Mesothelioma Support ? You Are Not Alone

Your days aren't numbered, that's for sure. With the help of Mesothelioma support, you can prolong your existence in the face of the fatal mesothelioma cancer.

Mesothelioma is a lethal cancer of the pleural lining of the lungs, mainly due to exposure to asbestos. This disease has an incubation period of 20-30 years and often people die with inadequate medical and financial assistance. Nowadays, mesothelioma support has a sure remedy for you.

An early diagnosis increases the possibility to have a longer life; so contact your doctor if you show the symptoms such as chest pain, trouble in swallowing, nausea, feeling out of breath always, increased platelet count (greater than 400,000/mcL) and have a history of asbestos exposure.

There is still a lack regarding the knowledge about mesothelioma cancer; for the ill-fated ones, there is possible mesothelioma support that can look after your rights and possible financial assistance additionally.

Services that support

Mesothelioma Support services are to be had at major cancer centers and the patient has to speak with his or her family and seek help from clergy, friends, and institutions concerning the availability of educational materials, telephone support, personalized medical information, online discussions, message boards, and individual consultation with trained counselors.

A legal counseling along with aid from housing, utilities, transportation, accurate medical treatment, pharmaceutical supplies and services should be the prime motto of mesothelioma support.

Support from the family is vital so that all adults should have a will and other necessary paperwork in place, craft a budget, and check cash flow, which can be looked after with the help of the Licensed Certified Financial Planners and Hospital Billing Representatives who will help on insurances.

Mesothelioma support can also be given from

- Bankers and Bank Trust/Loan Officers who will be able to lend money.

- Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid Representatives: They may lend a hand in giving additional sources of income and cover certain hospital payments or prescription costs.

- Attorneys who can often pull through noteworthy compensation from the Asbestos issues, guide while making a will and arrange healthcare powers of attorney and other key papers. A good lawsuit will give you the chance to win more easily.

New vistas

You should stop feeling emotionally frustrated and alone - there are many mesothelioma support groups that can help you build up your confidence. Some are:

- Association of Cancer Online Resources (ACOR)

- Alliance for Lung Cancer, Advocacy, Support and Education Support Groups help you to ease a bit.

- Alliance for Lung Cancer, Advocacy, Support and Education Support Hotline for mesothelioma support.

- American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) Cancer Resource that has a free information program to lend a hand to the isolated cancer patients and let their families understand more about cancer, its dealings and the resources accessible to help them in beating this disease.

- Cancer Care Counseling proposes free professional counseling individually or through professional mesothelioma support groups both online and individually.

- Cancer Information and Counseling Line (CICL) has a national toll-free telephone information line intended to assist people with cancer and their families.

- An online community called the Cancer Survivors Network is planned for cancer survivors and their families and friends.

- Gilda's Club, Inc provides emotional support to the mesothelioma patients.

- Hospicelink is an independent, charitable organization, giving news on hospice and soothing care guiding through likewise programmes.

- I Can Cope is a mesothelioma support made under American Cancer Society that offers several courses that are considered to help participants to handle with their cancer experience by increasing their information, positive outlook, and skills.

- Stories of Hope that is an inspiration to the people to fight the disease.

Don't hesitate to take these mesothelioma support programmes, they are designed for your betterment.

Around 2,500 to 4,000 patients, yearly, are diagnosed with mesothelioma and asbestos-related diseases in the U.S, so the mesothelioma support seeks to give you a full support. Information is power - get it and see how the problems cease to exist.

Fred Lindell is a successful writer and publisher of health related issues, for more informative articles go to http://www.mesotheliomaplaza.com

What is Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a disease where the cells of the mesothelium become abnormal. It is called the cancer of the mesothelium. They can damage the tissues and other organs of the body. They can also affect the other cells and spread throughout the body.

It was hard to find any information before the Internet era. Now, with the invention of Internet, information on anything can be achieved. Around 2000 cases of Mesothelioma are diagnosed in US alone. In the past 20 years mesothelioma cases have gone high. Mesothilioma mainly affects men than women and it gets riskier as people age.

How do people get Mesothelioma?
Asbestos is the main factor for this disease. People in factories who work under the asbestos roof or people who manufacture asbestos sheets or asbestos related products tend to get this disease. Around 70-80 percent cases for mesothelioma are because of asbestos. However, there are some cases where the person with mesotheliioma has no exposure to asbestos. The tiny particles or dust of the asbestos float in the air, and when they are inhaled, it leads to health problems. Exposure to asbestos also increases the possibility of lung cancer, and other cancers. Smoking as well as exposure to asbestos could lead to cancer in the air passageways.

