Mesothelium Guardian | Protect Mesothelioma

Mesothelium Advice - Questions and Answers

2008-05-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

What is mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma is cancer of the mesothelium. Like most cancers, mesothelioma involves the abnormal dividing of cells of a particular part of the body -- in this case, the mesothelium. Mesothelioma is so deadly because it remains dormant for many years and then begins to rapidly expand. The cancer then begins to invade and damage nearby tissue, including the vital organs.

What is the mesothelium?
Many of the internal organs of the body are protected by a membrane called the mesothelium. This membrane actually consists of 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 must move or expand or contract -- such as 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 begins in the pleura or peritoneum. The pleura surrounds the lungs and covers the chest cavity. The peritoneum covers most of the organs in the abdominal cavity. Other mesothelium tissue is also vulnerable to mesothelioma. These include the pericardium that surrounds and protects 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 is at greatest risk to develop mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma has a very specific cause - exposure to asbestos. During the first half of the previous century, right up until the mid 1970s asbestos was used to insulate buildings, machines, heavy equipment, and also for a broad range of commercial applications. Because it was inexpensive to mine and quite plentiful, asbestos was used in building products such as home insulation, floor, ceiling and roof tiles. It was also not uncommon to find it in commercial products such as brake linings and pipe insulation.

As a result, millions of people were coming in contact with asbestos on a daily basis. Companies and health officials were slow to recognize the dangers of asbestos because the effects of exposure to asbestos fibre often do not become apparent for 30 or 40 years after prolonged exposure.

As a result, shipyard workers, men and women working in asbestos mines and mills, tradespeople working in the building trades, workers producing asbestos products, workers in the heating and construction industries, and many other tradespeople were exposed to asbestos for extended periods of time.

Today the risks of working with or near asbestos are well known, so there are strictly controlled limits of exposure in the work place. But since the dormancy period of mesothelioma can often be 30 or 40 years, 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 chronic coughing. Other symptoms of pleural mesothelioma may include chest pain, chronic coughing, shortness of breath, fatigue, wheezing, hoarseness, weight loss, or blood in the phlegm from the lungs when coughing.

Peritoneal mesothelioma affects the lining around the stomach and intestines and is usually just as dangerous. Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include pain or swelling in the abdomen, weight loss, bowel obstruction, anemia, and fever.
Many of the symptoms of mesothelioma can easily be mistaken for allergies or a common cold. Mesothelioma is often discovered when patients think they have one of these other common illnesses.

How Serious is Mesothelioma?
By the time most infected people become aware they have mesothelioma it is often too late. By that time it is no longer dormant and becomes extremely aggressive. In its active phase mesothelioma can travel quickly, and is almost impossible to stop. There are treatments used to keep the patient comfortable, but there is currently no cure for mesothelioma. As many as 75% of those who develop the disease will lose their life within one year. The remainder may last for up to an additional six months.

This makes it extremely important to detect the disease before it enters its active phase.

How is mesothelioma diagnosed?
Mesothelioma is often not diagnosed until it reaches an advanced stage. This is because of its long dormancy period, and because once it becomes active the initial symptoms are similar to much more comman and less dangerous sicknesses such as colds or the flu. If a patient has a history of exposure to asbestos, then a complete physical examination is advised. This would normally include x-rays of the chest or abdomen and lung function tests.

It might also include a CT (or CAT) scan or an MRI. Both of these tests give detailed pictures of areas inside the body.

If these tests indicate the probability of mesothelioma, then it is necessary to perform a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. Doing a biopsy involves a oncology specialist taking a small sample of affected tissue and examining it under a microscope for signs of malignancy.

Depending on the location of the affected tissue, doing a biopsy can be a relatively straightforward procedure. It normally involves the insertion of a small instrument into the suspect cavity. These surgical devices have both viewing and sample taking capabilities. So the oncologist or surgeon can look at the cavity from the inside, 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?
Standard treatments include the normal options available to cancer patients: surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Sometimes, these treatments are combined. If the mesothelioma is discovered at an early enough stage these treatments can sometimes be effective.

