What Exactly Puts People at Risk for Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a very serious disease. One of the reasons it is so serious is that many people do not know what puts them at risk for mesothelioma. The basic risk of getting mesothelioma has to do with asbestos exposure. Asbestos is very common in many things and therefore it is not very difficult to be exposed to it.

The first cause is exposure to asbestos through one's occupation. This is very common in several different occupations. People who work in shipbuilding trades, asbestos mining and milling, the manufacturing of asbestos products (such as textiles), insulation work in construction and building, and brake repair are at risk. There are also many other occupations that involve asbestos exposure. Men are often associated with higher mesothelioma risk because many of the asbestos-related jobs are often held by men.

Smoking increases the risk for mesothelioma tenfold. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lungs, and the harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke damage the lungs beyond repair. When cigarette smoke is coupled with asbestos, the risks for developing mesothelioma and other lung cancers are increased greatly. Persons who smoke should make every effort to stop smoking in order to protect their lungs.

Environmental exposure to asbestos can also increase the risk of developing mesothelioma. Persons who live in neighborhoods near asbestos milling or manufacturing plants should be aware of the potential risk factors. Vermiculite, which is a non-asbestos mineral silicate, was mined at Libby Montana. It was later found to be heavily contaminated with asbestos. Many children played in the vermiculite slag heaps that were located throughout the town. These children later developed mesothelioma. There are 28 sites throughout the USA that received Libby mine vermiculite that have been selected for a community-wide evaluation of asbestos disease.

Another risk of developing mesothelioma is using products that contain asbestos. Asbestos is in a very large number of consumer products, including many that are used today. Products such as electric blankets, heat guns, curling irons, molding clays, deep fryers, slow cookers, frying pans, dry wall patch, fake fireplace logs, dry wall patch, and pipe wrap insulation could put one at risk. There are also many other products that contain, or have had exposure to, asbestos. There are many asbestos-containing products that have been banned by the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Unfortunately, there are still products that contain asbestos. It is a good idea to avoid using these products if possible, in order to reduce the risk of mesothelioma.

Robert Linebaugh writes about mesothelioma

Treatment For Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a kind of permanent cancer disease. Mesothelioma cancer occurs when tissues of our lungs or abdominal components get affected. In more cases asbestos exposure was identified as the reason for mesothelioma disease. Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear immediately after it's exposure, it takes time between twenty to thirty years. This enables the disease identification process a critical one.

Treatments for mesothelioma depends on the stage of the cancer, the specific part being affected, the total amount of space being affected, how long one have the problem, the look of the cancer cells under microscope and the age factor of the patient. These are the factors that are being considered before choosing the treatment option.

Treatments for mesothelioma include Surgery, Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy.

Surgery: There are two types of surgeries available one is aggressive surgery and another one is called palliative procedures.

Aggressive surgery is done through a procedure named extra pleural pneumonectomy, by which the pleura, the lung, the diaphragm and the pericardium are removed. The aggressive surgery's motive is to remove as much mesothelioma tumor as possible.

Palliative procedures will be done when the mesothelioma disease is at the matured stage. The motive of this procedure is to give relief to the patient from the symptoms.

Chemotherapy: In chemotherapy drugs are being used to treat mesothelioma cancer. The drugs may be in the form of pills or injections. To improve the results of chemotherapy some drugs may be used as mix in some proportion and this has given a good improvement in the treatment results.

Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy uses radiations to kill mesothelioma tumor. This procedure is complex to undergo as the tumors are surrounded by sensitive parts of our body. There are possibilities that the heart and lungs being damaged by the radiation. Lower dose radiation is one solution to slightly overcome from this critical issue.

Though mesothelioma is a permanent cancer disease and the survival rate is very low, timely identification and perfect treatment at the right time could able to help us survive some long time.

Chris Jack is the CEO of http://www.mesothelioma-infobase.com/. To have more information about mesothelioma and mesothelioma treatments visit http://www.mesothelioma-infobase.com/.

What You Should Know About the Mesothelioma illness

 What is Mesothelioma? A lot of people are not aware of
this disease and thus, die due to the delay in
diagnosis. Millions of people die every year because of
cancer; it is among the most pervasive illnesses every
one of us is exposed to. Generally speaking, a cancer
is a group of diseases characterized by alarming rapid
growth of abnormal cells in the body. The disease can
affect almost any part of the body and among the most
commonly affected are the lungs. Cancer-causing
substances are everywhere, especially in the air that
we breathe so the lungs are vulnerable to several fatal
diseases. One rare cancer that affects the lungs is
Mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma has been popularized only because of its
association with asbestos, a fibrous mineral form of
magnesium silicate used in fireproofing, chemical
filters, electrical insulation and others. Most of the
patients diagnosed with Mesothelioma have been
frequently exposed to asbestos. They are those who work
in construction sites, shipyards, insulator makers and
similar places. They usually inhale the impure fibers
from the asbestos that float through the air.

It can be noted that there are about 30-50 per cent of
Mesothelioma patients who did not have any exposure to
asbestos, which leads to the assumption that asbestos
may not be the sole cause of Mesothelioma. There are
some Mesothelioma patients, too, that had only little
exposure to asbestos but had contracted the disease.
Activities such as washing clothes of a person who has
been exposed to asbestos can still put a person at high
risk of Mesothelioma cancer. This disease takes years
to develop so a person exposed to asbestos might be
diagnosed with Mesothelioma only after 20-50 years of
the exposure.

Like other forms of cancers, Mesothelioma is named
after the part which is affected by the disease. In the
case of Mesothelioma, the malignant cells are found in
the mesothelium, a protective sac that covers different
internal organs. This protective sac produces fluid
that lubricates the organs, allowing them to move. They
allow the beating of the heart and expanding and
contracting of the lungs, for example. Specifically,
Mesothelioma affects the lining of the lung and chest
cavity. There are some cases, too, that the lining of
the abdomen (peritoneum) is the one affected. These two
types of Mesothelioma cancer are known as Pleural
Mesothelioma (affecting the lungs) and Peritoneal
Mesothelioma (affecting the abdomen).

Symptoms of Pleural Mesothelioma include panting,
persistence of cough, loss of weight, fever and chest
pain. On the other hand, Peritoneal Mesothelioma may
cause swelling and pain of the abdomen and also weight
loss. During the early stages of Mesothelioma, the
symptoms are non-specific; thus, the disease is not
immediately identified. Also, the symptoms are often
mistaken as signs of pneumonia. There are instances too
that the patient doesnt show any sign of this deadly
cancer.

If a patient manifests any of the said symptoms, he
must immediately seek a physicians help. Usually, an
xray is required to clearly see the abnormalities in
the lungs (in the case of Pleural Mesothelioma).
Indications of a Mesothelioma cancer include a build-up
of fluid between the pleura covering of the chest wall
and the diaphragm. In normal conditions, the
mesothelial cells produce only small amount of fluid
enough to lubricate the space between the chest wall
and the lung.

The chance of a patients recovery from Mesothelioma
depends on the extent or stage of the disease and
location of the disease. Furthermore, the persons age
and the way he responds to treatment and medication can
tell whether he can survive the cancer or not.
Generally the patients option for treatment include:
surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and anticancer
drugs.
David Arnold Livingston is an advocate for health
issues and suggests you check out:
http://www.newmesothelioma.com/