Mesothelioma & Asbestos Lung Cancer

Mesothelioma? What the heck is mesothelioma anyway? Answer: mesothelioma is a form of cancer. The diseased mesothelioma patient will have cancer cells lining their body cavities including the area around the patient's heart and the chest (lungs.) Mesothelioma is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. And it doesn't take much exposure to asbestos to develop mesothelioma: exposure to even the smallest amount of asbestos on a regular basis can cause mesothelioma. Smoking greatly exacerbates the situation, dramatically increasing the risk for the individual to develop mesothelioma.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted an asbestos survey in the mid 1980's. In that survey, the EPA concluded that 20 percent of all buildings in the United States--including schools and office buildings--contain cancer causing asbestos.

How Come I've Never Heard of Mesothelioma?

The reason you may not be familiar with the term "mesothelioma" is because it is a relatively rare form of cancer. However, it should be noted that mesothelioma cases have been on the rise in the past 20 years. Men are more likely than women to develop mesothelioma but this doesn't mean that women don't get the disease. Mesothelioma can strike any man or any women at any given age.

Who Gets Mesothelioma? Am I At Risk?

If you work with or around asbestos then your chances of developing mesothelioma are greatly increased when compared to individuals with no exposure to asbestos. Of all reported cases of mesothelioma, 75 percent of patients indicated regular exposure to asbestos at their place of employment. It is important to note here that there have been cases of mesothelioma where the individual has had no known exposure to asbestos.

How Do I Recognize Mesothelioma?
What Are the Symptoms?

Many cases of pleural mesothelioma are misdiagnosed because the symptoms are very similar to other less serious diseases. Symptoms include a persistent cough, weight loss, dyspnea (dyspnea is a severe shortness of breath, much like the symptoms of asthma) and fatigue. Another form of the disease called peritoneal mesothelioma will manifest itself by causing pain in the abdominal area, a loss of overall body weight and abdominal swelling. If the cancer has metastasized (metastasis is the spreading of cancer from one part of the body to other parts) then symptoms may include difficulty swallowing and swelling of the facial and neck area.

The frightening thing about this disease is that these symptoms may not manifest themselves until 25-45 years after exposure! A Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan (MRI), CT Scan or x-ray are often needed to make a proper diagnosis of mesothelioma. It is very important that mesothelioma is diagnosed and treated as early in the disease as possible for the cancer cells of mesothelioma are particularly resilient.

Asbestos: What is Asbestos Anyway?

Asbestos, believe it or not, is actually a naturally occurring, crystallized mineral. Asbestos crystals form long thin fibers that are remarkably strong and resistant to a wide variety of extremes including heat, cold, electricity, acids, alkalis, brine, dust, vibration, corrosion and more! Incredible, eh? As you might have guessed, these properties of asbestos made it a very popular substance used in many different industries throughout the industrialized world.

There are 4 distinct forms of asbestos that have been used in commercial and industrial applications:

• Crocidolite (blue asbestos)
• Amosite (brown asbestos)
• Chrysotile (white asbestos)
• Anthophyllite (gray asbestos)
  

Amosite and crocidolite are considered to be the most dangerous forms of asbestos.

Exposure to the volcanic, non-asbestos fiber erionite can also cause malignant mesothelioma (click here for more reading about erionite.)

Besides causing mesothelioma, inhaled asbestos can also cause asbestosis (fibrosis or scarring of the lungs.) Just a single asbestos fiber lodged in a human lung can cause mesothelioma.

The dangers of asbestos were not understood for many years. As a result, many buildings -- including homes, schools, offices and apartment complexes -- were constructed with asbestos used for insulation, etc. So if you take anything from this website, take this: if you live in a building that was constructed over 30 years ago, make sure that the building has been tested for asbestos, especially if you have young children. Your health and the health of your children may depend on your actions. There are many inexpensive asbestos test kits available. Isn't your peace of mind worth $10?

In the past few years, as many as two to three thousand (2000 to 3000) cases of mesothelioma lung cancer have been diagnosed each year.

Treatment for Asbestos Lung Cancer (Mesothelioma)

• Chemotherapy
  
  
• Surgery
  
  
• Radiation Therapy
  
  
• Intraoperative photodynamic therapy (a relatively new procedure where special light and drugs are combined to attack the cancer during surgery.
  
  
• Unconventional Therapies (like holistic medicine in conjunction with radical lifestyle changes*.)