Legalization of Voluntary Euthanasia

Can you imagine lying in a tiny white room, scared, alone and unable to see your family? This is what thousands of people must endure every year when they are sent to asylums or isolated hospital rooms due to tuberculosis. (Dekker 6) Tuberculosis is a deadly and excruciating disease that causes severe agony not only to the patient, but to the family. Our society should do everything in its power to help those suffering from tuberculosis and to prevent recurrences.

Although there is a cure for tuberculosis, many people in the world are still suffering from it, particularly those in the poorer countries where proper medical attention is not available. The estimated mortality rate for tuberculosis in 2005 is around 60% which is about 1800 deaths worldwide. (Thomas 21) This is an incredible amount of deaths, considering that tuberculosis has a recovery rate of 83% if medical assistance is provided early. (nlm) An interesting fact surrounding the illness of tuberculosis is that someone in the world is newly infected with the illness every second. Also, around 9,100 people worldwide are currently infected with the tuberculosis bacilli. (faqs)

Tuberculosis or TB is a disease caused by a strand of bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria can attack any part of your body, but they usually attack the lungs. (nlm) Symptoms of tuberculosis include night sweats, malaise, carcinoma of the lungs (frequently creates cavities in lung tissue), pneumonia, a cough that worsens in the morning, weight loss, chest pain and difficulty breathing. Sometimes a patient may develop hemotysis which is when a patient begins coughing up blood or sputum (a thick mucous in the lungs). (pubs) However, people who are infected with latent TB do not feel sick, do not have any symptoms and cannot spread TB. These people however may develop TB disease any time in the future. Fortunately, if people who have latent TB infection take medication, they can prevent ever developing the disease. ( nlm)

TB is spread through the air from one person to another. The bacteria are put into the air when a person with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs or sneezes. (Thomas 14) People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected. Once the bacteria enter a host, the bacteria can settle into the lungs and begin to grow. From there, they can move through the blood to other parts of the body such as the kidney, spine and brain. TB is usually only infectious when it is in the lungs and throat. TB in other parts of the body such as the kidney and spine usually cannot be spread to other people. (faqs)

You may be wondering what exactly you have to do once you have been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Well, you are about to find out. First of all, the doctor will prescribe you several different drugs. This is because there are many bacteria to be killed. Taking several drugs will do a better job of killing all of the bacteria and preventing them from becoming resistant to the drugs. The most commonly used drugs for