Who can develop mesotheliioma?
The risk associated with asbestos was unknown for a long time. Millions of people have been exposed to this dust since 1800?s. But, nowadays, people wear protective equipment while working with asbestos related products. There have been cases where people who have worked with asbestos for many years as well as people who have worked for a very small time too have got this disease. Not all workers get this disease. Even, family members have the history of getting mesothelioma or other asbestos related disease. This could be because of the dust brought by the worker from his hair or clothes, so it is necessary that the worker at the factory take bath before leaving the workplace.

Symptoms: Mesothelioma usually occurs after 30 years of exposure to asbestos dust. Shortness of breath and chest pain is the first indication. Mesothelioma is treated by surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy etc.

Asbestos - From Miracle Mineral To Mesothelioma Menace

During World War II Asbestos was hailed by many as a miracle mineral. Almost anything could be built or manufactured from this mineral. The building and construction industries used it as an additive to strengthen cement and plastics. Asbestos fibers can be separated into thin threads which do not conduct electricity and are not affected by heat or chemicals.

The four main types of asbestos are: Amosite with brown fibers, Anthophyllite with gray fibers, white Christie, and blue Crocidolite. Chrysotile has curly fibers while the other three have rod like fibers. These fibers break into dust quite easily and drift in the air. They can stick on skin, clothing, and can easily be swallowed or inhaled.

Use of asbestos skyrocketed during World War II. Shipbuilding used asbestos extensively in freighters and support vessels to insulate boilers, steam pipes and hot water pipes. Asbestos became the miracle construction material as it was easily obtained, processed, and transported.

After WWII cars used asbestos in break shoes and clutch pads. Asbestos found its way into residential and industrial building materials, water supply, sewage materials, ceiling and floor tiles, and vermiculite garden materials to name a few products.

In the 1970's the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use of asbestos in several products that could release asbestos fibers into the environment during use, following the discoveries of the health dangers of asbestos dust inhalation. Regulations governing the use of asbestos and concern of public opinion since 1970 have created a significant drop in the use of asbestos in the United States.

In 1989 all new uses of asbestos were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency while any old uses before that year were still permitted. The EPA suggested that schools inspect for damaged asbestos and eliminate any exposure or enclose it in protective barriers. Vermiculite, widely used in horticulture, became a concern of the EPA that recommended outdoor use, limiting the amount of dust used, and keeping vermiculite damp.

Asbestos may create serious health hazards such as coughing, lung damage, shortness of breath, and lung cancer. Most people do not become sick in the early stages of development, but usually need continued exposure, often on jobs such as mining, milling, manufacturing asbestos products, and building construction. Firemen, demolition workers, drywall removers, and any other workers in trades that involve destruction of buildings, ships, and automobiles are also exposed to the hazards and risks of asbestos.

Over a period of years continual exposure to asbestos can cause very serious health problems, such as mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare type of carcinoma of the membrane that lines numerous cavities of the body, including the lungs, abdomen and heart, and has been associated with exposure to asbestos dust. In mesothelioma, the cells of the mesothelioma metastasize and damage adjacent organs and tissues.

Risk of developing mesothelioma takes a long period of time, often as long as twenty-five or thirty-five years before full blown symptoms appear. Not all workers who have been exposed will develop diseases caused by asbestos, but workers who have been exposed to it may bring fibers on their clothing, hair, shoes, and skin home to their families. To circumvent this risk, most industries require workers to bathe and change their clothing before they leave work.

Many studies have been conducted involving the risks of diseases caused by exposure to asbestos. The results of one such study involving the risks of smoking and exposure to asbestos proved extremely hazardous.

For further information on asbestos, such as risks, research, lawsuits and disease support groups visit:

http://www.asbestos-headquarters.com

Grant Davis, is a freelance writer and has worked in a variety of fields, including teaching. Feel free to use the above article as long as it is reprinted in its entirety.

Mesothelioma: Treatments For Mesothelioma Cancer

Mesothelioma cancer is currently treated through three treatments, depending on the cancer location, the disease stage, and the patient's general health and age. These treatments are surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, which sometimes are combined to fight the disease in so far as possible.

In a surgery, one of the most common treatments for mesothelioma, the doctor removes part of the lining of the abdomen or the chest and some tissue around it. In a pneumonectomy, the doctor may also remove one lung when the patient has pleural mesothelioma or cancer of the pleura. In other surgical procedure, the doctor may also remove part of the diaphragm, the muscle below the lungs that helps with breathing.

Through these procedures, the medical specialist shall try to excise tumourous tissue arising from this cancer disease. As these operations will reduce the patient's respiratory capacity, the surgeon will evaluate the patient's ability to function after a lung tissue removal, before performing a pneumonectomy.

