Is the disease with symptoms of chest tightness, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, and palpitations tuberculosis?

Written by Xie Zhi Hong
Cardiology
Updated on August 31, 2024
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Tuberculosis can cause symptoms such as fever, night sweats, cough, and hemoptysis, and in severe cases, it can lead to chest tightness, shortness of breath, and palpitations. However, if a patient experiences shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, and palpitations without symptoms like fever, hemoptysis, or night sweats, it is advisable to consider heart disease or chronic lung disease, or pneumonia leading to cardiopulmonary insufficiency. To rule out these conditions, examinations such as a chest CT and cardiac echocardiography should be conducted. Patients experiencing chest tightness and difficulty breathing are advised to seek medical attention at a hospital as soon as possible.

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Written by Han Shun Li
Pulmonology
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Is pulmonary tuberculosis contagious?

The source of transmission for tuberculosis mainly comes from patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis, also known as bacterium-shedding patients. This is determined when tuberculosis bacteria are found in the patient's sputum. Tuberculous pleurisy, commonly referred to as tuberculous pleurisy, is not contagious. This is because the pleural effusion is confined within the pleural cavity, isolated from the external environment, and the chances of detecting tuberculosis bacteria in the pleural fluid are very low. Therefore, it is generally not contagious and there is no need for concern. The treatment duration for tuberculous pleurisy is longer than that for pulmonary tuberculosis, typically lasting 9 to 12 months. It is important to follow medical advice and complete the course of anti-tuberculosis treatment.

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Written by An Yong Peng
Pulmonology
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Does increased lung markings indicate tuberculosis?

Increased pulmonary markings are not an exclusive indicator of tuberculosis. The increase in pulmonary markings could be a sign of acute bronchitis or chronic pulmonary congestion. Additionally, although patients with bronchiectasis often show characteristics in a chest CT, it might only appear as increased pulmonary markings in a chest X-ray. Tuberculosis can present in various forms of lesions, often coexisting in multiple forms. Such forms may include infiltrative lesions, fibrous strip-like lesions, nodular lesions, or even lesions with calcification. For diagnosing tuberculosis, relying solely on chest X-rays or CT scans is sometimes insufficient. Further confirmation often requires additional tests such as sputum acid-fast staining and bronchoscopy.

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Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
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The difference between sarcoidosis and tuberculosis

Sarcoidosis and tuberculosis, although only differing by one character in Chinese, are completely different diseases. Sarcoidosis and tuberculosis share some similarities, such as their pathological changes often involving granulomas. However, in tuberculosis, the granulomas are typically caseating, while in sarcoidosis, they are non-caseating. Tuberculosis shows characteristic features under pathological examination, whereas the diagnosis of sarcoidosis is one of exclusion, requiring the ruling out of other various granulomatous diseases. Secondly, their causes are also different; tuberculosis has a very clear cause, being an infectious disease caused by the tuberculosis bacterium. Meanwhile, the cause of sarcoidosis has not been identified clearly and may be related to a variety of factors including genetics, environment, and chemicals, among others. Additionally, the clinical manifestations of both sarcoidosis and tuberculosis are not specific, and both diseases can present symptoms like coughing, expectoration, chest pain, hemoptysis, low or high fever, weight loss, and night sweats. Thus, it is quite difficult to differentiate between sarcoidosis and tuberculosis based on symptoms alone. Moreover, their treatments differ; sarcoidosis is mainly treated with corticosteroids, while the primary treatment for tuberculosis involves anti-tuberculosis therapy.

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Written by Xiong Hong Hai
Infectious Disease
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Is tuberculosis infectious?

Only patients whose active phlegm contains tuberculosis bacteria are infectious. Many cases of tuberculosis are actually non-contagious. For example, extrapulmonary tuberculosis, such as lymph node tuberculosis, tuberculous pleurisy, and tuberculous meningitis, are not contagious. Pulmonary tuberculosis patients, whose phlegm contains tuberculosis bacteria, are contagious and need appropriate respiratory isolation and should begin anti-tuberculosis treatment as soon as possible. Through anti-tuberculosis treatment, contagious pulmonary tuberculosis can become non-contagious.

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Written by Xiong Hong Hai
Infectious Disease
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What are some common early symptoms of tuberculosis?

Patients with tuberculosis tend to exhibit symptoms such as cough, expectoration, low-grade fever, night sweats, afternoon feverishness, and blood in sputum in the early stages. Systemic symptoms of tuberculosis include afternoon feverishness, which refers to the body temperature starting to rise in the afternoon and returning to normal by early morning. Night sweats refer to sweating profusely during sleep, which stops upon waking. These tuberculosis-related symptoms are commonly seen in the early stages of the disease.