What Is Mesothelioma?

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Mesothelioma is a cancerous disease that is becoming more and more common. Affecting the mesothelial cells that make up the mesothelium - the outer lining that protects the body's major organs such as the heart, stomach and lungs - this form of cancer is a direct result of regular and unprotected exposure to asbestos. The symptoms and the latency period of this disease mean that it is difficult to diagnose.

Treatment for mesothelioma is still being investigated through clinical trials and research, but as a rule it responds poorly to the treatments that are currently used. The people most at risk from being carriers of this cancer are those have worked with asbestos over the past thirty to fifty years. Because of this, the disease is most common in men between the ages of sixty and seventy as this is the group that commonly worked with asbestos during those years. Because of the lack of protection and regulations in those days, these workers were constantly exposed to the dust and fibres from the asbestos, which caused the cells of the mesothelium to become abnormal. However, because the disease takes decades to develop fully and manifest, many of them were oblivious to this until thirty to fifty years later. It is these men who are now lodging multi-million dollar lawsuits against the unscrupulous companies that exposed them to the dangers of asbestos, even though they were aware that it could cause harm to the employees. There are also other people at risk from the disease; namely those who have had regular contact with a person who has worked with asbestos. Because these workers regularly carried dust and fibres on their clothes, skin and in their hair, they fibres and dust could be ingested by family members, who were then at risk of developing mesothelioma, respiratory problems or another asbestos related disease.

Lung Cancer

The organs most affected by mesothelioma are the lungs and the surrounding tissue. Pleural mesothelioma, which is the type affecting the lining of the lungs, is the most common variation of this cancer with symptoms which include breathing and swallowing difficulties, coughing, shortness of breath, fever and weight loss. The abdomen is another area affected by this cancer, and this variation is known as peritoneal mesothelioma. This type of mesothelioma is not as common as pleural mesothelioma. Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma can include nausea and vomiting, weight loss and loss of appetite, fever, bowel obstruction and pain or swelling of the stomach area. The last variation of the cancer is pericardial mesothelioma, which is where the cancer affects the heart and the tissue surrounding it. This variation is a rare one, and symptoms can include palpitations, breathing difficulties, and persistent coughing.


Mesothelioma Survival Rate

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Because mesothelioma is so hard to detect, and can easily seem to be just an upset stomach or other minor issue, it is often the case that by the time you realize you have mesothelioma, it is too late to do anything about it. The only reason you realize that you have a cancer in your chest cavity is that something truly awful has gone wrong, and you are on the final stages. The average person who finally finds a doctor to determine they have mesothelioma often has less than a year left to live at that point - even with the best treatment. The current 5 year survival rate is between 7%-20% depending on which study you read. Again, this is not necessarily because mesothelioma is "nastier" than other forms of cancer - it is more that it is so hard to detect. It festers away in the core of your chest for years and years, causing damage but not being noticed. In fact, on a webpage for a drug being tested for mesothelioma patients, the drug makers claim with pride:

Some of the patients survived two years after the study which is very unusual for mesothelioma."


It is a pretty harsh disease, when helping you make it to 2 years is a great victory.

Part of the problem with helping patients survive is that there are so few known people with mesothelioma - and they die so quickly after being discovered. There aren't a lot of people to do clinical trials on, to figure out what works and what doesn't work. There are hundreds of thousands of people who HAVE mesothelioma right now, according to most doctors. But all of those sick people do not realize yet that they have it. They typically only really know they have mesothelioma right before they die. So by then it is often impossible to do any real tests to see what might have helped them, if it had been caught earlier.


..Usually the initial study is a chest x-ray, and sometimes pulmonary function test (PFT), as well as other lab work. If these studies come back abnormal you usually need a more definitive study; like a cat scan or MRI of the chest to look for more detail of the pleura."


View More Related Video's HERE


Practical Advice for Mesothelioma Cancer Victims - Mesothelioma cancer and asbestosis explained. Causes, symptoms, treatment options, asbestos exposure, legal information on legislation, litigation and choosing a trial lawyer.


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