The History of Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a common infectious disease. While tuberculosis usually affects the lungs, the mycobacteria that cause it can also devastate the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, bones, and other body parts. Researchers have traced tuberculosis back thousands of years, dating to bones from Egyptian mummies and before. The disease was known in both ancient Greece and Rome and was first described in European medical texts in the 1600s. It is believed to have first been recorded in a Chinese medical text dating from 2,700 B.C.

Ancient Egypt and Before

• The bones of prehistoric humans sometimes show signs of the ravages of tuberculosis. The earliest bones found that are in good enough condition for disease analysis date from approximately 6,500 years ago. Decay from tuberculosis has also been found in the spines of Egyptian mummies that are 5,500 years old.

Ancient China

• Mentions of tuberculosis and related treatments have been found in Chinese medical texts dating back more than 4,700 years. More research on the disease and improvements in treatment methods were recorded by the Taoist alchemist and doctor Ge Hong some 1,600 years ago.

Ancient Greece and Rome

• Both Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician, and Aristotle mention tuberculosis in their writings. They called the disease phthisis and spoke of "phthisis and its cure." Tuberculosis, or TB, is thought to have been widespread in both ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.

Early Modern Europe

• Sylvius, the 17th-century European scholar and doctor, was the first European to identify the actual cause of the disease and to examine changes in the lungs caused by tuberculosis. Although 17th-century medical literature mentioned that the disease is contagious, it wasn't until the 1820s that the nature of the disease and its vectors were more broadly understood. The disease was given the name "tuberculosis" in 1839.

The Present

• Tuberculosis is found in virtually all corners of the globe. Although medication is the main way of treating tuberculosis, TB treatments usually take much longer than treatments for other bacterial infections. In general, antibiotics must be taken for six to nine months. In some cases, particular TB strains have become resistant to common antibiotics and may require multiple types of antibiotics for proper treatment.