Other names of TB

TB had many other names in the past and the most common was “Consumption”. This name came from the belief that TB consumes people from within with physical symptoms like bloodycough, fever, pallor (paleness) & relentless killing. There are many other names also arising mainly due to the fear in the past, as it was untreatable and extremely deadly. “Phthisis, phthisispulmonalis, scrofula, tabesmesenterica, lupusvulgaris, wastingdisease, white plague (due to paleness of the patient), king’s evil (it was believed that a King’s touch can heal the disease) and many more. This names originated in different communities and due to its ability to affect different parts of human body. Nowadays the term MiliaryTB is still occasionally used when the infection invades the circulatory system and the organism look like millet seeds when seen in x–ray plates although these form of TB is more commonly known as DisseminatedTB.