Tuberculosis, or Consumption Disease, usually affects the lungs. Its main symptoms are a persistent cough that produces thick phlegm, blood in the phlegm, chest pain, breathlessness that gets worse over time, fever, night sweats, loss of appetite, fatigue, a general feeling of being unwell, and loss of weight. Not everyone who gets infected by the bacteria that cause TB becomes ill. In many people the bacteria that cause Consumption Disease stay latent and never become active. In people who get ill tuberculosis starts to show symptoms when it reaches the lungs.
TB develops slowly and it can take years from the moment a person is exposed to the bacteria for any symptoms to appear. There are different ways to diagnose TB including chest X-rays, blood tests, a tuberculin skin test and other methods of testing. If you cough up blood or if you have a cough that lasts over three weeks you should see a doctor. Consumption Disease can also spread to other parts of the body.