The history of the formation of phthisiology as a science

Abstract

Humanity has been familiar with tuberculosis for a long time: the confirmation of this was found during archaeological excavations and the discovery of traces of damage to the remains of people who lived more than 5 thousand years ago. Scientists associate this fact with the high prevalence of mycobacteria among animals, as well as the extreme duration of the disease and the high degree of chronicity of the process. The first descriptions of tuberculous lesions were found in the writings of Hippocrates. The most characteristic symptom of the disease, as in the present days, was considered hemoptysis, and the extreme degree of exhaustion and pulmonary bleeding was quite typical for this category of patients. This disease was initially called consumption, or phthisi. Subsequently, it gave the name to the science that studies various clinical manifestations in the tuberculosis process, their diagnosis and treatment. Today, phthisiology is a clinical discipline that studies the etiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of pulmonary and extrapulmonary forms of tuberculosis, as well as the main approaches to etiotropic and pathogenetic treatment.