What is Mesothelioma?

During the last decade, the term mesothelioma has become apparent. Once an obscure disease that meant little to the general public, said the disease now evokes thoughts and images of factories and mines with asbestos and the unfortunate workers who were employed in hazardous areas filled.

Thank you for participating members of the health professions as a researcher oncologist Dr. David Sugarbaker and oversight agencies, we are learning more and more about mesothelioma and how it affects the lives of patients. be sought, however, there is still a long way to both better treatments and a cure for the disease to go.

In short, mesothelioma, which is commonly referred to as the asbestos cancer is an aggressive cancer caused primarily by the inhalation of dangerous asbestos fibers. The disease attacks the mesothelium, the protective membrane with two layers of coating of the internal organs, including lung, heart and abdominal organs. In these layers, the cells produce fluid, easy motion of the heart and lungs allow in the chest. The cover of the lung is recognized as the pericardium, where it is known to occur as pericardial mesothelioma. The peritoneum lines the abdominal cavity.
Mesothelium also lines of male and female sex organs. Mesothelioma can affect each of these cells, but it is generally considered mesothelium in the pleura or peritoneum. The most frequently diagnosed with this cancer is pleural mesothelioma.

Takes 20-50 years to develop mesothelioma, while the elderly are often victims. However, the recent cases of 11 September showed the World Trade Center and the first cleaning teams that high concentrations of asbestos can cause disease develops much faster. Some of the World Trade Center employees have already died from the disease.

Effects of the Disease

The invasion of the mesothelium by cancer cells, it is very difficult to breathe for the patient, thus the need for oxygen, especially if the disease progresses. Those who can take the form of pleural mesothelioma is also suffering from pleural effusion. These effusions prevent the smooth functioning of the lungs and other organs in the chest. Peritoneal Mesothelioma also affects the stomach and abdominal cavity, which can cause nausea, vomiting or loss of appetite, weight loss, dangerous. In addition to shortness of breath and loss of appetite, mesothelioma victims also complain of excessive coughing, sleep disturbances, persistent chest pain, fever and pain in the lower back.

Malignant mesothelioma usually is a very painful disease and because it is usually not diagnosed until an advanced stage. For this reason, the symptoms of mesothelioma are usually very serious. Late diagnosis also means that the cancer will have more metastases or disseminated, which complicates successful treatment of mesothelioma.

Who gets Mesothelioma?

Statistics show that your work done with the story, the disease most often affects men aged 50-70 years who were employed in an environment full of asbestos warnings and bans asbestos, have been established in the early 1970s. Although women still have a much lower incidence of the disease, exposure to asbestos or second hand, has more diagnoses among women, especially invited to their male family members who've worked with asbestos. Most occupations are associated with mesothelioma shipyard workers, electricians, plumbers, laborers in the construction, pipe fitters, boilermakers, and every object of heavy exposure to airborne asbestos fibers, asbestos and hazardous.

A plethora of cases have also shown that mesothelioma can to people who lived in communities where asbestos factories or mines are developed. In some cases, entire villages have been negatively affected by the presence of asbestos fibers into the air. For example, in Libby, Montana - have the site of a former vermiculite asbestos mine - hundreds have already died of mesothelioma.

Although much less common than other cancers, it is estimated that diagnosed 2000-3000 new cases of mesothelioma every year in the United States.
Other countries, including Britain and Australia, the report of an increased incidence of the disease. But seen the United States - as in many other countries - an increase of asbestos caused cancer in men who worked in the shipyards of the United States in 1940 and 1950 at the height of production, are diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Dealing with Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is most often diagnosed with a final stage, and this diagnosis is for the individual and his family devastating. Although research is under way about the disease, there is currently no cure for mesothelioma. Some patients may qualify for an operation to remove tumors, or even an entire lung, but most are best treated by radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Often these treatments are palliative, the severity of the symptoms, rather than serve to reduce a cure.

Health experts and researchers are constantly new ways to fight against the disease. For example, doctors know that certain combinations of chemotherapy drugs to work better than others, and developed tests to determine an earlier diagnosis of the disease or the majority of people in danger came to the scene.

Who's to blame?

The reason why is a person who develops mesothelioma generally a lack of appropriate protection for those who worked with asbestos. Despite the hazardous effects of asbestos and asbestos products has been clear for decades, many employers forget to protect their workers from the inhalation of asbestos. Only public awareness about the hazards of the material were in 1970 showed that many companies have begun, with protective clothing such as respirators, gloves, aprons and similar items to those who work daily with asbestos in a database.

By the negligence of the employer, many companies produced asbestos or asbestos-containing products have literally thousands of trial of those who have been harmed by the substance was. Many lawyer mesothelioma lawsuit by the victim and her family in seeking compensation for taking part in his statement received provided.