Thursday, March 10, 2011

Rehabilitation of Mesothelioma patients

Cancer is a serious issue and many cancer surviving patients persists to rise, and many have rehabilitation needs. Cancer rehabilitation deals with both biomedical and psychosocial aspects. The scope of rehabilitation is described as: “a process aimed at enabling persons with disabilities to reach and maintain their optimal physical, sensory, intellectual, psychiatric and/or social functional levels…” by the World Health Organization (WHO).

A number of people are living with malignant mesothelioma and fighting the disease as best they can. There is a great contribution by many professionals, hospital physicians and general practitioner in cancer rehabilitation. Successful rehabilitation requires efficient organization. The highest priority for the people diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer of the lining of the lung (pleura) or the lining of the abdominal cavity (peritoneum), is finding a reliable source of information about the disease itself and the medical options available for it. The mesothelioma rehabilitation centers help you to take the necessary steps to find the options that are best suited to your individual needs. They deal with mesothelioma patients and their family members, and provide the service that is always with appreciation for the difficult time they are facing.

As said by Samuel Smiles -“Hope is the companion of power, and the mother of success; for who so hopes strongly, has within him the gift of miracles.” Rehabilitation centers provide every patient with a boost of hope that helps patients to fight and develops a willingness to survive. They discuss ways to find specialists who treat mesothelioma and give some advice on choosing the best doctor.

New approaches to malignant mesothelioma

Nowadays new approaches to treat malignant mesothelioma are being tested. They merge traditional treatments or include something entirely new. These new treatments include angiogenesis and anti-angiogenesis drugs. Although development has been made in the early detection of cancer and improved treatment options, mesothelioma can not be cured and remain difficult to treat effectively. Researchers have shown how cancer cells differ from normal cells. Certain drugs used in chemotherapy have severe side effects on your body. Anti-angiogenesis drugs have no side effects and they target the tumor itself sparing the body’s normal cells.

Immunotherapy is another type of mesothelioma treatment. It is also called as biological therapy. This therapy uses the body’s own immune system to protect itself against disease. Immune system is able to identify the difference between healthy cells and cancer cells. It is also able to eliminate the cells that become cancerous. Immunotherapy is intended to restore, stimulate, or enhance the immune system’s natural anticancer function.

A hazardous mineral asbestos

Asbestos is a naturally occurring silicate mineral known to have toxic properties. It was once used on a very large scale for ceilings, wall tiles, insulation and auto breaks. It was widely used in cement in the construction industries as it was resistant to heat, was durable, flexible and had good tensile strength. But asbestos is a very hazardous and potentially a fatal substance.

The use of asbestos in industries lead to dangerous diseases caused due to the inhalation of asbestos particles. Many workers working in the industries were unaware of this. One of the fatal diseases caused by this is mesothelioma. It may also lead to other problems such as asbestosis, lung cancer and fatal respiratory illnesses that incapacitate their victims.

In the twentieth century, medical researchers observed that a large number of deaths and lung problems occurred in asbestos mining towns. Investigations showed that thirty percent of the workers had asbestos-related lung disease. It takes a long time for asbestos to show its effects. The symptoms shown by them are also very common as shown by others diseases. Because of these problems it becomes very difficult to diagnose the fatal diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.

Pleural mesothelioma and its treatment options

Mesothelioma is a critical and fatal cancer. It is caused by direct exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma cancer is categorized into three categories: pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma and pericardial mesothelioma. This destructive cancer damages the mesothelium which is a membrane that forms the lining of several body cavities like the pleural (thoracal cavity), peritoneum (abdominal cavity) and pericardium (heart sac).

Pleural mesothelioma

Pleural mesothelioma is one of the most common forms of mesothelioma. More than 75% of victims fall in this category. This cancer affects the outer lining of the lungs and the chest cavity and makes it thicket. Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma are very common like difficulty in breathing, pain in the chest, fatigue, swelling of the face and neck, trouble when swallowing, cough and weight loss. These symptoms are shown by other diseases also and hence it becomes difficult to diagnose this cancer. Lining of the lungs are made up of two layers, parietal which covers the chest wall and visceral which covers the lungs. Mesothelium cells grow and produce a tumor which enlarges the space, causing it to fill with fluid. This extra thickness in layers is known as pleural effusion which leads to discomfort and pain in the chest. The pain may also be felt in the arms and the shoulders.

Treat Mesothelioma with Palliative Therapy

Palliative care is a contemporary and advanced method of treating and helping the patients diagnosed with fatal diseases. This treatment endeavor to ease the psychological problems related with the illnesses.

Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a slow growing disease and cannot be diagnosed in the early stages. The symptoms are also very common which are to be mistaken with some other disease. But with the time the symptoms too become severe. Palliative treatments treat mesothelioma using measures that reduce symptoms. This treatment is not capable of curing the cancer but definitely improves the quality of life. It helps in psychological, social, and spiritual needs of patients and their families. This form of treatment is also known as comfort care, supportive care or symptom management.

Palliative treatment help the patients deal with the disease by various modes of treatments such as medication, cognitive and behavioral therapy. This therapy is used in conjunction with other forms of traditional treatment for mesothelioma like radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Palliative therapy comprises of pain management course like pain killers, stress management, meditation and massage therapy. To optimize the patient care there is an open communication for the patient and his family. This therapy takes the traditional role for the patient in the last stage of the cancer.

