Diagnosis of Pleural Mesothelioma

There is no cure for mesothelioma at the time being. However, early diagnosis will certainly help and provide the doctors a great opportunity to alleviate the pain and prolong the lives of the patients. The success of all mesothelioma treatments highly depends on the condition or the progression of the cancer.

Common Pleural Mesothelioma Treatments

Radiation—any kinds of cancer are usually treated with very high doses of radiation to get rid of cancerous cells. This is the first among the other steps to be done because of its effectiveness if performed correctly and followed faithfully. However, during the operation of the cancerous cells, some healthy cells can also be hit causing other minor health problems.

Chemotherapy—this is also a very common treatment for all cancer patients. This kind of treatment will induce very strong anti-cancer medicines and drugs to inhibit the growth of the tumors and other cancerous cells. And due to the high dosage of those drugs, other severe health problems can be experienced by the patients.

Surgery—in severe cases, this step is taken to help the patients even if the best results are not guaranteed. For pleural mesothelioma patients, surgery will include draining of the fluids from the lungs, removing all or just parts of the infected organs and in most severe cases, lungs will be removed and replaced with artificial or new lungs.

Asbestos companies have known the dangers and effects of their products to their employees but instead of taking action to fight prevent these cancerous effects, they tried to conceal the information from the public until the irrecoverable damages had been done.

Pericardial Mesothelioma: Pierces the Heart ‘til Death

Pericardial mesothelioma or mesothelioma of the pericardium is the rarest of all types of mesothelioma. It comprises 5% of all reported and documented cases of mesothelioma. Aside from being the rarest, it is also the most painful type since it pierces the heart until the patient dies.

The heart, an organ responsible for blood circulation, needs to move constantly and properly. And since it constantly pumps blood, constant lubrication is required. The lubrication comes from the thin layer of mucous that surrounds it.

The protective sac that provides lubrication and protection to the heart is called “pericardium”. Although there is no definite explanation why asbestos fumes reach the outer lining of the heart, it is believed that they enter the body through breathing and traveled through bloodstream. In fact, one of the reasons why pericardial mesothelioma is the rarest type of mesothelioma is because patients who are exposed to asbestos can easily have pleural mesothelioma. Asbestos fumes, if there are lots of them, will damage the pleura before they can damage the pericardium. In layman’s term, asbestos fumes that reach the heart are just the excess fumes from the lungs.

Just like any other types of mesothelioma, asbestos fibers will shred the protective lining that protects the certain vital organ, in this case, the pericardium. Irritation over a long period of time will help the growth of cancerous cells and kill the healthy ones. Tumors will then start to show up and grow larger in size. Unfortunately, symptoms of pericardial mesothelioma start to show when cancer is in its most advanced stage living the patients and doctors helpless.

Common symptoms of pericardial mesothelioma include;

• Shortness of breath
• Strong palpitations of the heart
• Various level of chest pain
• Heart failure
• Coughing

Since pericardial mesothelioma is in the very sensitive organ in the body, doctors have very few options to help the patients. Light radiation treatment is the first in the list; this will eventually slow down the spread of the cancerous cells but it cannot provide much comfort to the part of the patients. Because of this, chemotherapy will be used to boost the effect of the radiation treatment.

Another type of treatment used by doctors is the so-called “fine needle aspiration” which draws out excess fluids from pericardium; this treatment will help ease some symptoms.

However, in most severe and rare cases, surgery is called into action to literally remove the pericardium to help slow down the growth of mesothelioma. Although this treatment is the last on the list, it still will not cure pericardial mesothelioma patients. It is because cancer may have spread thoroughly in the body even before the discovery of the cancer.

There is no absolute cure for any types of mesothelioma. All treatments are done to prolong and make the lives of the patients easier while waiting for their time to come. But don’t lose faith as there were testimonies about the people suffering from this kind of disease but made their way out.

Keep posted to know who they are. We are currently contacting them to share their experiences and how they cheated death.

Peritoneal Mesothelioma

Peritoneal mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the delicately thin membrane which surrounds and protects gastrointestinal tracts called peritoneum. Aside from being a protective layer, peritoneum also provides fluids for the lubrication of the stomach and intestines so that they will function properly. Moreover, these organs should need to move properly so that digestive system can process the food and push out wastes. Should peritoneum fail to function the way it is expected, devastating and severe consequences arise.

But just like other types of mesothelioma, the symptoms of mesothelioma are hard to diagnose. More often, diagnoses will lead to other less severe diseases concealing the true symptoms. Thus, patient will be complaisant which will worsen the situation in the future.