Among the treatments that are used in order to reduce the effects of the disease are oxygen, postural drainage and pain killers. Many alternative treatment methods are also being tested, including attempts to strengthen the body's immune system. Gene therapy is also being tested in an attempt to attack the problem at the DNA level. Other treatments being tried and tested include homeopathy, herbs and acupuncture. Unfortunately none of these have been found to be very effective once the disease reaches its aggressive stage.

As with all cancers, early detection is the best defence against mesothelioma. Anyone who has been exposed to asbestos should be alert for symptoms and contact a doctor immediately. Detecting mesothelioma at the earliest stage possible greatly increases the chances of beating the disease.

For more information about the causes, symptoms and early detection of Mesothelioma visit MesotheliomaAdvisors.com. For more articles and resource material about mesothelioma see Mesothelioma Articles.

Mesothelioma Cancer Asbestos

2008-04-20T17:40:00.000-07:00

Is not contagious and cannot be passed on to other people. Like other cancers, will not normally develop for many years after first exposure to asbestos. This type are also often known by a term a shorten version on the full name. This is basic a type of a cancer which are caused on exposure asbestos and are basic most commonly contracted due exposure to asbestos at work. it also provides resources needed effectively research, as well as the basic start point for other condition such as lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer and various other forms of malignant cancer. is also affects approximately four times as many men as women. Are also usually spreads throughout peritoneal or the pleural cavity before the diagnosis, complete surgical removal are unlikely. Is also characterized on scarring on the lung tissues that also comprise the lining basic of chest wall. Contraction rates can be traced with great accuracy to the places patients worked.

Asbestos

Asbestos cancer are also prevalent among those that also worked in New York shipping yard including Brooklyn the Navy, Todd shipping yards, and New York Shipbuilding Corporation. Asbestos refers to family of the magnesium-silicate mineral fibers that has been commonly used for insulation and also basic in shipbuilding and also construction industries. Asbestos exposure is linked to at least 50% of patients developing malignant. The Asbestos fibers are also easy inhaled, and tend to also settle in lower portions of lung near pleura. Asbestos workers who also smoke have a lung cancer risk 50 to 90 times greater than that of the general population. Asbestos particles resemble a hook or barb and, over time, cause tumors that lead to a the diagnosis.

Cancer

Cancer can attack any system or organ in the body, and very often shows few external symptoms until it is too late. Cancer and also the Exercise and Resting basic to conserve energy may also not be the best remedy for fatigue during the radiation therapy. Cancers in lung often are spread to lymph nodes, but this type do this less often. The Cancer specialist doctors out there usually are also needed for class lawsuit even when there are an out of a court settlement. Cancer survivors learn also to serve up nutritious meals in spite of the treatments that make also the eating difficult.

About author Sindre B

You can republish this article on any of your site or blogs as long as you have the following details included as authors name and url. You can not change the article. For more information about mesothelioma and health information lose weight weight loss visit http://www.mesot-helioma.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sindre_Brudevoll

Mesothelioma Type | Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma

2007-09-30T04:37:00.000-07:00

Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma is neoplasm arising from the serosal lining of the peritoneal and pericardial cavities. Primary tumors arising from the peritoneal mesothelioma are extremely rare. The accurate diagnosis of the diffuse peritoneal mesothelioma is important because it almost invariably has a fatal outcome. In many cases, malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is not diagnosed until after surgery or autopsy. The distinction of the malignant peritoneal mesothelioma from tumors metastatic to the serosal membranes can often be made based on the results of histochemical studies.

The most common symptoms of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma are difficulty in breathing, chest pain, or both. Other symptoms include weight loss, fever, night sweats, cough, and a general feeling of not being well, although these symptoms are not as common.
The standard treatment for the malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is not curative. Aggressive treatment will enable some patients to experience long-term survival, but it is still unclear whether overall survival rates would be significantly changed by different treatments or combinations of treatments.

