Mesothelioma in USA

There are an estimated 2000-3000 new cases of mesothelioma in the United States every year. Approximately 7-13 per one million male patients with a history of asbestos exposure contract mesothelioma. Diagnosis usually occurs 20-40 years after initial exposure to asbestos. Workers who have been exposed to asbestos on the job are at risk. A history of asbestos exposure at work is reported in about 70 percent to 80 percent of all cases.

Asbestos has been widely used in many industrial products, including cement, brake linings, roof shingles, flooring products, textiles, and insulation. If tiny asbestos particles float in the air, especially during the manufacturing process, they may be inhaled or swallowed, and can cause serious health problems. In addition to mesothelioma, exposure to asbestos increases the risk of lung cancer, asbestosis (a noncancerous, chronic lung ailment), and other cancers, such as those of the larynx and kidney.

Since the early 1940s, millions of American workers have been exposed to asbestos dust. Both union and non-union workers have been affected. An increased risk of developing mesothelioma has been established among shipyard workers, people who work in asbestos mines and mills, producers of asbestos products, workers in the heating and construction industries, and other tradespeople.

New research going on for the treatments of mesothelioma

Dear readers as the mesothelioma menace is something whose 100% perfect treatment is still not available in this age og modern sciences, but still researchers are doing a lot of studies to find the perfect treatment for this epidemic.
Researchers are attempting to increase the validity of mesothelioma treatments among patients suffering from the fatal condition by testing the highest dosage levels that can be administered to patients without resulting in toxicity levels among individuals.

The dosage levels of medicinal treatments for mesothelioma patients are being studied by physicians and researchers in Boston in order to acquire more suitable treatments for patients suffering from the fatal lung cancer.

Researchers are using two methods of treatment known as intraoperative intracavitary hyperthermic cisplatin perfusion along with amifostine, to assist in preventing cisplatin toxicity, to patients suffering from malignant pleural mesothelioma, which is often deemed the most severe and fatal diagnosis among mesothelioma patients.

So far the study has found that the use of single dose amifostine does "not protect adequately against cisplatin-induced renal toxicity," meaning that if higher doses of the chemotherapy treatment cisplatin are used, then "additional cytoprotective strategies are needed" to protect a patient from developing toxic levels of medication in addition to their painful mesothelioma side effects.

Discussing mesothelioma with a qualified medical professional will ensure that a proper diagnosis and treatment begins for patients of the deadly disease. However, it will still be important for a patient to know and recognize the following mesothelioma signs and symptoms as well. Currently, there are two main types of mesothelioma commonly affecting the lining of the lungs and the internal organs: abdominal and lung. The Mayo Clinic reported the following

symptoms for both conditions:

shortness of breath

painful breathing

painful coughing

chest pain under the rib cage

unusual lumps of tissue under the skin on the chest

unexplained weight loss

dry cough

abdominal pain

abdominal swelling

change in bowel habits

lumps of tissue in the abdomen

If ,God forbid, you develop any of the above side effects, it is imperative that you receive immediate attention from a doctor. Unfortunately, there is a high rate of death linked to a mesothelioma diagnosis, which is commonly due to the fact the disease remains dormant for several years.

Support For Mesothelioma Victims

Mesothelioma sufferers face many challenges as a part of their diagnosis. However, receiving the most appropriate treatment methods can assist a victim in decreasing pains commonly associated with the condition.

Additionally, it may be necessary to receive details about the development of a mesothelioma lawsuit from an experienced mesothelioma attorney. Constructing a mesothelioma lawsuit will likely assist a victim in receiving monetary compensation, which can pay for the expensive mesothelioma treatments associated with the disease. For the latest on a mesothelioma diagnosis as well as the development of potential litigation, individuals can discuss a mesothelioma lawsuit with a mesothelioma attorney who can provide the most up-to-date news and information on such a case.

Do you know mesothelioma law is changing

Finding out that you have mesothelioma means that you should call your mesothelioma attorney in New York. Because of the cost of treating your mesothelioma symptoms, and to recover some of those costs, you should quickly contact the top mesothelioma lawyer in New York to help settle your case. Mesothelioma law is changing, and you need your attorney to be as up to date as possible to provide you with the best opportunity to get a mesothelioma settlement.

