Wednesday, March 3, 2010

How Someone Becomes A Mesothelioma Patient And What Is The Way Out

By Carl Philips

Mesothelioma is a kind of cancer that's almost always caused by being exposed to asbestos. In this illness, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers the majority of the body's internal organs. Its most typical site is the pleura ( outer lining of the lungs and internal chest wall ), but it could also happen in the peritoneum ( the lining of the intestinal cavity ), the heart, the pericardium ( a sac that surrounds the heart ) or tunica vaginalis.

Mesothelioma patient is a person who is afflicted by mesothelioma cancer. The cancer is very rare compared to other forms of cancers and is mostly noticed only after it reaches complex junctures. These two and these two features results in the cancer becoming more dangerous than other cancers. In most cases, a person gets affected after inhaling air filled with asbestos specks for protracted periods and workers employed in asbestos mining or those working in factories which use asbestos extensively are the most affected ones. Sometimes, even family members of these employees and the populace living next to asbestos mines contract this deadly disease accidentally.

A mesothelioma patient has the right of law to ask for compensation for the physical damage, the resultant sufferings, income loss due to loss of health and medical expenses. Even family members are entitled in some cases to seek damages. As the disease is detected usually after it has assumed gargantuan proportions, medical help may not be immensely successful. But monetary compensation from the employer or the government can act as a cushion to expenses incurred in diagnosis and treatment.

Mesothelioma is a deadly disease that affects the mesothelium, a protective coating on crucial organs like lungs, heart, abdomen, liver, etc. The thin fibers of asbestos cause some chemical reactions in the mesothelium cells, which result in abnormal division of these cells and the membrane becomes cancerous. Symptoms become visible only after the infection reaches our vital internal organs and by then, the situation would be too bad for effective recovery. The usual symptoms a mesothelioma patient may witness are difficulty in breathing, pain around the chest, continued cough, high fever and so on. In many cases, the cancer is detected when a physician conduct detailed tests for treating some other minor ailments like fever, pain and cough.

Mesothelioma patients are classified into four groupings depending on the severity of the infection. Stage-1 and 2 are curable through conventional treatments, but stage 3 and 4 mesothelioma patients may not be that lucky. New treatments like photodynamic therapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy etc are being increasingly put to use to ensure a fighting chance to every mesothelioma patient.

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