International Journal of Bioassays ISSN: 2278-778X www.ijbio.com R Re es se ea ar rc ch h A Ar rt ti i c cl l e e *Corresponding Author: Dr. Amruta Swati, Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, K.B.N.I.M.S, Roza-B, Gulbarga, India 616 NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF TUBERCULOSIS CASES REGISTERD UNDER TUBERCULOSIS UNIT OF GULBARGA CITY, NORTH KARNATAKA, INDIA Amrutha Swati Indupalli 1* , Siddesh Basavaraj Sirwar 2 and Khamrunissa Shaikh 3 1 Department of Community Medicine, K.B.N.I.M.S, Roza-B, Gulbarga, India 2 Department of Microbiology, K.B.N.I.M.S, Roza-B, Gulbarga, India 3 Department of research and stuk’k’pdies in statistics, Gulbarga University, Gulbarga, India Received for publication: January 04, 2013; Accepted: February 27, 2013. Abstract: Malnutrition and tuberculosis are both problems of considerable magnitude in most of the underdeveloped regions of the world. These two problems tend to interact with each other. To find the nutritional status of Tuberculosis patients attending Dist. Tuberculosis center Gulbarga and to study the association between different variable and Nutritional status of the Tuberculosis patients. A total of 102 patients registered during 2009 and 2010 in Tuberculosis Unit (TU) of Gulbarga district, North Karnataka were included in the study. Data were collected by review of records with a pre-designed and pre-tested schedule. Nutritional status was calculated as per The International Classification of adult underweight, overweight and obesity according to BMI for > 20 years of age and for cases age <20 years was calculated as per BMI index for age percentile charts for boys and girls 2-20 years. Out of 102 cases majority 88 (86.3%) of cases were in economically productive age group i.e. 15 to 64 years with Male predominance of 65 (63.7%) cases. Nutritional status revealed that majority 55.8% of cases were undernourished. 60% of males and 49% of females were mal nourished. A significant association was found between nutritional status and literacy status where prevalence of under nutrition was high i.e. 68% among illiterates and primary literates similarly out of 23 cases addicted to alcohol and /or tobacco majority 16 (69.6%) were undernourished. No significant association was found with per capita income, marital status and category of cases. TB treatment and care should contain integrated nutritional assessment counseling and support for the duration of illness. Keywords: Tuberculosis, Nutritional Status INTRODUCTION Tuberculosis is an ancient disease which was called Yaksma dating back to 1500BC, the first reference in Asian civilization found in Rigveda. It was only in 1991, the World Health Assembly recognized TB to be a major neglected health issue, and called for much greater international efforts to control it. 1 Tuberculosis is a worldwide, chronic communicable disease that is curable. The WHO estimates that two billion people, one third of the world's population are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb), the bacillus that causes the disease. India tops in the list of high burden TB countries globally. Around 2.3 million new cases occur annually (185 cases per 1-lakh population) approximately one fifth of the global incidence. 0.32 Million people are killed annually by the disease (26 deaths per 1-lakh population). Http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11- 24/mangalore/35332908_1_state-tb-officer-national-tuberculosis- institute-workshop. M. tb's unique cell wall, which has a waxy coating primarily composed of mycolic acids, allows the bacillus to lie dormant for many years. The body's immune system may restrain the disease, but it does not destroy it. While some people with this latent infection will never develop active TB, five to 10 percent of carriers will become sick in their lifetime. TB usually invades the lungs but may also affect other parts of the body such as the spine, brain and kidneys. TB is transmitted through air droplets from a cough or sneeze from an infected person. Patients with poor nutrition are at increased risk for TB. Malnutrition and tuberculosis are both problems of considerable magnitude in most of the underdeveloped regions of the world. These two problems tend to interact with each other. The risk of complications including death from infections is influenced by the nutritional status of an individual, but the nutritional status of an individual and utilization of nutrients are also adversely affected following an infection. Acute infectious illnesses, such as tuberculosis, are accompanied by a complex variety of nutritional and metabolic responses within the body. The response to infection is associated with an increase in the energy expenditure. Patients characteristically present with loss of appetite and body weight. Complex changes occur in the metabolism of all the