slightly conversing with consumptive patients is seldom or never sufficient to catch the disease." Dr. Martens insight proved to be another enormous step towards the understanding and prevention of tuberculosis.In the 19th century Hermann Brehmer, a Silesian botany student whom was suffering from tuberculosis, was instructed by his physician to move to a healthier climate. Brehmer traveled to the Himalayan mountains mainly to pursue his botanical studies. What he didnt know at the time was that this journey would be attributed to curing his disease. When Brehmer returned home he began to study medicine. In 1854, he wrote his dissertation titled, Tuberculosis is a Curable Disease. He hypothesized that his recovery was directly related to the healthier environment found in the Himalayan mountains. Brehmer built an institution in Gorbersdorf where his patients received a nutritious diet and spent great amounts of time on their balconies where they were exposed to continuous fresh air. This clinic was the first step towards the development of a sanatorium. Sanatoria, could now be found throughout Europe and the United States. A sanatorium provided two functions. They isolated the ill from the rest of the public while enforcing rest and a healthy diet.Tuberculosis is caused by an organism called Mycobacterium tuberculosis or tubercle bacilli. When a person with the infectious tuberculosis disease coughs or sneezes, droplet nuclei containing tubercle bacilli can be expelled into the air causing the other people that inhale the air containing these droplet nuclei to become infected.The tuberculosis infection begins when the tubercle bacilli multiply in the small air sacs of the lungs. A small number enter the bloodstream and spreadthroughout the body, but the body's immune system usually keeps the bacilliunder control. Some patients who have the TB infection develop the TB disease when their immune system cannot keep the tubercle b...
