The Potential Role of Vitamin D for Prevention and Treatment of Tuberculosis and Infectious Diseases
This study investigates the use of vitamin D for the deterrence and cure of tuberculosis and other contagious infections. Deficiency of vitamin D is a global problem which results in higher occurrences of the immune system ailments.
Its deficiency also augments the proliferation of communicable diseases. Vitamin D is a vital micronutrient for healthy bones and prevention (or treatment) of many chronic ailments because of its intricate activity on the immune system.
Dini and Bianchi (2012) cite that deficiency of vitamin D leads to an increased risk of developing tuberculosis (TB). This study explains the use of vitamin D as a drug before the invention of antibiotics.
The unearthing of vitamin D as a therapeutic agent begins with the detection of rickets as a childhood malady and the subsequent association of rickets to lack of exposure to sunshine.
Cod liver oil, which contains vitamin D, is then used as a cure for rickets and tuberculosis.
Studies show that vitamin D production increases in the body when special receptors (Toll-like receptors or TLR) sense the presence of the tuberculosis bacteria. This vitamin is in the form of 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D.
Its synthesis encourages “VDR-mediated transactivation of the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin and killing of intracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis” (Dini and Bianchi, 2012, p. 319).
Cathelicidin has antiviral and antibacterial results. TLR instigation also yields defensin-2, another peptide with antibiotic properties.
This study hopes to find out how cathelicidins control immune reactions. This knowledge aids the creation of complexes containing the normal chemotherapy, antimicrobial proteins, and dietary shortage rectification components. Such complexes symbolize a significant advancement in TB therapies.
Pharmaceutical Aerosols for the Treatment and Prevention of Tuberculosis
This study investigates the ability to offer TB treatment in a unique form by deviating from the traditional tablets and injections. It aims to improve the competence of TB treatment in terms of cost-effectiveness and efficiency.
Hanif and Garcia-Contreras propose the use of powdered aerosols to mitigate the hindrances posed by liquid drug formulations (2012). Pharmaceutical aerosols provide the advantage of effective drug distribution and cost effectiveness.
Tuberculosis remains a key community health hazard worldwide although it can be treated and precluded. Hanif and Garcia-Contreras cite that a significant number of people who contract the TB bacteria develop the disease and die.
Treatment of obtrusive airway ailments always involves aerosols. However, the recent inventions see this treatment extend to cure lung diseases related to cystic fibrosis. An individual acquires tuberculosis by breathing in aerosol drops containing the infectious bacteria from the infected person.
The basis of this research is that since tuberculosis mainly upsets lungs, then the lungs are a substitute means of administering TB drugs.
However, this method requires precise drug formulations and administrative procedures for effectiveness. Pharmaceutical companies can utilize numerous techniques to produce the fine particles suitable for inhalation.
An earlier therapy approach, the Directly Observed Therapy Short Course (DOTS), requires direct monitoring of TB patients as they take their medicine.
This is extremely involving as Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli (MTB) are among the most stubborn human pathogens due to their ability to multiply remarkably fast intracellularly and outside the living cells (2012).
This study uses small animal models to test the efficacy of the powdered aerosols and hopes to extend the same tests to bigger models. It also hopes to improve the available inhalers for the administration of large dosages essential in TB treatment.
The Value of Systematic Physical Training in the Prevention and Cure of Pulmonary Tuberculosis
This study examines the benefits of physical exercise in the mitigation and cure of tuberculosis and other chest infections. Doctors notice “long, narrow, flat-chested” people have a high risk of contracting tuberculosis and low chances of healing (Ingals, 1898, p.40).
Physical exercises improve the wellbeing of the respiratory system. According to Ingals, pathological studies show shrunken air-cells provide the most suitable environment for multiplication of the tuberculosis bacteria (1898).
He attributes this to anemia which reduces the ability of the air-cells to fight infections. Prevalence reports estimate 80% of the human populace has the Koch’s bacillus (1898).
Ingals explains that the Koch’s bacillus is not detrimental, and ample body resistance is sufficient to avoid the real illness.
This study aims at educating the public “to strengthen the resisting power of all the body tissues, but more especially those of the lungs, because they afford the most favorable conditions for the spread of the disease” (Ingals, 1898, p.41).
It suggests that large heights above the sea level offer the most excellent circumstances for preclusion of pulmonary tuberculosis. The high attitudes also aid in healing the disease in its initial phases. A patient’s attempt to take in more air expands the air cells thereby strengthening the lungs.
The study suggests that patients ought to learn how to inhale deeply and methodically inflate the lungs several times daily. Ingals further demonstrates the actual steps to follow when breathing to meet the desired effects. He asserts that continuous physical exercise may improve a narrow-chested individual’s ability to fight tuberculosis.
References
Dini, C. & Bianchi, A. (2012). The potential role of vitamin D for prevention and treatment of tuberculosis and infectious diseases. Ann Ist Super Sanita, 48(3), 319-327. Doi: 10.4415/ANN_12_03_13.
Hanif, N. M. S. and Garcia-Contrera, L. (2012). Pharmaceutical aerosols for the treatment and prevention of Tuberculosis. Frontiers in cellular and infectious microbiology,118(2) 1-11. Doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2012.00118.
Ingals, E. F. The value of systematic physical training in the prevention and cure of pulmonary tuberculosis. (1898). Transactions of the American Climatological Association, 1898(14) 40-48.