Another method to fight Mesothelioma is chemotherapy or the use of anticancer drugs to kill cancer cells throughout the body. These drugs are given to the patient by an intravenous procedure, an injection into a vein. Currently, experts are studying the effectiveness of intracavitary chemotherapy or the possibility of giving chemotherapy straight to the chest or abdomen.

Radiotherapy or radiation therapy is the use of high-energy rays to destroy malignant cells and shrink tumors. It is important to know that this medical procedure attacks the cancer cells only in the treated area. There are two ways of giving this therapy. One, external radiation, in which the radiation comes from a machine, and other, internal radiation, where the cancer cells are found after putting materials that produce radiation into the affected area.

Doctor's way to relieve patient's pain is to use a needle or a thin tube to drain fluid that has built up in the abdominal or chest cavities through a procedure called thoracentesis, when it is from the chest, and paracentesis, when the removal is from the abdomen. The specialists may also give the drugs through a tube in the chest to prevent the accumulation of more liquid. Article written by the staff of mesothelioma -10.com a website edited by Hector Milla, if you want to read more articles about mesothelioma cancer information, feel free to visit http://www.mesothelioma-10.com, or http://www.asbestos-10.com by swib asbestos information, you can reprint this article in your website or ezine, always mentioning the author above and keeping a live link.

Mesothelioma ? The 3 Main Types

In general, mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer. Different types of mesothelioma are distinguished between by where the cancer is growing. Pleural mesothelioma, the most common, accounting for 75% of all mesothelioma cases, is where cancerous cells develop on the lining of the lungs. The next most common form of mesothelioma is peritoneal mesothelioma and this is where cancerous cells grow on the peritoneum which is the lining of the abdomen. Pericardial mesothelioma, the least common major form of mesothelioma, makes up roughly 5% of all mesothelioma cases. This is where malignant cancer cells grow on the lining of the heart.

All three of these forms of mesothelioma are caused by asbestos. Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous mineral that was discovered around the 1860s. Due to its highly useful property of being fireproof, asbestos was used greatly in construction in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. It was not until the early 1960s when the severe health hazards that asbestos causes were discovered, that asbestos stopped being used. When exposed to asbestos with insufficient protection a person will breathe in tiny asbestos fibres which are suspended in the air. These fibres pass into the respiratory system until they become lodged in the lining of the lungs. Over time, an accumulation of these asbestos fibres in the lungs can cause pleural mesothelioma. Asbestos fibres may also pass into the lymphatic system and be transported to either the lining of the abdomen or the tissue surrounding the heart. This may cause either peritoneal mesothelioma or pericardial mesothelioma.

In terms of symptoms, the three main types of mesothelioma have some symptoms in common with each other. These symptoms are usual of all three types: chest pain, shortness of breath, coughing, coughing up blood, vomiting, nausea, weight loss and loss of appetite. An additional symptom of pericardial mesothelioma is palpitations.

There are a few treatments for all types of mesothelioma but none of these have a high success rate. The effectiveness of the treatment depends on how early and how aggressively the cancer is treated. If the cancerous cells are treated when they have fully matured and developed then it is unlikely that treatment methods will be successful. Treatment methods include chemotherapy which is the use of drugs to kill the cancer, radiation therapy which uses a radiation dosage to kill off cancerous cells and surgery which attempts to gain long term control over the cancer by removing a large portion of malignant cells. These treatment methods can be combined in the form of dual therapy. For more information on pericardial mesothelioma such as the risks, causes, symptoms and treatments go to: http://www.pericardialmesothelioma.co.uk, http://www.pericardial-mesothelioma.co.uk and http://www.asbestos-resource.co.uk

Mesothelioma Victims - True Stories

Mesothelioma is as serious of a condition as any possible. Diagnosis usually precedes an extended and painful death. New technology for treating the disease provides some hope for the victims, but with the skyrocketing cost of medical care in America, most of these new treatments can only be used by the wealthiest of people. Still, treatments such as angiogenesis, gene therapy and photodynamic therapy provide the most hope for mesothelioma victims who dont respond well to conventional treatment methods.

Hope is the most important aspect for victims of Mesothelioma. Hope provides strength and fighting a disease like mesothelioma requires an incredible amount of strength. Many victims draw strength from their families, or spiritual convictions, while others take stock of life of accomplishments and resolve themselves to preserver though their struggle. As long as these victims still have hope, their struggle against mesothelioma is never in vain.

Here is a true story from a mesothelioma victim.

