Symptoms Are Similar, Be Careful Limfoma Can Be Misaligned As TB

Photo illustration. (Doc. Freepic)

JAKARTA - Medical experts warn that lymphoma symptoms can be similar to tuberculosis, such as sweating at night and lumps in the neck. Therefore, a diagnosis of TB disease that does not improve after 10 days of treatment should raise suspicions of other problems, such as lymphoma.

Speaking between lymphoma and TB, an internal medicine expert at the Medical Oncology Hematology Division of the Department of Internal Medicine, Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Dr. Dr. Andhika Rahman, SpPD-KHOM said there were indeed similar symptoms.

Therefore, Andhika reminded medical personnel to be able to complete the diagnosis of TB disease at least 10 days after the patient received antituberculosis (OAT).

Bacteria that cause TB are known to quickly divide, slowly and even sleep. OAT works in bacteria that divide quickly so that patients will show improvement and feel they have recovered.

However, if there is no improvement, it is necessary to find out about other problems because it could be symptoms experienced by patients, not TB but lymphoma.

The number of lumps due to lymphoma is usually not only one but a lot because lumps can appear along the lymph nodes throughout the body. These lumps generally increase and don't hurt," said Andhika, quoted from ANTARA, Saturday, September 16.

In addition to lumps, signs of lymphoma include continuous fever, itching on the skin, significant weight loss and shortness of breath.

Speaking of risk factors, a number of things that increase the risk of a person having lymphoma are age. Some types of lymphoma are more common for young adults, while others are more often diagnosed at the age of more than 55 years.

Men are known to be more likely to develop lymphoma than women. According to Andhika, this is one of them because they are more often exposed to carcinogenic materials.

On the other hand, they are with an immune system that is disturbed or people who take drugs that suppress the immune system more often experience lymphoma. Also, people who develop certain infections relate to an increased risk of lymphoma, including the Epstein-Barr virus and pylori helicabacter infection.