Kamis, 26 Maret 2009
MESOTHELIOMA , YOUR HEALTH AND LEGAL RIGHT
John has been sick for months, he has finally been diagnosed to have a rare cancer disease medically know as mesothelioma. He is about being hospitalised for a possible cure of the disease on his lungs, heart and abdominal cavities.
If you come down with mesothelioma, chemotherapy, usually the first option open to doctors as part of cancer analysis will be your first treatment experience, after which you might be subjected to radiation therapy, immuno-augmentative therapy or surgery as the last resort. You sure don’t want John’s condition, do you?
Most victims do not know that they had contracted this very rare cancer. Mesothelioma may silently damage cells of the affected organs for as long as 40 years before health problem symptoms become noticeable. Worse is that symptoms usually happen in retirement when your income, most likely, would have dropped below your expenditure.
From all indications, John is very sick and obviously his well being has been greatly impaired, which must have shortened his life span. His income now barely meets his basic needs due to lost work-hours as a result of mesothelioma. He is in a dilemma regarding how to handle his condition.
But unknown to John, he has a legal right to file for compensation against his former employers. Majority of the articles on mesothelioma, victims and compensation on the internet are unequivocal that anyone who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma having been exposed to asbestos, the chief cause of this rare cancer, is entitled to compensation.
Aside from the inconveniences of illness, their life span has been shortened considerably by the disease contracted in circumstances that did not make the inherent danger of asbestos known to the victim. Using this argument experienced mesothelioma lawyers win claims for their clients, basically pleading the invariable loss of health and active life associated with the rare cancer.
Companies that produced or whose raw material were or still asbestos cannot hoodwink the law on the fact that they knew how dangerous asbestos was to health, but deliberately did not inform their employees as a policy.
Since it takes too long before mesothelioma symptoms begin to appear, tens of thousands of people in the United States may have died of this disease without being recorded as mesothelioma victims. Recorded deaths associated with mesothelioma are also in tens of thousands too.
Asbestos factories, Building and Construction works are among the frequently mentioned culprits for this scenario. And most victims never even know that they were or are mesothelioma positive till it is too late.
The symptoms that John came down with are; shortness of breath, chest pain, abdominal pain, coughing and exhaustion . And I have also read that soon his immune system will become overworked and weakened fighting mesothelioma.
Now, if like John, you or anyone you know had worked or works with asbestos, then inform them, and hurry up to a medical check up. If you test positive, look for a mesothelioma lawyer who can defend your claim.
A competent mesothelioma lawyer must be abreast of the symptoms of the disease to be able to win your claim for you, so ask him questions about the disease to test his knowledge before hiring him.
Mesothelioma Overview
During the twentieth century, around 30 million tons of asbestos were used in industrial sites, homes, schools, shipyards and commercial buildings in the United States. Many asbestos-containing products remain in buildings, ships, industrial facilities and other environments where the fibers can become airborne.
Mesothelioma is a cancer of the cells that make up the lining of the lungs, the inside of the ribs, and around the abdominal organs. In the past it was thought that cigarette smoking caused mesothelioma. However, with medical research it has been proven that it is caused by asbestos exposures.
Here's what the asbestos does. When a person breathes in asbestos fibers, the fibers then travel to the ends of the small air passages reaching the lining of the lungs and damaging the mesothelial cells (the lining of the lung cells). If swallowed, these fibers can reach the lining of the abdominal cavity where they play a part in causing a cancer called peritoneal mesothelioma. The chance of ever getting mesothelioma rises with the intensity and duration of your exposure to asbestos.
And you may not get mesothelioma right away. Mesothelioma can even develop 20 to 50 years after the initial exposure. The average life span of an inflicted person from the time of diagnosis with mesothelioma until death is less the 6 months. So, who's at risk?
People who work or used to work in asbestos environment, and spouses or children being exposed to asbestos fibers from work clothing brought home. Also, if you live in a house that was built in the mid 70's or before, you have to know that most insulation materials, including pipe insulation; boiler insulation; fireproofing spray; firebrick and gunnite (used for internal insulation of furnaces and boilers); also many construction materials, such as roof, floor and ceiling tiles contained asbestos. You too might be exposed to asbestos. You need to have your house checked for any asbestos presence.