At 42, I never thought that I would be facing a terminal illness, especially one relating to the lungs. I've never smoked and have lead a relatively healthy life. I have two beautiful daughters who will be heading to college soon - and I may not be alive to see their graduation.
I was actually thinking of my oldest daughter's upcoming prom as I drove to my primary care doctor to discuss a reoccurring cough that I had had for the past few months. Three other visits had not resulted in any diagnosis; but when my doctors office called the previous day, they said I should go in to the office to discuss the next step.
As I left the office in a daze an hour later, I realized my life was changed forever. I had been given the devastating news that I had mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer that is currently untreatable. I was in shock to learn a few weeks later that my disease was a result of doing my husband's laundry when he returned from work each day as a carpenter. Facing huge medical expenses and a limited time with my family, I don't know where to turn...
-Kathleen
Age 42

If you or a loved one has been affected by Mesothelioma you might have the right to seek compensation for your suffering. Please visit http://www.resource4mesothelioma.com for more information.
 

 

Mesothelioma Treatment

Like all other types of cancer, mesothelioma is incurable. Although doctors and scientists have made a great deal of progress for diagnosing and treating these malignancies, there is still no current way to completely get rid of it.

When a group of cells mutates uncontrollably and starts invading and killing healthy cells, this is called cancer. In certain areas of the body where cells reproduce rapidly there tends to be a greater chance of risk because one cancer cell can multiply exponentially in a very quick period of time. Most cancers are caused by external stimuli and mesothelioma is no different. Mesothelioma cancer is caused by exposure to carcinogens such as asbestos.

The affected areas from mesothelioma cancer are the lining of the internal organs in the body. Because of the location of the infected cells, mesothelioma does not respond well to conventional treatments unlike most other forms of cancer. In addition, there are no blatant symptoms of the disease, so doctors cannot properly diagnose the illness until its significantly advanced. Because of these factors, the effectiveness of many conventional treatments are limited.

When treating mesothelioma, doctors use several treatment options. Surgery, radiation treatments and chemotherapy have been traditional options for slowing the growth of cancerous cells. Doctors dealing with mesothelioma have to plan an innovative method of attack to combat this condition. New treatments like angiogenesis, photodynamic and gene therapy hold new hope for victims of mesothelioma everywhere. Depending on the state and location of the cancer, doctors will choose the best course of action for the circumstances. If its discovered early enough, doctors can prolong the life of the victim, but sadly cannot cure the disease.

This article can be freely reprinted as long as this resource box is included and all links stay in-tact as hyper links. For more information on Mesothelioma cancer please visit http://www.resource4mesothelioma.com

Finding A Mesothelioma Attorney

As with anything in life, when looking for legal assistance to claim compensation for asbestos injury you want to get the best legal advice going. This is particularly true with legal cases involving an injury such as mesothelioma, where millions of dollars in compensation could be at stake. Selecting the right mesothelioma lawyer could make a big difference to the success of your lawsuit, and also the amount of compensation you receive as settlement for your injury.
The first thing you need to look for in a mesothelioma lawyer is experience. The rise in mesothelioma cases coming to light has seen a boom in the number of specialist mesothelioma lawyers in operation, and these skilled professionals have built up established links to help with many aspects of your mesothelioma lawsuit. An experience mesothelioma lawyer will have the necessary knowledge, experience, contacts and resources to put together a solid case and increase your chances of success.
Using an experienced mesothelioma lawyer will also enable you to check the law firms track record when it comes to success rate with mesothelioma cases. Before you make any commitment to a lawyer or law firm, you should check how many mesothelioma cases the firm or lawyer has dealt with in the past, and how many of these have been successful. A good, experienced mesothelioma lawyer will be happy to answer these questions for you. Some lawyers will even be able to give you an idea for the figures involved with their successful cases, although they obviously wont be able to divulge information about the plaintiff for confidentiality reasons.
When looking for the right mesothelioma lawyer, you should also look into the firms fee structure. Many mesothelioma lawyers now operate on a contingency fee basis, which means that you will only pay a fee for legal assistance if and when you are awarded compensation. This payment structure offers peace of mind, enabling you to pursue legal action without the worry of ending up with huge legal bills even if you do not get compensation for your illness.
Make sure that you feel comfortable with the lawyer that you select, as you will need to be completely honest and frank with your mesothelioma lawyer in order to maximize the chances of a successful lawsuit. Even if you go with a law firm that states that they specialize in mesothelioma cases, make sure that you also check on the experience of the specific lawyer assigned to your case, as this will ensure that you get someone that has the skills and knowledge necessary to help you get compensation.
By taking the time to find the right mesothelioma lawyer to deal with your case, you can benefit from assistance from a specialist that has the connections and knowledge to maximize on your chances of success. You can also benefit from a no win no fee payment structure, which means that you wont have to pay for the legal service if the mesothelioma lawyer is unsuccessful in securing you compensation. However, if you opt for a mesothelioma lawyer that has plenty of experience within this particular field, you can reduce the chances of your lawsuit failing and increase the chances of getting a substantial sum of compensation for your injury.

Visit http://www.MesotheliomaFirms.com to find a mesothelioma attorney.