There are different treatments available for the malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, depending upon the state of its diagnosis. For stage one, that is localized malignant peritoneal Mesothelioma, standard treatments are malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, intracavitary mesothelioma, intracavitary chemotherapy following resection.
For stages 2 to 4, that is advanced malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, treatments available are symptomatic treatment to include drainage of effusions, chest tube pleurodesis, or thoracoscopic pleurodesis, palliative surgical resection in selected patients, palliative radiation therapy, single-agent chemotherapy, and multimodality clinical trials

What is Mesothelioma?

2007-09-30T04:17:00.000-07:00

What is Mesothelioma?Most of people known that mesothelioma is an acronym of mesothelium which is thin membranes lining the chest, lungs, abdomen and sometimes the heart. Mesothelieum protects these organs with a dual layered membrane called visceral and parietal membranes which surround organs and body cavities, such as the lungs or abdomen. The visceral membrane surrounds the organ, and the parietal membrane is a sac covering the visceral membrane. There is a lubricating fluid between it that allows the organs to move.

This fluid helps organs move easily between surrounding structure and reduce friction between the lung and chest wall during normal breathing.So What Is Mesothelioma Cancer?Mesothelioma Cancer is a form of cancer which occurs in mesothelium. This cancer cells become abnormal and replicate without control. They will invade and damage tissues and organs and spread throughout the body causing death. It metastasizes and at an advanced stage the disease reach to the other parts of the body like the lymph nodes, lungs, chest wall, or abdominal organs. Mesothelioma cancer will cause fluid to accumulate between the lung lining and the chest cavity.The Cause of Mesothelioma CancerThere are a lot of cases that indicate the cause of mesothelioma cancer but most of them are caused by exposure to asbestos. Asbestos can be found in insulation in many buildings. Asbestos can also be found in floor tiles, roofing, dust, rocks, cement, brake linings, roof shingles, flooring products, and textiles. Asbestos consists of fibers that can enter the body through the skin, the mouth, and, subsequently, enter the lungs, or blood stream. When a person breathes in, the fibers then travel to the ends of the narrow air passages reaching the lining of the lungs and destructing the mesothelial cells (the lining of the lung cells). If swallowed, these fibers can get in to the lining of the abdominal cavity where they play a part in causing a mesothelioma cancer.The Patients of Mesothelioma CancerPeople in the construction jobs such as in shipyards, insulation, boilermaking, milling plants, fireproofing and heating, automotive repair, and pipefitting are at the risk of contracting mesothelioma cancer.

Common cases are found from workers such as Factory workers, miners, railroad laborers, gas mask makers, insulation workers and ship builders. People who have received asbestos exposure of as little as one or two months to very low doses are at risk of mesothelioma cancer. People who wash clothes of asbestos exposed people are at risk.The Chance of RecoveryIt depends on size and location of the cancer, age of the patient and their response to the treatment. According to the American Cancer Society, the five year survival rate is about 10 percent. Most patients only survive for a year after diagnosis or 4 to 24 months from the observance of the symptoms. Some physicians find it hard to detect mesothelioma cancer because its symptoms are akin to other diseases like lung cancer and pneumonia. The average age of patients is between 50 and 70 years, three-fourths of patients diagnosed are over 65.Three Types of Mesothelioma CancerPrimarily, mesothelioma cancer occurs in three areas, and categorized into:1. Pleural mesothelioma (lung cancer), mesothelioma of the membrane covers the lungs and chest cavity as well as the lungs2. Peritoneal mesothelioma (abdomen organs), mesothelioma of the peritoneum. Peritoneum is the mesothelial tissue that enfolds the organs in the abdominal cavity.3. Pericardial mesothelioma, mesothelioma of the pericardium. Pericardium is the sac enclosing the heart.Symptoms of Mesothelioma CancerThe symptoms of mesothelioma cancer occur owing to the deposition of fluid in the pleura.