All About Asbestos Lung Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma cancer is basically caused by inhaling asbestos particles at work places. There are three types of mesothelioma cancer based on the area where the infection occurs. The three types are the pleural mesothelioma, affecting the mesothelium around the lung cavities; the peritoneal, attacking the lining of the abdomen; and the pericardial, infecting the heart cavities. The first one, which affects the lining of the lungs, is also known as asbestos lung mesothelioma since it affects the lung cavities and is caused by asbestos exposure.
The pleural mesothelioma is surely a life threatening disease. It may also happen that the infection spreads all long the lung and it has to be removed. The fine fibers of asbestos settle down in the pleural linings. It triggers some chemical reactions resulting in harmful cell division. As a consequence pleural effusion and thickening of the layer happens obstructing the easy motion of the lungs causing breathing problems. The infection may take years and decades to reach this advanced stage.
Diagnosing pleural mesothelioma becomes sometimes extremely difficult, especially if the doctor is nor skillful in the field. Many symptoms of this cancer are similar to the symptoms of other diseases like pneumonia. Sometimes mesothelioma diagnosis takes place when the patient goes to the doctor for some other treatment. An expert physician would ask the health and medical history of such patients before conducting imaging tests, lung tests or biopsy.
Chronic cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, loss of body weight, night sweat, fever etc are the most common symptoms of asbestos lung mesothelioma. Some patients may show some of the symptoms, but others might not develop any symptom at all. This trait of the cancer has often created confusions resulting in failure to detect the cancer or wrong diagnosis.
The most common symptoms of asbestos lung mesothelioma is shortness of breath, chronic cough, fatigue at the least exertion, loss of body weight for no assumable reason, fever, night sweat etc. Some patients may show only two or three of these while some others would remain totally free of symptoms. This character of the cancer has often resulted in failure to detect or wrong diagnosis which eventually confounds the situation. If the infection is only at the initial stages, doctors prefer conventional treatments like surgery. If required, additional therapies like chemotherapy to preempt the spread of the cancer further and radiation therapy to remove the remnants of cancer through high energy or particle beams are also resorted to.