Mesothelioma is a cancer that is caused by breathing in asbestos fibers. There are also some other fibers that can produce mesothelioma, as well, but asbestos is the primary cause. These fibers enter into the body - either through the lungs, or by swallowing sputum, and then are passed into the epithelial layer that surrounds the various organs. This layer is called the mesothelium and it is made up of just a single layer of cells. The asbestos fibers pass through the stomach and lungs to this layer and then can become cancerous after many years.

It was known for many years that asbestos could cause cancer, but only recently did more research (1970's) prove it and that brought about governmental intervention on industries that widely used it. Many industries used a lot of asbestos in their products, and this would especially include the auto industry, the shipyards, manufacturing and the railroad industries.

One problem here, though, was that the mesothelioma typically took from 30 to 50 years to surface. This means that if you were exposed to asbestos that long ago, then you might begin to have problems from it now and be starting to show mesothelioma symptoms.

Asbestos remains around you in many places. In many cases, though, it is not harmful if it is left undisturbed. In fact, it is not even recommended that you test it yourself, but get an asbestos professional to do the testing for you. If asbestos is exposed where you live - in an apartment building, or on pipes, etc., then you should also immediately contact a professional and have it checked and sealed - if necessary. You may also want to take pictures to present later if any evidence might be needed.

Your top mesothelioma attorney in New York can help you to discover if your mesothelioma has a cause from asbestos. He or she is very familiar with the products and industries that regularly used asbestos. When a lawsuit is filed with your top mesothelioma attorney in New York, it will be necessary to show a connection proving that you were actually exposed to it.

A mesothelioma diagnosis, unfortunately, means that you will have to come up with a lot of money to cover your medical expenses. The truth is that the lifetime of someone with mesothelioma is about a year - unless the doctors prescribe a very aggressive attack on it with chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Regardless, in most situations you will not be able to afford the treatments needed.

A mesothelioma lawsuit, guided by your mesothelioma attorney in New York, will be needed to help you to recover some of your expenses because of it. If you had a loved one that has already passed away due to mesothelioma, then you also may be able to recover some of your expenses, as well. Your top mesothelioma attorney in New York will be glad to provide you with a consultation and then help you with a mesothelioma settlement to recover expenses of those who helped financially.

Since asbestos fibers can stay in the human body for a long time before any mesothelioma symptoms may be experienced, it is important that you have a physical as soon as possible if you start to experience problems that may be related. If there should be a mesothelioma diagnosis, then you should contact your mesothelioma attorney quickly to see what legal options are available to you.

Mesothelioma is not always caused by asbestos, but most of it is - about 80% and possibly more. It also seems to be that the smaller the fibers are, the greater the likelihood of mesothelioma to develop. Receiving a mesothelioma settlement in time to help recover some of your medical expenses, means that you need to talk to your top mesothelioma attorney in New York quickly. Current estimates are that the medical expenses typically run between $400,000 and $800,000 for the costs of medicine, oxygen, and more. Talk to your mesothelioma attorney today to see what can be done to help you.

What are available treatments for mesothelioma

Treatment of malignant mesothelioma can be very difficult for a wide variety of reasons. First and foremost, mesothelioma can be difficult to correctly diagnose and may not show up in a patient for decades. This can create problems for treatment because with mesothelioma, as with all cancers, treatment is more difficult the longer the disease has been allowed to progress. In addition to the difficulties created by delayed treatment of mesothelioma, the disease often does not respond to traditional cancer treatments, further complicating treatment. Also, the organs that are involved in mesothelioma cannot be partially or wholly removed usually, which means that surgical options can be extremely limited. Lastly, the fact that the majority of mesothelioma patients are men of advanced age, usually over 50, means that some more radical treatment approaches cannot be used because of declining health due to old age.

Altogether, this can mean that even mesothelioma patients that have been recently diagnosed can be given a fairly negative prognosis from their doctos. Statistics are hard to come by, but British scientists suggest that 10% of newly diagnosed mesothelioma patients will live for at least three more years; Only 5% will live five years or longer. For patients in the first stage, 50% live for at least two more years. However doctors can be mistaken, and a diagnosis of mesothelioma is in no way always tantamount to a death sentence. In one famous case, scientist Stephen Jay Gould survived with peritoneal mesothelioma for almost twenty years. Eventually, he died from another kind of cancer.

