Tuberculosis Treatments

Tuberculosis was once treated surgically by closing open cavities in the chest to encourage healing. Nowadays tuberculosis can be treated with antibiotics outside of the hospital. Surgery is rare.

Time Frame

• The organisms that cause TB grow and die very slowly, so treatment usually takes between six and nine months.

First Line Therapy

• The standard drugs used in the initial stage of treatment are ethambutol, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, rifampicin and streptomycin.

Second Line Therapy

• Aminoglycosides, polypeptides, flouroquinolones, thioamides, cycloserine and p-aminosalicylic acid are the six second-line drugs used when standard, or first-line, therapy fails. They are considered second line because they may be less effective or more toxic than the first-line drugs.

Steroids

• Corticosteroids such as prednisolone and dexamethasone have proven to be useful in the treatment of tuberculosis meningitis and tuberculosis pericarditis.

Vitamin D

• Vitamin D supplementation is useful in the treatment of tuberculosis, and also enhances immunity, according to the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.