide. It is also not uncommon for TB patients to receive streptomycin if the disease is extensive. Drug therapies for TB may last many months or even years.

If a patient has a drug-resistant strain of TB, several drugs in addition to the main four are usually required. In addition, threatment is generally much longer and can require surgery to remove damaged lung tissue.

Today, doctors treat most people with TB outside the hospital. Gone are the days of going to the mountains for long periods of bed rest. Doctors seldom use surgery.
Doctors will prescribe several special medications that one must take for six to nine months.
Standard therapy for active TB consists of a six-month regimen:

-two months with Rifater (isoniazid, rifampin, and pyrazinamide)

-four months of isoniazid and rifampin (Rifamate, Rimactane)

-ethambutol (Myambutol) or streptomycin is added until your drug sensitivity is known (from the results of bacterial cultures)

Rifater is given to patients for the first few months of treatment. The above picture shows us the chemical structure of Rifater. Research has also shown that this medication can cause

severe liver problems.

-The picture on the left shows how both isoniazid and rifampin work together to get rid of the mycobacterium tuberculosis.

-Both are antibiotics that help to prevent the tuberculous bacteria from spreading in the body.

This is the chemical structure of ethambutol.
It is used as antibiotic to prevent the growth of tuberculous bacteria.

Ethambutol, as mentioned earlier, is also used in combination with the other current medication to identify one's drug sensitivity.

Finally, surgical methods are also used to help cure tuberculosis. However, it is not common today as there is a variety of medication that can help to prevent and/or cure tuberculosis.

If needed, surgery is used to:

-Repair lung damage, such as serious bleeding that cannot be stopped any other way, or repeated lung infections other than TB.

-Remove a pocket of bacteria that cannot be killed with long-term medicine treatment.