If you have ever been exposed to asbestos directly or indirectly, early symptoms of mesothelioma can include shortness of breath and/or pain in the lower back or at the side of your chest. Less often, you can experience trouble swallowing, cough, fever, sweating, fatigue, and weight loss. So, these early symptoms sometimes may delay your diagnosis as these symptoms are also related to other illnesses. It will be up to you to mention to your doctor the possibility of asbestos exposure, because your doctor may not suspect it right away. Your doctor then, has to use x-rays, CT scans or a breathing test to detect the presence of asbestos. He or she can further perform a biopsy (taking samples of your lung tissue) to confirm it.
If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, you were most likely exposed to asbestos. Many asbestos manufacturers and even distributors knew for decades that asbestos was hazardous, yet they did not warn people of those hazards. As a result, you have a right of recovery against those manufacturers, which on the other hand can help pay the costs of treatment and provide compensation for your pain and suffering.
The first thing you need to do after being diagnosed with mesothelioma is contact a lawyer immediately to see if you have a case. Think about the source of your exposure, regardless of how long ago that might have been. Try to find the responsible parties. Whether that was your spouse's work, your work, your parents' work, the house you lived in, or anything at all that might have exposed you to asbestos.
Also, you need to ask your lawyer about your statute of limitations. Even if your family member has died from mesothelioma, you may still be eligible to file a claim. Even if you've never worked at a place that directly dealt with asbestos but you have gotten it through asbestos fibers brought home on clothes worn by a spouse or parent who worked in an asbestos environment, you may still be eligible to file a claim.
If diagnosed with mesothelioma, your doctor can only do so much to save your life. It will be mostly you religiously following the health directions given to you by your doctor and educating yourself about mesothelioma. Your doctor can help you save your life, but you can also help him or her help you by knowing how to deal with it.
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Know about Mesothelioma
How you can get affected of Mesothelioma
The inhaling of the fine airborne asbestos dust and fibers causes mesothelioma. It is a proven fact, as 70% to 80% of the case histories of patients state that asbestos exposure in factories or industries leads to mesothelioma. Hence all those working in construction based jobs like shipyards, boilermakers, insulators etc. are susceptible to this fatal disease.
The first step to cure of this disease is to find out all the relevant symptoms. But because of the long latency period of mesothelioma, the symptoms come into play even after 30-50 years since the contraction of the disease. Moreover, the symptoms are not conclusive, and are common to most other diseases. This is why the mesothelioma tests are imperative from the doctor’s point of view.
The symptoms
The three most prominent symptoms of Mesothelioma are excruciating pain whilst breathing or coughing, breathing problems and a persistent cough, which could even, lead to bleeding. In addition, tiredness, loss of appetite, loss of weight are some of the other symptoms. Amongst some of the very rare symptoms, husky voice, problem in swallowing, swelling of the face and pain around the rib area are considered.
The diagnosis
It is a daunting task to diagnose the victims of mesothelioma. Normally the average age of the victims at diagnosis is around 50 to 70 years. Surprisingly, the white Americans are victimized more than the African Americans. At the time diagnosis begins, the disease had already spread and seems invincible. A victim would normally survive for only one year when the disease becomes quite ominous. However, the survival time of the patient can be stretched to almost two years if the disease is detected early and given proper treatment.
The treatment
There are many factors, which determine the treatment of Mesothelioma viz., stage of the disease, location of the cancer, patient's age and general health. Surgeries, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy are amongst the basic treatments for Mesothelioma. In the recent past, treatments like removal of the pleural fluid to relieve pain and control breathlessness are being used. Apart from medication, there are a few helpful techniques that can help relieve pain and stress. These involve a balanced diet preferably prescribed by a general physician or a dietitian, conservation of energy on self-initiative as well as therapies such as aromatherapy, relaxation and massage.
In the inference, it would be worthwhile to mention that Mesothelioma is a dreadful disease and its spread can only be shunned if you are willing to know more about the disease. Then again you should also make sure that you take precautionary measures by piecing together all the information that you have garnered today.
MESOTHELIOMA FACT
Mesothelioma takes years before it becomes cancerous. People from the 1940 and up are just now being diagnosed with Mesothelioma.
