What is mesothelioma? Mesothelioma is cancer of the mesothelium. Like most cancers, mesothelioma involves the strange dividing of cells of a special part of the body --- in this instance, the mesothelium. Mesothelioma is so deadly because it stays dor...
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What is mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma is cancer of the mesothelium. Like most cancers, mesothelioma includes the strange dividing of cells of a particular part of the human anatomy --- in this instance, the mesothelium. Mesothelioma is so deadly because it remains dormant for quite some time and then commences to rapidly expand. The cancer then starts to invade and damage nearby tissue, including the essential organs.
What is the mesothelium?
Many of the organs of the body are guarded with a membrane called the mesothelium. This membrane really contains two layers of cells. The inner layer surrounds the organs, and the second is a sac surrounding the inner layer. When organs within this membrane should go, expand or agreement --- including the heart, lungs, bladder, and so on, they are able to do so because the mesothelium produces a lubricating fluid between the two layers.
Mesothelioma most often starts in the pleura or peritoneum. The pleura surrounds the lungs and covers the chest cavity. The peritoneum covers all of the organs in the abdominal cavity. Other mesothelium tissue is also vulnerable to mesothelioma. These contain the pericardium that protects and surrounds the heart; the tunica vaginalis testic which surrounds the internal male reproductive organs; and the tunica serosa uteri which is the membrane covering the internal reproductive organs in women.
Who's at greatest risk to develop mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma has a very specific cause -- exposure to asbestos. During the first half of the preceding century, right up until the mid 1970s asbestos was an essential substance utilized to insulate buildings, machines, large equipment, and an extensive variety of commercial applications. Asbestos was utilized in many building products including home insulation, ceiling, floor and roof tiles, because it was abundant and cheap to mine. It was also employed in frequently found industrial goods including pipe insulation and brake linings.
This meant that huge numbers of people were coming in connection with asbestos on a daily basis. And since the effects of contact with [http://www.mesothelioma-today.info/asbestos-lung-cancer-what-should-i-do/ asbestos] fibre normally do not become obvious for 30 or 40 years after prolonged exposure, businesses and health officers were slow to comprehend the dangers of asbestos. As a result, shipyard workers, men and women operating in asbestos mines and mills, workers making asbestos products, workers in the building and heating sectors, and nearly all other tradespeople were exposed to asbestos fibres for lengthy periods of time.
Now it is recognized that anybody dealing with or near asbestos has an elevated risk of developing mesothelioma, so there are strictly controlled limits of coverage in the workplace. But 30 or 40 years since the dormancy period of mesothelioma could be, there are millions of workers who are at risk because of their exposure in the decades before the safety controls were put in place.
What are the symptoms of mesothelioma?
Pleural mesothelioma -- cancer of the pleura or lung lining -- causes shortness of breath or persistent coughing. Other signs of pleural mesothelioma may include chest discomfort, chronic coughing, shortness of breath, fatigue, wheezing, hoarseness, weight loss, or blood in the phlegm from your lungs when coughing.
Peritoneal mesothelioma affects the lining around the stomach and intestines and is generally just as dangerous. Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include pain or swelling in the weight loss, abdomen, bowel obstruction, anemia, and temperature.
Many of the symptoms of mesothelioma can readily be mistaken for allergies or a common cold. Mesothelioma is often found when patients think they have one of these other common illnesses.
How Severe is Mesothelioma?
By time most afflicted individuals become conscious they have mesothelioma, it is no longer dormant and becomes really aggressive. In its active period, mesothelioma can travel swiftly, and is almost impossible to quit. There are treatments used to maintain the patient comfortable, but there is presently no cure for mesothelioma. As many as 75 % of those who develop the condition will lose their life within one year. The rest might continue for an additional 6 months.
This makes it extremely important to discover the disorder before its active phase is entered by it.
How is mesothelioma diagnosed?
Till an advanced stage is reached by it mesothelioma is usually not diagnosed. This is because of its long dormancy period, and because once it becomes active the first symptoms are similar to much more comman and less risky illnesses including colds or the influenza. Then a complete physical examination is recommended, if a patient has a history of contact with asbestos. This would usually comprise x - rays of the chest or abdomen and lung function tests. It could also include a CT (or CAT) scan or an MRI. These two checks give step-by-step images of areas inside the body.
Then it's necessary to do a biopsy to verify the diagnosis, if these checks suggest the likelihood of mesothelioma. Performing a biopsy requires an oncology specialist taking a tiny sample of impacted tissue and examining it under a microscope for signs of malignancy. Depending on the place of the afflicted tissue, performing a biopsy may be a comparatively traightforward process. It ordinarily involves the insertion of a little instrument in to the suspect cavity. These surgical products have both viewing and sample taking capabilities. So the oncologist or surgeon can look at the cavity from the interior, and then take tissue samples from different areas.
If mesothelioma is discovered, the initial tests are followed up with what is called "staging". This involves more tests to determine how far the disease has spread.
How is mesothelioma treated?
Regular treatments include the alternatives available to surgery : cancer patients, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Sometimes, these treatments are combined. These remedies can sometimes be effective in the event the mesothelioma is discovered at an early enough stage.
Among the treatments that are utilized to be able to reduce the consequences of the disease are oxygen, postural drainage and discomfort killers. Many alternative treatment techniques are also being examined, including attempts to fortify the body's defense mechanisms. Gene therapy is also being analyzed in an effort to attack the issue at the DNA amount. Other treatments being tested and tried include herbs, homeopathy and acupuncture. Unfortunately none of these have been discovered to be very successful when the condition reaches its aggressive position.
As with all cancers, early detection is the greatest defense against mesothelioma. Anyone who has been exposed to asbestos should be alert for signs and contact a physician immediately. Detecting mesothelioma at the earliest stage possible substantially increases the chances of conquering the disease.
If you have been exposed to asbestos and this could be demonstrated to be the cause, you have a large chance of settlement from mesothelioma caused by asbestos, which may help you and your loved ones in the near future.
Please contact us at Mesothelioma Today so that you can start your claim to offer care for your family and yourself.