The common palliative procedures for the treatment of mesothelioma are Chest Tube Drainage and Pleurodesis, Pleuroperitoneal Shunt, Alcohol injection, Palliative radiation therapy and Pain medications. In Chest Tube Drainage and Pleurodesis the fluid built-up due to pleural effusion, one of the symptoms of mesothelioma, is drained out of the chest cavity with the help of chest tube. The pleural space is closed by use of talc slurry or other agent which yields an adhesion.

Mesothelioma and its Stages

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer. It arises due to the inhalation of asbestos or coming in contact with it. In mesothelioma a malignant tumor develops in the mesothelial tissues of the lungs and the abdomen. A number of people are not aware of this deadly disease. Many people and even the physicians are not able to diagnose its symptoms as they are analogous to the symptoms of other diseases. It takes decades to develop mesothelioma, almost forty to fifty years. This cancer is already in the advanced state, when the symptoms are evident. According to the stages of cancer the treatment choices differ. The extent of the disease and its different stages must be known to the patient.

Pleural mesothelioma (lungs) includes two stage systems: TNM system and Brighan system. These systems are commonly used in other kinds of cancers. TNM system is also used in Peritoneal Mesothelioma (abdominal) as this cancer has no definite staging system. Tumor, lymph nodes and metastasis are three variables of TNM system. In stage I of mesothelioma, the malignant mesothelioma cells begin to grow on one layer of pleura. Pleura are the membrane that encircles the lungs and outlines the wall of the chest cavity. In some cases, in this stage the pericardium membrane and the diaphragm cover are already affected.

In stage II of mesothelioma, the two layers of the pleura are already affected by the cancerous cells. In this stage only one side of the body is affected. Pleura generates a small amount of lubricating fluid. This fluid allows easy expanding and contracting of the lungs. The extra fluid is absorbed by the blood and the lymph vessels. In the second stage, this fluid gets filled in the pleural space between the lungs and the chest wall that leads to pleural effusion. This results in problems like shortness of breathing and chest pain. It may also lead to dry and persistent cough.

Mesothelioma symptoms visibility

Mesothelioma Patients suffers from chest pains, difficulties in breathing, anemia, bowl problem and various other problems. Doctors always suggest a regular health checkup. But due to the fact of sophisticated lifestyles we live in, we simply can not make that commitment. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer which is caused by asbestos. Mesothelioma patients are most probably worked in an asbestos environment, or inhale asbestos deadly fiber. People were not aware of the deadly effect asbestos cause, but when scientists found the dramatic result, they banned the thing.

Basically, mesothelioma is a very rare cancer, which forms malignant cells in the layers of internal organs such as lungs, abdominal cavity, and heart. However there is no connection of smoking with Mesothelioma. But smoking can stimulate other asbestos induced cancers. Mesothelioma is known as very aggressive cancer in which the cells in stars to divide uncontrollably and starts to invade and destroy other cells of the organs. Nearly 3000 people are diagnosed by Mesothelioma each year in American alone.

Doctors explain the symptoms are likely to get seen after many years. Therefore, people should do total health checkup once a year. With X-ray and CT scan, the detection of many diseases including mesothelioma is possible, although the prognosis is very poor. The life expectancy of the mesothelioma patients is from four months to eighteen months. However if the mesothelioma patient is below the danger stage, the life expectancy can be increased from two years to five years. Even though the doctors have not yet any conclusive reasons to prove how exactly asbestos causes mesothelioma, they have concluded that working in asbestos is very hazardous and cause mesothelioma.

Treatments like radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery are mostly practiced for treating mesothelioma patients. Out of which, chemotherapy is held as the best to increase the life expectancy which depends on the age and the stage of the disease.

Coping with the Mesothelioma cancer

Mesothelioma is a very rare cancer which was seen in many people who worked in a asbestos environment in their working atmosphere. Due to the face that asbestos was the main reason to form mesothelioma cancer in the body; the government banned the use of asbestos in the industries and working areas. Coping with cancer is very overwhelming experience that can not be described. Mesothelioma patients generally fall apart whenever they are diagnosed. Even a non-smoker can suffer from mesothelioma if he works in asbestos environment. Without a delay, every people should do a regular checkup to avoid late detection on many diseases, and when it comes around for mesothelioma, the symptoms can never be seen for years. Then when the symptoms in mesothelioma start to get visible, it has probably crossed the stage when it is too late to do successful treatment.

Mesothelioma cancers spread all over the internal organs very aggressively leaving nothing in its path. It is very dangerous and prognosis is pretty slim. However if the mesothelioma is detected in time, there could be strong hope. Treatments include Chemotherapy, Radiation, Surgery, and other Herbal/Ayurbedic treatment. Even the survival rate of mesothelioma is not more than two to five years; some mesothelioma patients are so strong they fight each moment with full emotional confidence, and this help to boost their psychological immunity to fight back this deadly cancer.

It is not certainly an easy to deal with the condition and the drama for mesothelioma patients. There is certainly a hope, and the medical treatments have advanced to deal with such fatal disease with new technology and medicines. Mesothelioma patients need more care and more support than before because they feel very demoralized and extremely alone. It is challenging task but that is the best way to give a hope, love and care to mesothelioma patients which can work psychologically much better than medicines.

Mesothelioma is a killer disease

Caring for mesothelioma patients can be very overwhelming because of emotional drama and family crisis that anyone was not expecting to experience. But it has happened and one got to deal with it and take the maximum care of mesothelioma patients. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer caused by the harmful fiber called asbestos which are used in many industries and factories. People who worked under such environment suffered from mesothelioma cancers, and soon after scientists found the cause, Government banned that stuff from using them anywhere.

