Mesothelioma - What It Is and Why It Happens

Mesothelioma - What It Is and Why It Happens  Mesothelioma is a disorder of the protective layer that covers a number of our organs. This protective layer is termed as 'Mesothelium'. The mesothelial lining of organs secretes a lubricating fluid allowing a simple movement of organs in the human body.

Mesothelioma is located mostly in people who are encountered with asbestos for any continuously long time. It can take about 30-50 years to seem.

Mesothelioma is usually an infrequent disease. This disease became common in the twentieth century when asbestos was widely used in many industries like shipyards, power plants, steel plants and refineries etc. Smoking is not the reason behind mesothelioma affecting lungs, but it can increase the risk in individuals handling asbestos.

ORGANS INVOLVED:

Mesothelioma may be benign or malignant. The most commonly involved organs include:

• The pleura (around the lungs), 
• The pericardium (surrounding the heart), 
• The peritoneum (all around the abdomen) and 
• The tunica vaginalis (around the genitals)

BENIGN MESOTHELIOMA:

This form mostly affects men than women. The area involved typically could be the pleura in the lungs and chest cavity.

Most for these cases go asymptomatic for any while period. Symptoms can arise because of enlargement of the tumor causing pressure on surrounding structures. In such cases, it can cause:

Cough, Weight loss, Shortness of breath and Chest pain.

Sometimes an X-ray performed for just about any other reason may pick-up the finding the very first time. Diagnosis could be confirmed with the CT scan or lung biopsy.

Surgical removal of this tumor is the treatment.

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MALIGNANT MESOTHELIOMA:

It comes from a long term experience of asbestos. Like benign lesion, that one also goes un-noticed for a long time duration of about 20-30 years. Once the symptoms appear, they will often include:

• Chest pain, 
• Weight loss, 
• Cough, 
• Easy fatigability, 
• Abdominal pain and Shortness of breath.

Diagnosis could possibly be confirmed by CT scan or lung or pleural biopsy like for benign tumor.

Unlike the benign lesion, malignant mesothelioma can't be removed surgically unless diagnosed at quite an earlier stage. Most from the times when it is diagnosed it can be already quite late. The only options thus left for treatment include chemotherapy or radiation. These do not cure the condition completely; they just aid in reducing the symptoms.

If it's left untreated, the normal survival age drops to never more than about nine months. But even with the procedure is started, the prognosis depends upon the stage with the tumor, those a reaction to tumor along with the general health condition in the patient.

CONCLUSION:

Although rare, nevertheless it can be a disease that could be avoided by avoiding experience of asbestos. But those doing work in industries working with asbestos are at particular risk. Although such industries have their own regulations and rules now based on which they provide compensation to such workers who get afflicted with this condition, yet once diagnosed as a malignant lesion, it's not reversible.

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