Mesothelioma symptoms can appear at any time up to 50 years after the exposure to asbestos. This makes it a difficult disease to diagnose. Screening is sometimes done, and can sometimes be effective to some degree although there are no standard accepted screening methods yet.
This disease is a type of cancer, but a relatively rare one. For example, for people exposed to smoking, the incidence is about 1 in a thousand, which compares to 1 in a million for mesothelioma. Although smoking does not cause the disease directly, it can increase the risk when combined with asbestos exposure.
The symptoms of this disease might include such things as coughing, swelling and pain of the abdomen, blood in the fluid coughed up, jaundice, low blood sugar level, bowel obstruction, general pain, difficulty swallowing, shortness of breath, pain in the chest, weight loss, blood clotting problems, anemia, fever, and swelling of the neck or face. Different stages of this disease can cause different symptoms. Also there are different symptoms typical for different sub-types of the disease, such as pleural mesothelioma and the much less common peritoneal mesothelioma.
Diagnosis of this disease is often very difficult because the same symptoms can easily be a result of much less serious medical conditions. Asbestos exposure suggests that the disease might be possible, and chest X-ray and lung function tests can help to confirm a diagnosis. Further confirmation can be made by performing a biopsy of effected tissue, where the sample is inspected in detail by a pathologist using a microscope. Sometimes the fluid from the chest cavity is also examined in order to support the diagnosis.
Treatments for the disease, once it has been diagnosed might include radiation and chemo therapies as well as surgery. These treatments are often given in combination rather than singly. The amounts of money awarded in mesothelioma claims can be very considerable. What might appear to be a mesothelioma symptom is far more likely to be caused by some much less dangerous medical condition.
This disease is a type of cancer, but a relatively rare one. For example, for people exposed to smoking, the incidence is about 1 in a thousand, which compares to 1 in a million for mesothelioma. Although smoking does not cause the disease directly, it can increase the risk when combined with asbestos exposure.
The symptoms of this disease might include such things as coughing, swelling and pain of the abdomen, blood in the fluid coughed up, jaundice, low blood sugar level, bowel obstruction, general pain, difficulty swallowing, shortness of breath, pain in the chest, weight loss, blood clotting problems, anemia, fever, and swelling of the neck or face. Different stages of this disease can cause different symptoms. Also there are different symptoms typical for different sub-types of the disease, such as pleural mesothelioma and the much less common peritoneal mesothelioma.
Diagnosis of this disease is often very difficult because the same symptoms can easily be a result of much less serious medical conditions. Asbestos exposure suggests that the disease might be possible, and chest X-ray and lung function tests can help to confirm a diagnosis. Further confirmation can be made by performing a biopsy of effected tissue, where the sample is inspected in detail by a pathologist using a microscope. Sometimes the fluid from the chest cavity is also examined in order to support the diagnosis.
Treatments for the disease, once it has been diagnosed might include radiation and chemo therapies as well as surgery. These treatments are often given in combination rather than singly. The amounts of money awarded in mesothelioma claims can be very considerable. What might appear to be a mesothelioma symptom is far more likely to be caused by some much less dangerous medical condition.
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