Nearly 3000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer each year in America. Things are quite worst in other countries as well. However, many mesothelioma patients have no history of smoking or chewing tobacco. So this concludes that smoking is not the only reason for mesothelioma cancer but the core reason behind this is the killer asbestos.

Mesothelioma patients go very dramatically weak, and emotionally alone, sad and very depressed. During such time family and friends need to coup with the situation, be there with the patients, talk to them, and create a happy atmosphere all around. In addition to this, the treatments such as Radiation therapy, Chemotherapy, Surgery are available to the mesothelioma patients. All these treatments, however, depend on the situation of patients’ health, their age, and the stage of the cancer. Generally, if the mesothelioma cancer is in its first stage and early second stage, the survival rate is very high. But the mesothelioma patients never know they have cancers until they do some special detection process by MRI, CT scan, X-ray, and do the bronchoscope. The symptoms are very rare, but they start to slowly appear in the patients. Symptoms like chest pain, difficulties in breathing, sudden weight loss, fatigue, continuous cough and others. These symptoms may or may not be visible once the cancer starts to spread. It takes years, maybe decade for symptoms to show up.

How Mesothelioma causes?

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer, which is rare, and this is caused by toxic and extremely dangerous fiber asbestos. In most of the industries, the asbestos were used until scientists found that they give rise to the formation of cancerous cells in the body, especially in internal organs like lungs, abdominal cavity, and heart. Mesothelioma patients requires reliable source of information and medical attention for the best available treatment.

Mesothelioma diagnosis is done from various ways. X-rays, CT scans can diagnose a person whether he or she is suffering from mesothelioma or not. Then process may include a biopsy on of the area. Usually, the symptoms in mesothelioma patients may not be visible for decades, but someone who works constantly in asbestos environment; they are more likely to get mesothelioma cancer. Moreover, the symptoms could be related to other diseases. So it is better to do a full body checkup from time to time and become sure about one’s health. And a well experienced physician should be handling all of these treatments and check ups.

Mesothelioma patients need a special treatment, possible from reputed doctors. Finding hope and help could be very crucial from the patients. There is always a hope and miracle could happen, and it has happened before. In addition to it, mesothelioma patients need more care, support, love from friends and families. They are deep in need of attention during such crisis time.

Medical treatments for mesothelioma patients include Surgery, Chemotherapy, Radiation and other types of treatment. These treatments depend on the stage of mesothelioma cancer. The more stage it advances, the more difficult it becomes. The prognosis of mesothelioma is quite slim, but if it is detected in time, the survival rate can be increased, and sometime eliminate the cancer completely.

Hope for Mesothelioma patients

Mesothelioma patients have normally the option of three treatments. First one is Surgery, Second Chemotherapy and Third Radiation therapy. All of these treatments may or may not be that successful for the patient. But it has been seen in some cases when mesothelioma patients have longer life rate with the treatments. Besides the treatments, it is also about psychological treatment. Family and friends should take a great care of mesothelioma patients because during this dark hour, friends and family can create a light of hope to brighten up that hour.

Generally speaking, the symptoms in mesothelioma patients are breathing problem, chest paint, weight loss, fatigue, bowl problem, anemia and others. These symptoms may or may not be seen at the early stage in the patients. Scientists have already found that mesothelioma cancers are caused by constant inhale of the deadly fiber called asbestos which were used in many industries in twentieth century. Now the use of asbestos is completely banned. However, the smoking is not related to mesothelioma cancers but it may trigger to form cancer cells induced by asbestos.

People, who work in asbestos environment, are more likely to get this cancer. Although scientists are not yet able to find how exactly asbestos creates the formation cancerous cells in the internal organs, they have found that as soon as asbestos reached inside the lung by respiration, the development of mesothelioma cancer starts aggressively. Mesothelioma patients have very slim rate of survival, and the average rate of survival is not more than eighteen months. The treatment like chemotherapy is considered best to prolong lifespan to certain extent. There is always a hope, always a miracle waiting to happen. Mesothelioma patients should never give up and fight it back psychologically. There are many stories where mesothelioma patients fight it back, and lived more than ten years.

How to Detect Mesothelioma cancer

An intensive care and support is always most vital for mesothelioma patients. They sometime work more than medicine and doctor. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer. The main cause for this cancer is due to inhalation of dangerous fiber called asbestos which was used in many industries in twentieth century. These asbestos, when inhaled for long time, trigger the formation of malignant cells in the internal organs. Although scientists have no clue how exactly the asbestos works and creates this deadly cells. But they do know that as soon as asbestos reaches inside, there is big chance that the person, who inhaled the asbestos, will suffer from mesothelioma anytime soon.

Mesothelioma patients may have different symptoms such as consistent cough, chest pain, breathing problem, anemia, problem in bowl, sudden loss in weight and others. These symptoms are visible in the patients, but this may be related to other diseases. To confirm, there are various ways to find out. Doctors suggest doing CT scan, X-ray and MRI. Furthermore, a biopsy is suggested to make more confirmation. However, the symptoms are usually seen after many years, and at that time, it might be too late. A regular checkup in hospital, click from experienced doctors is always recommended.

The treatment of mesothelioma cancers are started as soon as they are diagnosed. Mesothelioma patients are given Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy and do Surgery when possible. Surgery is done when the cancer is in its initial stage. When the cancer crosses second stage and reaches third, the mesothelioma patients are given chemotherapy which is very good and help in increase lifespan. However there are many other treatments which are practiced by doctors and other medical practitioners with mesothelioma patients. Those treatments have some benefits for some patients. Most importantly, the early detection is the way to eliminate the cancer from the root. With the positive attitude and confidence, mesothelioma patients can fight it and win the battle.