Asbestos is the leading cause of Mesothelioma. During world war two the manufactoring of asbestos became more increased due to the fact that the lumber was being used for building ships. Wood was in great demand by the government and companies needed a replacement for their businesses, like construction, automobile factories, building trades, etc. The people who manufactored asbestos knew that asbestos wasnt a regulated product and knew that their workers would inevtably suffer from its consequences. But lumber was hard to find during this peroid and asbestos could be manufactored for much cheaper, thats why it has been in use after world war two and through up to the 1970's. During the 1970's asbestos was outlawed to use by the Consumer Products Safety commission in products such as wallboard patching material and artificial ash for gas fireplaces because the fiber in these products would become airborn during use.
Most people that have been diagnosed with Mesothelioma have been workers who were directly exposed to asbestos, but a few have been diagnosed with Mesothelioma from just living with the workers. The workers would have the fibers of asbestos in their hair and on thier clothing, which would travel in the air and settle in the lungs of whoever came in contact with them.
As with all cancer, the earliest detection of Mesothelioma will give better opportunity on its treatment.
Chest pain, shortness of breath and a persistant cough are some of the early symptoms of Mesothelioma. This is a very difficult problem to find, because it sometimes resembles viral pneumonia. Fever, night sweats and weight loss are some of the less common symptoms of Mesothelioma.
For more information on mesothelioma, mesothelioma facts, please go to:
Mesothelioma News
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MESOTHELIOMA DIAGNOSIS
For the drowse of this article, we drive discuss the meaning fundament what we perpetuate expert around this affair so far.
If reasons lug by virtue of to ambiguous you might have Mesothelioma (unusually exposure to asbestos), a physician determination abduct your remedial response for and do a crammed genuine curb. Then the physician can use one or auxiliary of the methods described farther down to set if the sickness is yield.
As we handgrip a nearer read over, conserve in experience all of the pertinent and important notifyation that we have erudite so far.
A us man diagnoses mesothelioma through a absolute assessment of clinical and radiological findings proceeded by a vanishing tissue biopsy. The Colloq doc should checking the permanent's remedial account, bonus account of asbestos communicating, followed by a cubic commie ilk fault examination, x-waves of the container or abdomen, and lung assembly tests. The physician may also form a CT inspect or MRI at this time. If any of these preliminary tests denote the life of mesothelioma, a biopsy is performed to promote this diagnosis.
A diplomate may use a harass biopsy of the eminence, or the exclusion and examination of the vapor contiguous the lung for description. reproof these assess's are on occasion inadequate as far as determining sect force (epithelial, sarcomatous, or sundry) or reproof of the unreliability of fluid sample, a physician may rush unfastened pleural biopsy. In a pleural biopsy formula, a d makes a minuscule grade by worthiness of the casket hail and inserts a meagre, overwhelming pipeline sou-distant a thoracoscope into the coffer between two ribs. The physician theretofore removes a sometimes of fabric that a pathologist will proof under a microscope. In a peritoneal biopsy, the doctor makes a pocket grade in the abdomen and inserts a peritoneoscope into the abdominal split. The adjacent re yields a catalog of diagnostic formulas that a medico may use to maintain whether mesothelioma survives.
Mesothelioma Diagnostic Tests
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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLEURAL MESOTHELIOMA AND LUNG CANCER
Pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer are not the same, although they are both considered serious. Some treatments may be similar, but not alike.
Pleural mesothelioma is a cancer that originates in the pleura or lining of the lung . Lung cancer originates inside the lung itself, although the pleura may become involved as the disease progresses. It is not unusual when a biopsy is recommended that the doctor is weighing the possibility of one diagnosis versus the other.
Mesothelioma is a rare cancer with approximately 2,000 total diagnoses per year, of which 70% are pleural mesotheliomas. As of the latest current statistics (2003), 105,508 men and 84,789 women were diagnosed with lung cancer. It is estimated that 213,380 new cases will be diagnosed in 2007.
Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos, and has no relationship to smoking. Lung cancers are most often associated with a smoking history, although asbestos exposure may be a contributing factor in some cases. The risk of lung cancer is greatly increased by persons who have combined risk factors.
Lung cancers are divided into two groups:
- Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC)
Small cell lung cancers comprise about 15% of all lung cancers diagnosed, and often begin in the bronchi near the center of the chest. This type of cancer is almost always caused by smoking.
- Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
Non-small cell lung cancers comprise about 85% of all lung cancers diagnosed. There are 3 sub-types of non-small lung cancers: adenocarcinoma, usually found in the outer part of the lung; large-cell, which can start in any part of the lung; and squamous cell, which tends to be located near the bronchus, and is also linked to smoking.
If you have any doubt as to your diagnosis, always consult with your doctor.