Does tuberculosis affect intestines? Here’s your answer

Recently, a colleague at office came to me; asking something which to him, sounded quite unthinkable. “Doc, can a person suffer tuberculosis (TB) of intestines?”

Well, to him, TB is a disease that affects lungs and one has to be coughing to be diagnosed as a TB patient, which partly, is right.

He is not the first person to have asked me about TB in relation to body organs, however. One person once told me she had been surprised to hear that TB affected the bones. “How does that even happen” she asked.

Most people I have interacted with, tend to associate TB only with coughing. Quite often, a person who has prolonged coughing is thought to have TB.

Well, to clear their doubts, my answer is always focused on what TB actually means. It’s the bacteria that cause the disease that we should be talking about here.

Most commonly, the bacteria that cause tuberculosis infect the lungs, causing chronic cough, weight loss, and other symptoms.

This is the most common form and that’s why, perhaps, most people have always believed TB is a disease of the lungs.

Intestinal TB

But at times, the bacteria can cause what is called ‘extra-pulmonary’ (outside the lungs) tuberculosis, infecting lymph nodes and other organs, such as the intestines, hence Intestinal TB.

This type of TB is very common in the developing world and often times, intestinal tuberculosis may have no symptoms, or a patient may complain of abdominal pain, cramping and weight loss.

But it’s not limited to the intestines. People who have intestinal tuberculosis may also have an infection of the bacteria in the lungs.

One who is suspected to be suffering from the condition, should be evaluated by a qualified physician.

This is followed by a round of treatment, which usually requires taking several drugs at the same time for many months.

Doctors usually go the extra mile to evaluate such patients for medical conditions that may have put the patient at risk contracting tuberculosis, such as infection with the HIV virus or other conditions such as diabetes.

The bacteria cause the disease when the immune system is weakened, as in older patients and in patients who are HIV positive.

Intestinal TB may cause blockage or ulcers in the affected parts. With blockage the main symptoms are pain, vomiting and distension; with the ulcerative variety the symptoms are mainly bleeding.

It’s curable, though.

As I said earlier, treatment is also by using medicines but sometimes the symptoms are so severe that surgery has to be done first to relieve the blockage followed by medicines.

But, all this has to be determined by the doctor.