There are four stages of malignant mesothelioma, which measure how far the disease has progressed. How a patient's mesothelioma is treated depends largely on which stage he or she is in when the disease is found.

* Stage I: Localized mesothelioma that exists only in the lungs, the diaphragm or the pericardial lining.

* Stage II: Advanced mesothelioma that has spread into the lymph nodes of the chest.

* Stage III: Advanced mesotheioma that has spread into the wall of the chest, the center of the chest, the lining of the heart and the diaphragm. Stage III malignant mesothelioma may or may not have spread to the lymph nodes.

* Stage IV: Advanced mesothelioma that has spread far from the chest and abdomen into other organs.

Surgery

Patients with Stage I or milder Stage II mesothelioma are generally offered one or more of the conventional cancer treatments: surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. For early-stage patients, surgery for mesothelioma aims to cure the disease by literally cutting the cancer out of the patient's body. The most common type of surgery for pleural mesothelioma is a pleurectomy/decortication, which is where doctors remove all or part of the tissues lining the lungs and chest cavity. If doctors find that they can't remove the cancer without removing the lung underneath those tissues, they may remove one lung as well; this is called a pneumonectomy. A more radical type of surgery for pleural mesothelioma is called an extrapleural pneunonectomy (EPP). In the case of an EPP, surgeons will remove parts of one lung, the pleura, the diaphragm, and the lining of the heart. These are quite dangerous and difficult types of surgery, which will not be recommended lightly by doctors or surgeons.

Patients with peritoneal mesothelioma -- the kind that affects the abdomen -- may be offered cytoredutive surgery. In this surgery, doctors are trying to remove all of the cancerous tissue they can find in the abdomen and gut. Doctors may also opt for a peritonectomy, in which the entire lining of the abdomen is removed. Again, this is not an easy surgery and may not be possible for everyone, but it has been successful in some patients. Patients with pericardial mesothelioma are not generally offered surgery.

Radiation and Chemotherapy

In addition to or instead of surgery, doctors may offer an early-stage mesothelioma patient chemotherapy, radiation or both. Radiation and chemotherapy are designed to kill the cancer cells without killing the patient. Unfortuantely, in order to kill the cancerous cells, these treatments often kill healthy cells as well. This is why cancer patients often lose their hair, have trouble eating and feel generally weak and sick during treatment. Doctors who prescribe chemotherapy or radiation may also suggest dietary supplements or other measures to control these symptoms.

Chemotherapy is any treatment where patients are given chemical medication specifically designed to attack the cancer cells as the undergo cell division. The drug is swallowed or injected into the bloodstream regularly over a period of weeks or months, in cycles that give a patient some recovery time in between treatments. A patient could stay at home, only requiring visits to a doctor's office for treatments; sometimes, they can even have the treatments at home. In some cases, doctors may choose to apply chemotherapy drugs directly to the cancerous tissue; this requires surgery, so patients must check into a hospital. There are many different kinds of chemotherapy drugs, and scientists are trying to develop better ones every day.

Radiation therapy seeks to kill the cancer cells with high-energy rays of radiation, such as x-rays, that stop them from growing. With external-beam radiation, patients will be subjected to directed rays of radiation directed as specific parts of the body affected by cancer. This treatment lasts about 30 minutes a day and is given in the exact same way each day over a period of weeks. In internal radiation therapy (brachytherapy), doctors put a container of radioactive material next to the cancerous tissue, using surgery or an existing body cavity. Some will be left in the body; others will be removed and replaced. Lastly, radiopharmaceuticals are sometimes used to administer radiation treatments, with the drugs being either injected, inserted into a body cavity or swallowed.

Mesothelioma Cancer in Pakistan

Pakistan is a developing country. Though it does not have so many factories but still the use of asbestos is on the rise. According to a recent study Mesothelioma patients are increasing in Pakistan. Mesothelioma cancer in Pakistan is touching new heights. There is no state-of the-art facilities for those patients. So the picture is very dismal.

Although the Pakistani government claims to have done a lot to eliminate this menace, but the fact is that people are desparate to find good doctors, good hospitals where they can admit their loved ones and get some good treatment. So we as pakistanis can only hope that some foreign ad will come and thing will change for the better.