Asbestos victory at Supreme Court for families of cancer victims

Families fighting for compensation after loved ones died of an asbestos-related cancer won their battle yesterday.

The decision by Supreme Court appeal judges may help ­thousands more mesothelioma victims get payouts.
Judges ruled in favour of relatives of Dianne Willmore, 49, and Enid Costello, 74, who both died after suffering “low level” poisoning.

Mrs Willmore was exposed as a child to asbestos in school toilets in Huyton, Merseyside. Mrs Costello worked at a drum factory in ­Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. Widower Barre Willmore, now due £240,000, said: “Money isn’t everything.”

Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/03/10/asbestos-victory-at-supreme-court-for-families-of-cancer-victims-115875-22978231/#ixzz1GDXf17hU

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Defining Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that attacks the mesothelium, which is a protecting layer surrounded to the majority internal organs involving the lungs, stomach and heart. There are two forms of Mesothelioma called benign and malignant. Though, less than 10% of incidences are benign. At least three known causes for Mesothelioma are there, which includes.

2011 Mesothelioma

1) Foremost cause is asbestos exposure, involving direct and indirect dealings.
2) Thorotrast that is Thorium Dioxide, employed in specific X-ray tests in the past.
3) A silicate mineral normally found in soil in Turkey’s Anatoli region called as Zeolite.

Diagnosis of Mesothelioma, particularly in the early stages, is the complicated proposition since the symptoms will reflect ordinary pains and aches are generally ignored until the disease has developed. Three main areas get affected by the malignant mesothelioma- lungs, abdominal cavity, and heart. Those are categorized as follows:

1) Most common form which affects the lungs is Pleural Mesothelioma.
2) Second is the Peritoneal Mesothelioma which affects the abdominal cavity.
3) Third is the most rare form that affects the heart is Pericardial Mesothelioma.

Each type shows its own unique symptoms, the majority of them remain undetected until the cancer has achieved deadly levels. Patients suffering through Pleural Mesothelioma can face chest pains, weight loss, fever, difficulty in breathing, persistent cough and swelling of the face and neck. Also in case of Peritoneal Mesothelioma, a few will experience nausea, weight loss, abdominal pains, and vomiting. Difficulties involves anemia, blood clotting problems, and bowel obstruction. Pericardial Mesothelioma causes short breathing, a persistent cough, chest pains, and heart palpitations. Similar in all three forms of the disease, the signs develop more serious with time and so far can still dodge diagnosis by being chalked up to other diseases with identical symptoms.

The dread substance: Asbestos

Asbestos is the substance that operates behind mesothelioma, the disease that you have been diagnosed with. Therefore you should know what it is all about and why asbestos, of all things should lead to the development of such malignancy within your substance. Remember that awareness is always the first step towards the solution to any issue whatsoever.

Asbestos is a mineral which is extremely toxic. Rather it is a group of minerals that occur in nature as a mass of strong fibers which can be separated into separate thinner fibers. It is an industrial substance and is used in products like cement. Brakes, roof shingles and insulation, among other things. Asbestos particles are airborne and are usually inhaled or consumed. So if you have unknowingly inhaled asbestos particles, then they have probably traveled through your lungs to reach the pleura or the lining of your lungs. This leads to the growth of the malignant growths there. Also, asbestos particles can also enter your body after being mixed with your saliva. Blue asbestos particles are much more cancerous than white asbestos fibers.

The shape and the size of the asbestos particles make it easier for them to penetrate the human system. This causes inflammation and intense damage to the cells in the body. Then these particles embed themselves in the lining of the organs, whichever that maybe. Since asbestos particles are generally inhaled, they usually lodge themselves in the pleura or the lining of the lungs.

Diet for Mesothelioma patients

Mesothelioma is such a disease for which it is of vital importance that the patients should take care not to aggravate their intensely delicate condition by consuming anything that should harm their system. Most of the cures for mesothelioma have chances of relapse and some are purely palliative in nature. As of such, there is no cure that guarantees a complete removal of the disease from your system. Therefore patients must strive to keep themselves healthy in all other ways possible. One of the best things is to eat well.

This is because as we all know, the nutrients from the food we eat enhance our immunity and equip our body to fight diseases. Therefore a balanced diet containing all the nutrients in the right proportions is vital. The diet of a mesothelioma patient should have whole grains, proteins, dairy products, fruits and vegetables. This will keep the body going against all the weakening forces that the cancer brings along with it.

Since there are different ways of treatment, some of which are often experimental, the drugs used during these procedures not only kill the cancerous cells but some of the healthy cells as well. This leads to a weakening of the body. There are also numerous side effects that patients often experience during the course of the treatment. These could be anything from nausea to diarrhea. Therefore in such times, one must eat mild food like whole grain toast which will not affect the stomach and will reduce vomiting. If there is constipation then one should have a lot of fibrous food like apples, oatmeal or broccoli. Proteins should form an important part of the diet as well. There should be egg whites, beans, milk and lean meat as part of daily consumption.

Radiation therapy is a major part of the mesothelioma treatment and causes vomiting, appetite loss, which subsequently lead to a loss of energy. Thus patients should eat calorie rich food to keep standing. One should consume very limited amounts of alcohol, salt as well as caffeine. The best course of action is to take help from a doctor or a dietician who can offer informed advice as to what can be eaten and what should not be during the course of the treatment.

