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Pain Relief Available for Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, otherwise known as TB, is an infection that primarily affects the lungs. According to the Mayo Clinic, TB kills an average of 2 million people a year. And because of HIV/AIDS and the complications associated with strains of the TB infection that are resistant to drugs, TB is on the rise as a cause of death. Active TB can cause severe chest and back pain, but if you treat the infection, you treat the pain.

  1. Isoniazid

    • Isoniazid is generally the first drug doctors prescribe to help treat the pain and infection associated with TB. Whether you have latent TB, meaning that TB is in your body but not causing any pain, or active TB, where the infection is causing pain, the use of Isoniazid is vital. Most doctors will prescribe the drug for nine months just to make sure that the infection and bacteria that cause TB are taken care of.

    D-Cycloserine

    • D-Cycloserine has been used in the treatment of Tuberculosis for many years. A study conducted by doctors at the Department of Physiology at Northwestern University Medical School found that D-Cycloserine helps to block pain receptors in the brains of rats. Pain causes fear receptors in our brain to kick in. If these fear receptors are blocked, the body begins to act normally in neurological terms, lessening certain aspects of the pain.

    Priftin

    • Priftin is a drug that works on the pulmonary conditions inherent with Tuberculosis. Commonly prescribed with other drugs such Isoniazid, Rifadin and Myambutol, Priftin alleviates pain simply by clearing infection from the pulmonary area, which includes the heart, lungs and chest.

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