Mesothelioma is a disease caused by exposure to the asbestos dust. The most unfortunate aspect of this disease is that its symptoms do not appear soon enough or within a short enough time after exposure to the asbestos dust. This complicates matters because when the symptoms finally appear, in most cases, they are not associated with the disease. It takes very long time, sometimes even decades, for the symptoms to appear in form of obdurate cough, shortness of breath and chest pain. Initially, the unsuspecting patient and even his family physician associate these symptoms with common diseases like pneumonia. It is when the disease starts spreading to other organs of the body that the doctors apprehend and tend to trace the origin of the symptoms of this life-threatening condition.
The other symptoms that appear are weight loss, breathing difficulty, fever and difficulty in swallowing food. The voice pattern may also change and the cough may be accompanied by blood; there also may be swelling on the neck and face.
Other symptoms can be in the form of pain in the abdomen, loss of appetite, nausea, palpitation of the heart and vomiting. There may also be anemia and clotting of the blood. The best course of action is that a person should inform the doctor about any regular or inadvertent and short exposure to asbestos dust. Even acute symptoms of mesothelioma may be mistakenly associated with other diseases.
There are, however, some patients who do not show any important symptoms at all. Tumors may develop around the heart and can spread to other parts of the body. As the time passes and the disease grows older, the symptoms of all the three types of Mesothelioma—pleural, peritoneal and pericardial—start appearing in more vigorous form. Even at this stage, the symptoms are likely to be confused with other diseases. It is important not to ignore symptoms that continue to persist over a long time. It is also necessary to know the symptoms of all the three forms of mesothelioma so that the disease can be identified in the nascent stage. The delay in identifying these symptoms may allow the disease to take firm roots in the system, and then it may become too late to treat it.
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Mesothelioma Symptoms: An Overview
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Malignant mesotheliomas are rare cancers that form in the tissues lining the lungs (pleura), abdomen (peritoneum) or heart (pericardium). Pleural mesothelioma, which affects the lining of the lungs, is the most common, accounting for about 75 percent of all malignant mesotheliomas. Between ten and twenty...
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Mesothelioma Pleural Symptoms
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Mesothelioma Pleural or Pleural Mesothelioma is generally a severe form of cancer that affects the membrane lining in the thoracic cavity. There are a few benign cases as well. The inhaling of asbestos dust either during the mining or manufacturing or handling of the material...
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Mesothelioma and Asbestos
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Mesothelioma is an uncommon form of cancer, commonly linked with prior exposure to asbestos. In this disease, cancerous cells grow in the protective lining (mesothelium) covering the internal organs of the body. This disease is commonly located in the outer lining of the chest cavity...
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Mesothelioma Symptoms: An Introduction
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Mesothelioma is a deadly and rare form of cancer that has developed from exposure to asbestos. The inhaling of the highly toxic asbestos is the major cause of mesothelioma. The ingested particles of asbestos develop the cancerous or malignant cells in the mesothelium. Mesothelium is...
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Misdiagnosed Pleural Mesothelioma
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Let us take the scenario of a seventy-year-old man, who is a nonsmoker and otherwise fairly healthy, approaching the local doctor with complaints of persistent cough, chest congestion and weight loss. Other symptoms may include difficulty in swallowing and loss of appetite. The physician has...
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Clinical Mesothelioma Symptoms
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Many people who have clinical symptoms of mesothelioma have advanced disease at the time of diagnosis. This is because symptoms tend to present late in most cases. The majority of people have symptoms for only two or three months before a diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma...
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A Guide To Peritoneal Mesothelioma
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Approximately 10-20 percent of the cases of mesothelioma begin in the lining of the abdominal cavity (peritoneal mesotheliomas). This type of mesothelioma does not respond well to treatment, but is less common than pleural mesothelioma, which affects the membrane covering the lungs. Since it is...
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Mesothelioma Diagnosis: An Overview
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The diagnosis of any disease follows only after the appearance of the symptoms. The problem with Mesothelioma is that its symptoms sometimes appear decades after the patient had been exposed to the asbestos dust. By this time, it is usually too late for treatment because...
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Pleural Mesothelioma Information
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Pleural mesothelioma is the most common existing form of this malignancy, and it is more often than not a direct consequence of exposure to asbestos. One can get minor tumors with mesothelioma, but the malignant form is the most widespread. Inhaling asbestos fibers puts you...
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Mesothelioma Doctor Research
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Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer. It afflicts persons who have worked in asbestos- related industries like asbestos mines, shipyards, insulation factories and construction sites. Initially, the workers in these establishments were unaware that the exposure to the asbestos dust could result in such...