Smoking May Be a Risk Factor for Tuberculosis
Smoking appears to increase the risk of becoming infected with tuberculosis and the risk for the development of active disease upon infection, according to an analysis of previously published research in the February 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. (Arch Intern Med. 2007;167:335-342)
About one-third of the world's population is infected with the bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB), but the organism is usually rendered inactive by the immune system, according to background information in the article. Active tuberculosis developed in approximately 8.8 million individuals in 2003 and is responsible for about 1.7 million deaths worldwide each year. "It has long been suggested that tobacco smoking may affect rates of TB morbidity and mortality," the authors write. "This could be a result of increasing the risk of infection with TB mycobacteria, increasing the rate of active TB disease, or increasing the TB mortality rate; plausible mechanisms exist."
Comments
I totally agree with you, I have a father who died a year ago from the same disease, I hope that people will spread this awareness..
All the best
Posted by: Anton Soeharyo | August 23, 2007 9:25 AM