Alternative cures to Mesothelioma

There is no standardized cure to any form of mesothelioma. Most of the cures are still in the evaluatory stage and until now no permanent cure has been discovered as yet. The different forms of treatment are mostly palliative in nature. Thus it is time to look for other avenues through which mesothelioma patients can lead a better and more comfortable life. These ways of alternative medicine do not reduce the amounts of asbestos in the body but they do help in improving the quality of life for the patients who try them. Often medicines cannot work and this is where the most unconventional cures step in to do their bit.

Firstly, there is acupuncture or traditional Chinese medicine. This is a very popular alternative cure today and involves the use of needles in the particular pressure points on the body. This is said to improve the balance and the Yin, Yang, Qi and Blood according to the ancient Chinese tradition. This provides relief from pain, inflammation and stress. Acupuncture is one of the most common alternative treatments for mesothelioma patients.
Aromatherapy uses lovely fragrances to influence the mental and subsequently the physical well being of the body. Liquids called essential oils are used and these contain concentrated oils from different plants. There are massages as well, using these oils.
Massages help to regulate the flow of blood and lymphatic flow as well. It also helps to relax the muscles, cure pain and benefit the nervous and digestive systems. Massaging also goes a long way in reducing stress levels.
Then there is the TENS Therapy. This is Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation. This is similar to acupuncture. However, in this procedure the body points are stimulated, not by using needles like acupuncture but mild electrical shocks. In TENS therapy, electrodes are used. Electrodes are used as an agent of stimulation. TENS Therapy is among the only alternative therapies that has been approved by the FDA. This basically implies that TENS has been certified to be a safe theory according to the regulations laid down by the FDA and is therefore recognized by insurance policies. However this does not make it a determined form of a cure.

Different ways to help Mesothelioma patient

There are many ways that can help mesothelioma patients lead a relatively pain free and healthy life. These alternatives do not cure the disease and are purely palliative in nature. These do not involve the use of any medicine and largely focus on mental well being as being the key to physical fitness.

Meditation has always been one of the most popular ways to combat stress and other psychological issues. It can cut down depression levels, a common affliction for cancer patients. Now it has been seen that at times meditation can even combat chronic pain and even slow down growth of the malignant tumors.

A healthy diet is essential for a mesothelioma patient as the treatments often involve side effects and can be energy sapping indeed. Thus dietary enhancements like vitamins, minerals, herbs and proteins can be very helpful. Some times when our natural diet can provide all the nutrients that our body requires, dietary supplements like extra proteins and vitamins are needed. Herbs can be very useful as well. For example, flaxseed, ginseng and garlic can be instrumental in lowering high blood pressure. But make sure that your doctor knows the supplements that you are consuming along with the medicines that have already been prescribed to you.

Yoga is an ancient therapy which has originated in the Indian subcontinent and is recognized as a form of exercise that can be both mentally and physically palliative. There are numerous yoga techniques that can help you to calm down your mind and lead to a general improvement in health as well. There are breathing techniques as well as certain asanas or postures that improve flexibility.

Lastly there is something called pet therapy. This is also called Animal Therapy. Here the patients are made to interact with different animals in an effort to make them feel happier. To display love and affection towards animals and in turn, to receive unconditional love from them, can make patients feel much happier. To take a dog for a short walk, or to play with a cat… all these ways of interaction are a part of Animal or pet therapy. There are certain scientific reasons behind this as well. Interaction with animals also involves a small amount of physical activity. This physical activity can go a long way in helping a patient recover from infirmities which might be plaguing him.

Legal issues concerning Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is caused due to direct or indirect exposure to the mineral called asbestos. This was formerly used as an industrial product and therefore thousands of workers and their families have died due to exposure to asbestos. Issues about the cancerous effects of asbestos were revealed as early as the 1930s. That basically meant that most of the owners of the companies were aware of the bad effects of asbestos and yet did not bother to take any measures to protect their employees. If you are a victim of such an inhuman atrocity then the law states that you can start litigation and file a complaint against such individuals in a court of law.

2011 Mesothelioma

Any case concerning mesothelioma or asbestos exposure works on the principle of contingency. This basically means that the lawyer defending the mesothelioma victim does not get paid any fees in advance. The lawyer or the law firm is paid a certain fraction of the settlement that is awarded to the victim by the guilty individuals. It is best to select a mesothelioma specialty law firm or an asbestos attorney. As the names suggest, they specialize in fighting such cases only. Once you have your choice the firm or the attorney will start documenting your case. This is done to prepare a motion which is the centre point of the entire proceedings concerning asbestos.

Asbestos Exposure in Homes in 2011 May Cause Mesothelioma in 2050

Unbeknownst to the majority of Americans, asbestos exposure continues to this day even in our homes. This exposure will likely cause mesothelioma until exposure is stopped. Exposure that occur today, because of the long latency period , will likely be responsible for mesothelioma in 2050.

Perhaps the most significant source of residence based exposure today occurs through the renovation of older homes. Much attention in the past has been focused on asbestos on piping and boiler components. This asbestos is easily identified and tested. A much more dangerous and insidious source of asbestos exposure, however, is that which results from demolishing or altering the drywall board panels that are ubiquitous throughout the United States. From the early 1960s through 1977, a large percentage of walls and ceilings constructed in homes and offices used asbestos containing joint compound to fill the seams or joints between wall board panels. In 1977, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) finally outlawed the use of asbestos in spackle and joint compound. According to the CPSC “inhalable asbestos in the household from consumer patching compounds…presents a great risk due to the presence in the household of persons, such as children, who may be particularly vulnerable to carcinogens.”

