Mesothelioma Symptoms: Information And Facts.
Mesothelioma symptoms might not appear until between 20 and 50 years after the exposure to asbestos. This makes the disease difficult to diagnose or screen for. However there are now some screening procedures which show some degree of effectiveness.
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.
Symptoms of mesothelioma can include coughing, blood clotting problems, anemia, fever, general pain, shortness of breath, pain in the chest, weight loss, swelling and pain of the abdomen, bowel obstruction, difficulty swallowing, blood in the fluid coughed up, jaundice, low blood sugar level, swelling of the neck and/or face. Different symptoms might occur at different stages of this disease, and with different variations on the disease such as peritoneal mesothelioma, or the more common pleural mesothelioma.
Diagnosis of this disease is not easy at all because all the symptoms can in fact be caused by other medical conditions which are a lot less serious. Asbestos exposure (and exposure to other chemicals which are known to occasionally cause the disease) can suggest that the disease is more likely to occur. A physical examination is usually the first step then if the disease is suspected, a chest X-ray and lung-function tests can give a better idea how likely it is. Diagnosis can sometimes be confirmed by examination of some of the effected tissue or any fluid which has built up in the chest cavity.
When diagnosed, mesothelioma can be treated by surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy, often in a combination. Large legal settlements are often obtained by people with this disease. It is important to remember that what might appear to be a mesothelioma symptom is much more commonly an indication of a much less dangerous medical problem.
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