Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a disease that is almost 100% preventable; the
only known cause is via exposure to the deadly mineral asbestos.
It comes from inhaling the particles of dust as the asbestos
degrades; eating away at the lining of
your lungs and developing into a deadly cancer. Even a small exposure to
this cancer-causing material can result in malignant mesothelioma. However, mesothelioma has a latency of up to thirty-forty
years, and many individuals previously exposed to asbestos are now
displaying symptoms. This means the average age of mesothelioma patients
is between 50 and 70 years. Men are typically affected more, due to the
common presence of asbestos in industrial settings.
Current medical science does not know exactly how
and why, at a cellular level, asbestos fibers cause mesothelial cells to
become abnormal (malignant or cancerous.) Thus it is not known whether
only one fiber causes the tumor or whether it takes many fibers. It
seems that asbestos fibers in the pleura can start a tumor as well as
promote its growth; the tumor does not depend on any other processes for
its development.
Mesothelioma is a form of cancer affecting the abdominal cavity,
chest cavity, and the region surrounding the heart. Due to its uncommon
nature, mesothelioma is typically difficult to diagnose and treat. There are three
major types of malignant mesothelioma . epithelial, sarcomatoid, and
mixed. Epithelial mesothelioma is most common. Symptoms may include, but
are not limited to respiratory distress, a lasting cough, and pneumonia.
In addition, symptoms are often mistaken for less serious ailments, and
many patients do not show any signs at all. Individuals with pleural mesothelioma may accumulate some fluid
between the lung lining and chest cavity. This can be detected through a
chest x-ray, as well as CT scans.
Mesothelioma is one of the deadliest diseases known to man;
the average life span of an inflicted person from the time of diagnosis
until death is less than 6 months. It’s a disease that strikes
approximately 3,000 United States citizens each year. Hazzardous
occupations with exposure to asbestos include factories, shipyards, mines, the
US military, engineers, pipefitters, steel workers, auto
mechanics.
Although there is no cure for mesothelioma, the
treatment options have improved significantly, especially for
those whose cancer is diagnosed early and treated vigorously.
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