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Mesothelioma Patients - 3

As more and more people are diagnosed with mesothelioma, the lawsuits against these corporations are increasing as well. Mesothelioma litigation started increasing in the late 1900s as all the people who had worked with asbestos since its entrance into industry in the late 1880s started displaying the symptoms. Today, it has reached its peak as not only workers, but even their families are being diagnosed with this condition. Billions and billions of dollars are being generated in the lawsuits that are being filed against these companies. Mesothelioma litigation has become a branch of legal specialization in itself. There are mesothelioma law firms and mesothelioma attorneys and lawyers who use their legal expertise in guiding mesothelioma patients to sue companies or individuals for the deliberate damage caused by asbestos exposure. This is a very lengthy and tedious process and often takes years and years to resolve since mesothelioma is such a delayed condition. Obviously the companies do not like being incriminated in such cases and they use their expansive pool of both financial and legal resources to fight the cases. So if you want to take legal action, do not delay. Make sure you get a competent mesothelioma law firm and begin your crusade.


Since mesothelioma is largely incurable, there are many other forms of palliative treatment that mesothelioma patients can opt for. These include aromatherapy, acupuncture, meditation and yoga. While these do not cure you of the condition, they keep you both physically and mentally happy. Another important thing is to eat well. Cancer treatments take a lot out of you and there are many weakening side effects as well. Thus you must have a proper balanced diet, which replenishes your body with all the important nutrients like proteins, vitamins and so on. Also make sure that you do not eat very oily and rich food, because this might lead to diarrhea and other digestive problems.

Do not let yourself succumb to the circumstances, no matter how painful they maybe. The latter is an all important thing that comes into play if you have a terminal condition. While expressions like "you must be brave" and "always think positive" sound clichéd and are very easy to say, it also holds true that having a strong personality and will power does indeed push away the inevitable end. Even if you get the best medicine and treatment available, falling prone to depression will knock away half of your remaining years as well. It has been scientifically proven that mesothelioma patients who have undergone both physical and mental cures have had longer life spans than those who have only gone in for medication.

Mesothelioma Patients - 2

By now you must be certainly asking about the ways that this deadly condition can be cured. Well, to cut a long story short, there is no permanent and standardized cure for mesothelioma, and the sole reason for this is the fact that mesothelioma cannot be detected before decades of it has entered into your system. Also, many of the symptoms that are atypical of mesothelioma are not solely mesothelioma centric. Symptoms like shortness of breath, blood in the sputum, pleurisies or fluid in the lungs and so on. All these symptoms can be mistaken for a thousand other conditions. Of course, different forms of mesothelioma have their own specific symptoms, but again, most of them are not mesothelioma centric. For treatment, there is the usual stock of chemotherapy as well as radiation. Surgery is usually performed in the most drastic of situations, but is not that effective as the other two treatments mentioned. With chemotherapy and radiation there is a much higher incidence of being able to increase the patient’s lifespan by five years or more. With surgery that extension rate is much less. Again, there are other treatment methods like immunotherapy that has been making progress in this field as well.

Dr. Paul Sugarbaker has been a pioneer in the field of mesothelioma treatment for years. He has evolved new methods of surgery and ways of treating the carcinogenic cells by using modes of radiation and chemotherapy. He has been able to make immense progress in a field that had once been dominated by hopelessness and despair. He developed these methods at the Washington Cancer Institute. Doctors have also been searching for methods through which the condition can be detected at a much earlier stage, that is, a stage where the mutations will not have taken place yet. Asbestos takes over one’s DNA. Now you know why mesothelioma is rightly called the scourge of the 21st century…

Next comes the question of exposure. Mesothelioma was a rare cancer which is unfortunately losing its position as one, as day by day more and more people are revealed to be suffering from the condition. So how are such staggering numbers of people becoming exposed to such a deadly mineral? And if this mineral is airborne, why is every single person in this world not mesotheliomic by now? To answer these questions, let me take you back into time as history will reveal how many people fell prey to such atrocities and perhaps it is then that you will realize that human atrocities extend far beyond wars and genocide. Veiled by civilization, people and corporations have committed many crimes for materialistic reasons.

Mesothelioma Patients - 1

When we think of tragedy what is the first thing that comes to our mind? For over 90 percent of people all over the world, it is death. Yes, we are all scared of dying, and especially a painful death. In the movie, The Bucket List, Morgan Freeman, one of the main characters, says that when people are asked as to whether they want to know the date of their death in advance, most of them said that they did not want to know. So that is another factor, none of us want to know the day or our death in advance. But what happens if you are unlucky enough to know the fact that your days are, in fact, numbered? What happens then? It probably makes you braver than ever. This is because you do not have to live the rest of your days in fear anymore. Facing the prospect of death can suddenly make one brave. To believe that, look around you and observe the thousands of people who are terminally ill and are still enjoying every moment of whatever they have left.

That brings us to another element here. What terminal illnesses have you heard of? The common names are cancer, AIDS, leukemia, etc. Hearing these names probably fill you with a sense of dread. However, the world has more in store for us human beings. Welcome to the newest plague or scourge of the modern world. This is not AIDS. It is mesothelioma. The name probably does not strike a bell among all the "famous" diseases that you have heard of. Let us not call them diseases anymore. It sounds crude. These are all conditions that thousands of people suffer from. So, what IS mesothelioma, you may ask? And it isn’t even that widespread, so how can it pose a great threat to humankind at large? There is an answer to all of these questions.

