Weight loss is caused by the infectious, fatal disease TB, which has long been linked to poverty. Additionally, inadequate diets raise the risk of contracting the illness. Improved nutrition can now cut the risk of death by 60% and the likelihood of infection within families by roughly 40%, according to a study conducted in India.
India has the highest incidence and death rates of TB in the world and has started a bold effort to lower these numbers by 80% and 90%, respectively, by 2025.
The largest study to date showing how better nutrition increases TB treatment and prevention rates is Rations (Reducing Activation of Tuberculosis by Improvement of Nutritional Status). The Indian Council of Medical Research provided support for it.
Earlier, smaller studies had suggested a connection between improved nutrition and decreased mortality, but Dr. Anurag Bhargava, a physician and epidemiologist at Yenepoya Medical College in Mangalore, said the findings were not conclusive.
“This is the first trial ever conducted globally for the prevention of TB in family members by nutritional supplementation,” said Bhargava, who oversaw the initiative alongside his wife, Madhavi, a former surgeon who now specializes in public health. In 2019, they began the three-year study that would involve more than 10,000 participants while visiting isolated, frequently difficult-to-reach villages in the state of Jharkhand.
For six months, a monthly food basket including 5 kg of rice, 1.5 kg of pulses, and micronutrient supplements was distributed to the family members of TB patients. In the two years that followed, researchers discovered that TB occurrences had decreased by 39% to 48% in comparison to individuals who had not received the additional nutrition.
Along with their regular TB medications, TB patients received a monthly 10 kg food basket comprising rice, milk powder, oil, lentils, and multivitamins. This helped treatment rates. A 5% weight increase from the food basket during the first two months of treatment, according to the experiment, decreased the risk of passing away by 60%.
At the end of the course of treatment, about 75% of patients said they could go back to work. The study also discovered that patients who received nutritional supplements gained weight almost twice as much as those who did not.
In the Rations trial, nearly half of the participants were significantly underweight at the beginning, and about 3% were unable to perform daily activities.
As many TB patients pass away within the first two months of developing the illness, the pair emphasized the importance of early intervention to enhance nutrition. Many experts believe that weight gain is a normal side effect of TB therapy, however, a recent study suggests that this may not occur in regions where there is food shortage.
The trial’s evidence serves as a crucial weapon in India’s fight against tuberculosis.