Sunday, 8 July 2007

Mesothelioma cancer - SYMPTOMS OF MESOTHELIOMA

Everyone is probably aware that people are able to develop an illness or even cancer from exposure to harmful chemicals. But did you know, people come in contact with these chemicals in the workplace without their knowledge? The type of cancer developed from these harmful chemicals, asbestos, is called Mesothelioma.

Continual exposure to asbestos in the workplace causes cancer cells to form in the body. This cancer generally affects the lungs, but in some instances, the cancer is able to develop in the abdominal cavity of the heart.Many people question why asbestos is so harmful to people if it is comprised of minerals that naturally appear within the environment. The reason why it is pernicious is quite simple; Asbestos causes an unnatural and harmful reaction within the body.

Unlike other minerals found in the environment, the minerals that comprise asbestos are unaffected by fire and heat. They do not dissolve, evaporate into the air, nor contain an odor. In addition, the minerals in asbestos are tasteless. Thus giving the harmful chemicals free range to enter your body through inhalation. For some reason, many companies avoid warning workers on the presence and danger of asbestos. Sometimes, the companies are unaware of the presence of asbestos, but most often they are negligent and flat out do not warn their workers of the dangerous chemicals that engulf the workplace.

Employees unknowingly work within these environments for months or years on end, unequipped with proper protective gear. When a workplace is filled with asbestos, the threat of malignant Mesothelioma is very much present.

mesothelioma cancer

Thursday, 5 July 2007

Mesothelioma Treatment

Mesothelioma is a cancerous disease that affects the serous linings of various internal organs in the human body. Among them, the lungs, heart and the stomach are the mostly affected.

It is estimated that each year, 2,000 new cases of Mesothelioma are reported. The patients suffering from this cancerous disease have had prior exposure to asbestos, which is considered to be the only known cause of Mesothelioma. Mesotheliomic patients are often told of the short survival duration of 6 - 12 months. But doctors specialized in treating malignant Mesothelioma at leading cancer centers expect better survival rates. Though Mesothelioma causes immense pain and suffering to the victim along with short life expectancy, certain treatments have resulted in the successful reduction and removal of the cancerous tumors of Mesothelioma.

Treatment of Mesothelioma depends on many factors, including the stage of the cancer, the circulation of the malignant cells, pathology reports determining the nature of the cancer cells and patient's age and health. Following is a detail description of the options for Mesothelioma Treatment.

CHEMOTHERAPY: Chemotherapy is a "systematic treatment" of Mesothelioma that uses drugs, chemicals and medicines in an efficient manner to kill cancer cells. It is given to patients in either pills form or is injected directly into the body. In some cases, the medicines are directly inserted into the chest, known as intrapleural chemotherapy, or into the abdomen, known as intraperitoneal chemotherapy, to destroy the growth of cancerous cells. It is also given to patients before and after a surgery to limit the growth of Mesothelioma cancer.

The widely used pemetrexed, Alimta ®, is given in combination of Cisplatin (a standard platinum compound) to treat pleural Mesothelioma. The drug was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in February, 2004. The working of this drug is simple: it enters the blood stream of a patient and kills the cancer cells throughout the body, while stopping the malignant cell growth. The drug has some side-effects for which vitamin B 12 and folic acid is given to the patients undergoing this treatment.

Laura Simmon is a professional health writer having expertise in the field of Mesothelioma Cancer. To view more of her articles, please vist:Mesothelioma Cancer

Saturday, 23 June 2007

Mesothelioma, What Is It And How It Develops

Mesothelioma is avery rare type of cancer that develop in the outer membrane of some internal organs of the human body, it may develop in the outer membrane of the lungs which known as the pleura, may develop in the outer membrane of the internal organs in the abdominal cavity and may develop in the outer membrane of the heart which known as the pericardium.

Pleural mesothelioma or the cancer of lung lining is the most common type of mesothelioma cancer and often be assocated with the asbestos exposure. Asbestos are several minerals that was used in the manufacturing companies, workers which was in the asbestos environment are the most people who can develop mesothelioma due to the direct contact with the asbestos particles, by inhalation asbestos fibers can enter the chest cavity and settle in the plera (the lung lining) and couse chronic inflammation which may cause malignant tumors after several years.

Pericardial mesothelioma is less common than pleural mesothelioma and related to asbestos exposure, in this type the asbestos particles settle in the pericardium (the heart lining). Scientests don't know hwo asbestos can get in pericardium, there is an imagine way in which asbestos particles are transfered from the pleura to blood steam then to the heart, the heart bumbs them to the pericardium and the disease start to grow there.

Peritoneal mesothelioma is another type of mesothelioma and affects the peritonium. Peritonium is the outer membrane of internal organs in the abdominal cavity. Peritoneal mesothelioma is often related to asbestos exposure.

Mesothelioma symptoms may be shortness of breath, cough, chest pain and general weakness. Mesothelioma diagnosis is very difficult, as its symptoms are very simillar to other kinds of diseases take very lomg time to appeare 25-50 years. The options of treatments are confined to surgery, chemotherapy ( special chemicals to kill the cancerous cells) and radiotherapy ( using some kind of radiations to get rid of the cancerous cells).

By El Husseiny Shahin a mesothelioma activist and the owner of mesothelioma activists website