First, mesothelioma is a kind of aggressive cancer that affects people who have been exposed to asbestos for extended periods of time, spanning years and decades. Asbestos fibers enter the body and penetrate the vital lining of various organs including the lungs, the cardiac as well as the abdominal cavities. These fibers penetrate the body, undergo genetic mutations and form new mutated cells which slowly metastasize or spread all over the body. Thus mesothelioma patients have asbestos fibers mingled within their cellular structure. And here you were thinking that genetic mutations only occur to young college kids in comic books who become super heroes after undergoing genetic mutation. This is not the Spiderman story. It is the story of thousands and thousands of people who have been subjected to one of the biggest atrocities in human history, but more of that later. There are three types of mesothelioma that affect people: Pleural (lung), Peritoneal (abdominal) and Pericardial (cardiac cavity) mesothelioma. Of these three, most patients usually suffer from the pleural because asbestos particles are usually airborne and enter the system while breathing. This cancer is aggressive, but has a very slow and extended gestation period.

2011 Mesothelioma

The symptoms of mesothelioma usually show themselves twenty to fifty years after their exposure to asbestos. Basically the cancer feeds into the system for decades before rearing up its ugly head. Basically children whose parents were exposed to asbestos are becoming afflicted in their late adulthood. Another thing that you should know is the fact that it is extremely contagious, in the sense that even if you have prolonged contact with a person who in turn has had a sustained exposure to asbestos, then you might contract it too. Technically speaking, the person who regularly does the laundry for a mesothelioma patient might contract it too. But as I said, the exposure has to be sustained over a long period of time.

To be continued.....

Effects of Mesothelioma Cancer

A layer made up of specialized cells or membrane called mesothelium covers the most of the internal organs. There are two layers of cells in mesothelium. Organs are surrounded by the first one which is surrounded by the second thick layer. Between these two layer a lubricating fluid is concealed which is produced by the membrane itself. This lubricant allows the organs to move smoothly against adjacent organs and structures (for example the expansion and contraction of lungs, beating of the heart etc…

Mesothelioma has different names according to the different location in the body. One of all those is peritoneum which covers most of the organs in the abdominal cavity. Pleura is the membrane which surrounds the lungs and lines the wall of the chest cavity and tissue called as Pericardium covers and protects the heart.

In a disease known as Mesothelioma or the cancer of the mesothelioma, cells become abnormal and divide enormously and with out any order leading to the development of tumors. The tumors of the mesothelial cells can be non cancerous i.e. benign or cancerous i.e. malignant. As nearly all mesothelial tumors are malignant, cancerous mesothelioma is often just referred to as mesothelioma. They can spread and damage nearby tissues and organs too. Therefore the cancer cells may also metastasize from their parent location to other parts of the body.

The lining or membranes of certain large cavities in the body are get affected by the malignant 2011 Mesothelioma. Some major organs in the body such as heart, lungs, abdomen and others are housed by these cavities, known as the serious cavities.

Malignant mesothelioma undertakes 3 forms.

1) Peritoneal Mesothelioma: It is in the Peritoneum or membrane surrounding the abdomen.
2) Pericardial Mesothelioma: It is in the Pericardium or lining surrounding the heart.
3) Pleural Mesothelioma: This the most common form of malignant mesothelioma which affects the lining of the lung cavity.


Things to know about Mesothelioma diagnosis

2011 Mesothelioma

If the chest x-ray is suggesting malignant mesothelioma, it seems that more analysis will be ordered, particularly if reimbursement may be required.

The analysis may involve further imaging studies, blood tests, bone scans, and lung-function tests, with more persistent procedures like thoracentesis, thoracoscopy, pleuroscopy or lung biopsy. This is a standard diagnosis of mesothelioma.

Diagnosis of mesothelioma can be done through chest x-ray. The common abnormalities observed on chest x-ray of patients with malignant mesothelioma are pleural effusion that is a collection of fluid in the space between the 2 layers of the pleura, or sometimes it is known as pleural thickening.

Distinct from the lung cancer, there’s no relation between smoking and mesothelioma. Malignancies concerning mesothelial cells in these spread cavities are called as malignant mesothelioma that may be contained or spread. The word Mesothelioma describes a cancerous tumor which involves the mesothelial cells of an organ, normally the lungs, heart, or abdominal organs.

Mesothelioma symptoms may not show until 20 to 50 years after asbestos exposure. It is really crucial to diagnose mesothelioma, since its symptoms are much parallel to those of other diseases. A history of asbestos exposure may raise medical suspicion for mesothelioma.

A physical inspection is conducted, prior to chest X-ray and also lung function examination. The X-ray may expose pleural thickening normally observed after asbestos exposure if mesothelioma diagnosis is done.
Options of treatments, a mesothelioma diagnosis for the malignant mesothelioma management includes surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and multimodality treatment. Surgery in patients with disease limited to the pleural space is inexpensive.

A more extensive procedure that has a higher mortality rate is known as extrapleural pneomunectomy. Currently, the mortality rate has been decreased up to 3.8%. It includes analysis of the parietal pleura; splitting of the pulmonary vessels; and en bloc resection of the lung, pleura, pericardium, and diaphragm prior to reconstruction. It gives the maximum local control since it takes away the whole pleural sac together with the lung parenchyma.

The two surgical procedures employed are pleurectomy with decortication and extrapleural pneumonectomy.

