Sedentary lifestyle, junk food help TB climb social ladder

Twenty years ago, tuberculosis was the scourge of the socio-economically backward, often slum dwellers forced to live in shanties, without a care for personal or civic hygiene. Today, many upper and middle class people are falling prey to the air-borne disease, thanks to a life styled around sedantary habits, junk food, fast-paced gadgets, inadequate sleep, increased psychological stress etc.

Considering that we live in a country where most people are low on personal hygiene, and the rampant coughing, sneezing, spitting promptly spreads the air-borne bacilli, each one of us is at some point in our lives exposed to the TB bacilli. In most cases, the infection remains latent and asymptomatic, however, one in every 12 cases progresses to an active condition depending on how weak the immune system is.

Mostly it’s the sedantary lifestyle accompanied by intake of unhealthy food that cause this blunting of immunity, which is marked by rise in cardiac problems, hypertension, blood sugar levels and diabetes. “The harm done by diabetes makes it easy for the TB bacilli to take root in the body. Also, high blood sugar levels provide a fertile ground for the TB bacilli,” says Dr Zalil Parkar, senior pulmonary consultant at Lilavati and JJ hospitals. Given that India has 60 million diabetics, most of them hailing from the well-fed classes, it’s no wonder that they’re contracting the TB virus with speed.

Dr Om Shrivastava, infectious disease specialists at Jaslok hospital, attributes other lifestyle factors such as inadequate sleep, large gaps between meals and increased psychological stress in the rise of TB spread among the well-off. “If you’re on the go for 12- 14 hours a day and your eating is irregular, the count of T-cells, B-cells and immunoglobulins, which fight infections in our bodies, fall. Not only that, the response time or the time it takes for the antibodies to reach the infection causing bacilli also falls, thereby giving tuberculosis adequate time to head towards an active infection.”

“Staying away from coughing or sneezing people and wash your hands often will go a long way in keeping the TB bacilli at bay,” adds Dr Parkar.

According to Dr KC Mohanty, HoD of chest medicine at KJ Somaiya hospital, the many chemical fertilisers in our vegetables, fruits and even water is chiefly responsible for the sharp rise in extra-pulmonary TB. “Chemical fertilisers contain compounds that cannot be easily processed by our body. This starts affecting the kidneys. Once the kidney’s working is compromised, these chemicals start to accumulate and disrupt the functioning of other organs like liver, making it an easy prey for the TB bacilli,” he says.
While Parkar advises personal hygiene to keep a robust immunity, Dr Mohanty said, “It may benefit to eat healthy and organic food as far as possible to ensure the immune system isn’t compromised.”