Here are the true symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma:

• Lower abdominal pains
• Stomach pains
• Loss of appetite
• Problems with bowel movements
• Weight loss
• Nausea
• Abdominal swelling
• Weakness

It is believed that asbestos fibers enter the body and reach the stomach through the mouth. Once these fibers settle inside the stomach, they can easily penetrate the stomach lining. And since the lining is so delicate, the cells will begin to mutate and develop into cancerous mesothelioma cells. Constant irritation on the cells over a long period of time will develop into tumors and engulf the stomach resulting to the destruction of healthy cells and the growth of the cancerous ones. Furthermore, asbestos fumes will inhibit the peritoneum to develop and repair the protective lining that supports the stomach in all its activities. In some cases, tumors inside the stomach grow larger in size that they will occupy most of the space exerting too much pressure on other organs surrounding the stomach. Such activity will cause excruciating pain.

There is no cure for peritoneal mesothelioma. However, there are some conditions that doctors are hoping to find in mesothelioma patients that can help them to, at least, alleviate the pains and sorrows and to prolong the lives of the patients. These conditions include age, size and stage of the tumor at the time of discovery, types of cells affected and the responsiveness of the tumors to treatments. Likewise, these conditions will provide the doctors some idea what course of action to take to help the patients.

Generally, early diagnoses as well as vigorous treatments are the keys to prolong the life of the patients. But unfortunately, peritoneal mesothelioma lies undetected and does not show symptoms until the cancer is in its most advanced stage. At the time of discovery, patients can live not more than five years depending on the age and the resistance of the body.

Tip: If you have been exposed to asbestos before, consult your doctor and tell him/her about it so that once a single symptom starts to show, proper steps can be taken.

Pleural Mesothelioma: The Mesothelioma of the Pleura

The mesothelioma of the pleura or commonly known as pleural mesothelioma is another type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos which greatly damages the pleural sac; a thin lining that surrounds the lungs. Statistics show that 75% of all mesothelioma cases are pleural. It is due to the reason that asbestos fibers can easily be inhaled than eaten.

What is Pleura?

It is a sac which surrounds the lungs together with a thin membrane commonly known as “mesothelium”. Mesothelium keeps the fluids and enables the lungs to contract and expand when breathing. Once asbestos fibers are inhaled, they will cause irritating build-ups inside the lungs and due to their sharp and microscopic properties they could easily penetrate the wall of the lungs and sooner enter the premises of pleural cavity wherein the sharp asbestos fibers will shred, mutilate and totally destroy mesothelium which will naturally lead to cancer.

Over time, cancerous tumors will start to develop and hinder the lungs from their proper movement due to the thickening of the pleural fluids caused by the tumors. As tumors grow in size and infect other healthy cells, they will press on the ribcage and other organs resulting to devastating pain. And since the lungs are responsible for oxygenating the blood, the possibility of developing tumors in other parts of the body is high, thus, leading to more serious problems in the future.

Furthermore, pleural mesothelioma is usually confused with other diseases like common colds, whooping cough, the flu, pneumonia and laryngitis. In few cases, pleural mesothelioma shows no symptoms at all. That is why diagnosis for this kind of disease leads to nowhere especially if the patient fails to mention being exposed to asbestos in the past.

If there was a possible exposure to asbestos, the patient must not fail to mention it to his/her doctor so that proper diagnosis steps can be done and correct results will be attained.

What is Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is just another form of cancer in the lungs caused by exposure to asbestos. It is called “mesothelioma” because the cancer cells caused by asbestos fumes greatly damaged the outer linings of the lungs called “mesothelium”. These fibers were acquired through breathing and were suspended in the tiny openings in the lungs or stick in mucous membranes.

Medical statistics show that 95% of the people working under asbestos environment, such as factories that manufacture or use asbestos, are afflicted with mesothelioma cancer. However, there were cases wherein people have developed mesothelioma cancer even if their previous occupation was under asbestos-free environment. The results of the diagnosis pointed back to asbestos being the primary cause as there were fumes found in mesothelium, the outer linings of the lungs. It could be that one of their relatives or family members was exposed to asbestos; the fumes could have stuck in the clothes and were brought home.

But what makes mesothelioma worse is that it is very difficult to diagnose due to the following reasons:

First, mesothelioma symptoms can never be detected for 20 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos. This simply means that once symptoms start to show, the cancer may already be in its full or advanced stage. And second, even if the symptoms show up early, diagnoses will still lead to other results as there will be other diseases in the body that will conceal the true symptoms of mesothelioma cancer. More often than not, mesothelioma is the last result doctors can find after the patients reveal being exposed to asbestos in the past.

As mentioned earlier, mesothelioma symptoms may appear when the cancer is in its advanced stage. Therefore, the success of mesothelioma treatments is dependent on what stage it is found. That is why most of mesothelioma treatments are often labeled as “unsuccessful”.

Studies show that if the cancer is discovered at its earlier stages, either stage 1 or 2, mesothelioma treatments may be successful in prolonging the life of the patient for not more than five (5) years. These treatments include radiation therapy, chemotherapy and even surgery.

Although there are conventional and natural treatments which can be used, the result will just lead to the decrease of the size of mesothelioma in the patient. But still, these kinds of treatments will not absolutely cure mesothelioma patients.

So, the question is, Are there mesothelioma survivors?

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