Mesothelioma Cancer: Early Warning Signs and Causes
What is Mesothelioma?
Chances are you may never have heard of mesothelioma cancer unless you or a relative have the disease. Still considered as a rare cancer, it has been popularized by its linkage to asbestos.
Exactly what is mesothelioma cancer or malignant mesothelioma? Malignant mesothelioma is a deadly cancer of the mesothelium, or lining of the lung and chest cavity. However, it sometimes can be a deadly cancer of the peritoneum (the lining of the abdomen). It is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos, and is slow forming - often taking between 20-50 years to develop after exposure to asbestos.
Malignant Mesothelioma Symptoms
Symptoms of malignant mesothelioma in the lung and chest cavity are as follows:
- Shortness of breath
- Cough
- Weight Loss
- Chest Pain
Symptoms of malignant mesothelioma in the abdomen are as follows:
- Abdominal swelling and pain
- Weight Loss
Wondering How You Could Have Gotten Mesothelioma Cancer?
Several diseases are associated with exposure to asbestos. They include: malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis, pleural effusion, pleural plaques and thickening, and lung cancer.
Prior to 1975 asbestos fibers were commonly used. You could have been exposed to asbestos while working at any number of different industries. Chief among the possibilities would be jobs at asbestos mining and milling plants, shipyards, fireproofing and heating, construction, automotive repair, insulation, pipefitting and boilermaking.
If you did not work in one of these industries or another that used asbestos, it is also possible that you could have been exposed if someone in your household worked with asbestos and carried asbestos fibers home on his or her clothing, hair or body. You may also have been exposed indirectly by living near asbestos mines.
Although it is true that most patients with malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer or other asbestos-related diseases likely had prolonged exposure to asbestos over a long period of time, it is also possible for one to develop one of these diseases from a brief exposure to asbestos.
The odds of developing lung cancer from smoking also increases significantly from exposure to asbestos. Although most people with lung cancer are told that their lung cancer was caused from smoking, if you or someone you know has lung cancer and also worked in an environment that gave you exposure to asbestos, it is highly recommended that you contact an attorney that specializes in handling mesothelioma and lung cancer cases caused by exposure to asbestos. The justice system has been very generous in its rewards to people who suffer diseases caused by asbestos exposure.
To learn more about mesothelioma cancer I recommend you visit Mesothelioma Cancer Online when searching for web resources covering mesothelioma cancer. Mesothelioma-Cancer-Online.com is an excellent resource center that offers recommendations and directory listings for numerous websites related to mesothelioma cancer, along with articles and books about mesothelioma cancer.
About the Author:
Craig Whitley is a widely-published author, publisher of numerous e-books and articles about a wide variety of subjects, and owner of the popular search engine Seek Dolphin. He routinely scouts the Internet for excellent online resources like Mesothelioma Cancer Online when writing articles about mesothelioma cancer and other health-related subjects.
Feel free to publish this article on your website, provided you include this author's resource box and leave all article content unchanged and intact, keeping all urls addresses hyperlinked.
Related Asbestos News and Articles From adzines
Mesothelioma: What is it? Mesothelioma is a malignant cancerous disease of the cells lining the patient's body cavities such as chest, abdominal region or the area surrounding the heart. It is thought to be associated with exposure to asbestos, and this asbestos association has been documented in 70-80% of all mesothelioma cases. Asbestos cancer or mesothelioma is very difficult to assess and diagnose consistently. The time between exposure and the onset of the disease, and the rate of progression of malignant mesothelioma, make diagnosis very difficult.
Working with asbestos is the major risk factor for mesothelioma cancer. A history of asbestos exposure at work is reported in about 70 percent to 80 percent of all cases. However, mesothelioma has been reported in some individuals without any known exposure to asbestos.
Since the late 1800's Asbestos has been mined and used commercially. The use of Asbestos dramatically increased during World War II and since the early 1940's millions of Americans have been exposed to asbestos dust working within industries where initally the risks were not known. There has been widespread exposure to Asbestos by workers within shipyards, mines and mills, producers of asbestos products, workers in the heating and construction industries, and other tradespeople and an increase risk of deveolping mesothelioma has been the result. .
Cancer is a disease in which certain body cells don't function right, divide very fast and produce too much tissue that forms a tumor. A leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women is probably lung cancer. This is the number one cause of cancer deaths surpassing breast cancer as the leading cause of deaths in women. Cancers that begin in the lungs are divided into two major types, the non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer depending on how the cells look under a microscope.
Mesothelioma attorneys It is very important to work with specialized mesothelioma attorneys. They specialize in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits based on exposure of asbestos and other related asbestos lawsuit cases.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Mesothelioma
Many people have never heard of Mesothelioma and are unaware of its symptoms. Although considered a rare form of cancer, each year the number of cases grows. With the prevalence of this disease on the rise, it is critical to understand why and how Mesothelioma develops and what courses of action can be taken in the event of diagnosis. The following is a list of frequently asked questions and answers that will provide you with some information on Mesothelioma, and the legal issues surrounding it.
When I was 17 old I started working at an asbestos mine in the Yukon. I had the excitement of youth and looked on the thing as a big adventure.
Research offers hope of cure for mesothelioma. A laboratory mouse fully recovered from mesothelioma and built up immunity to further tumors during trials of a new mesothelioma research & treatment regime being tested by West Australian researchers.
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