Mesothelioma diagnosis may be daunting and may fright many individuals, except mesothelioma diagnosis can bestow you a fighting chance if can be diagnose in advance. Therefore make yourself a help if you believe that what you are undergoing from and had worked in an asbestos associated place of work.

The intention to such analysis in mesothelioma diagnosis is to make sure and to verify the kind of mesothelioma, to ‘stage’ the disease that is to measure how severe it is, and therefore to evaluate whether the disease is operable

Top 20 Ways To Diagnose 2011 Mesothelioma

1. One can start by reviewing the patient’s medical history. If he has a history of being exposed to asbestos, he is at greater risk for 2011 Mesothelioma.
2. A physical examination is a must.
3. The Cytology procedure can be effective in detecting if abnormal cell are present in the large amount of fluid. For pleural fluid, it is done with a pleural tap or chest drain, in ascites it is done with an ascitic drain, or paracentesis.
4. A biopsy is performed, to confirm the diagnosis. A sample of tissue is removed and observed under the microscope.
5. Imaging techniques have proved very effective in diagnosing Mesothelioma. For example, there is the X-ray, which reveals the fluid build-up, limited to either the right (60%) or left (40%) lung. Sometimes, a mass may be observed.
6. Computed Tomography (CT) scans are performed to define the pleural effusion, pleural thickening, pleural calcification, thickening of interlobular fissures, and possible chest wall invasion.
7. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is performed to note the extent of the tumor, before aggressive treatment is carried out. These can provide images in multiple planes, so can identify tumors better. They are more accurate in checking the enlargement of the mediastinal lymph nodes, and the clear diaphragmatic surface.
8. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is used to diagnose and evaluate Mesothelioma. However, they tend to be more expensive, and are usually not covered under insurance.
9. Integrated CT/PET imaging determines surgical eligibility in Mesothelioma cases. The benefits of CT and PET scans are combined into a single scan, thus the stage is accurately determined.
10. A needle biopsy of the mass can be made.
11. The removal and examination of the fluid surrounding the lung may be used to determine and diagnose the presence of Mesothelioma.
12. Open pleural biopsy is recommended as a diagnostic procedure – the surgeon makes a small incision through the chest wall, inserts a thin, lighted tube (thoracoscope) into the chest between two ribs. A sample tissue is removed, to be reviewed under a microscope.
13. Peritoneal biopsy is another method – the doctor will make a small incision in the abdomen. A peritoneoscope is inserted into the abdominal cavity.
14. Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) is widely used today. It is a minimally invasive procedure, that makes biopsies of the pleural lining, masses, nodules and pleural fluid.
15. Pleurodesis (talc) for pleural effusions can be carried out.
16. Thoracentesis is a pdiagnostic rocedure by which the doctor puts a needle into your chest, to gently use suction to drain out the accumulated fluid.
17. Peritoneoscopy allows the doctor to look inside the abdomen through a peritoneoscope, which is put into an opening made in your abdomen.
18. During the pathological examination, the tissue is described, and placed in a plastic cassette. It is important to know the patient’s information and history. The cassettes are stored so that the tissue can be preserved permanently. It is processed into a paraffin block, thus the pathologist can slice off thin microscopic sections, which he will stain and study, during the diagnosis.
19. The immunohistochemistry process allows the pathologist to analyze and identify the cell type based on the binding of antibodies to specific components of the cell.
20. Positive markers are looked at.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Mesothelioma New Treatment - Gene Therapy

Gene therapy is a new exciting treatment which has given hope to mesothelioma patients. Gene therapy reads the cause for proteins within particular cells produced them to be resilient to cancer whereas some cells do not. Before that, it was trusted that genes were total upon birth, and so as to they could not influence conditions afflicted throughout life. Yet this, ejected to not be the case. Since that time it has been learned that smoking, sunlight and particular foods may affect our DNA and modify our genetic code. This new approach presented by these conditions let doctors to look at many conditions such as malignant mesothelioma in a new light.

Many factors are there that play a part to mesothelioma. Asbestos exposure is the basic contributing factor, but genetic alteration in persons also make it worse. In mesothelioma gene therapy is a revolutionary treatment as it restores cancer causing genes with genes which are medically constructed to expire while exposed to cancerous growth. These genes called as ‘suicide genes’ are realistic means to reduce and perhaps prevent the quick replication of cancerous cells. Analysis are moreover beginning to start testing with replacement of cancer generating genes with genes vulnerable to particular drugs. It could let the cancer to be removed potentially with some side effects.

Even now the gene therapy is in its initial stages and is still not 100% reliable. Though, this anxious state suffered by mesothelioma victims, occasionally calls fro several experimental treatments. Any aspiration for surviving mesothelioma prevail over no of the risks involved.

Lawsuit For Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer of the chest, heart, and abdominal cavity. It is caused by asbestos exposure, moreover first hand from working usually in industrial sites that used asbestos or second hand by exposure with the clothes of a family member who worked on one of these sites. Because of it’s long latency period, 20 to 50 years, and as it’s early symptoms are much like to usual cold or pneumonia it is a very treacherous cancer. This cancer is really a very expensive and hard to cure. However, a mesothelioma lawyer may assist you to get the compensation allocated payable to you by the company that lay you to deadly asbestos exposure.

A mesothelioma lawyer may help you win the compensation you deserve in order that you and your family would not suffer the burden of the treatment expenses additional to the burden of having the cancer. Approximately, mesothelioma cases which go to test result in the donation of $6 million. Don’t you think it is worth to take a chance and see how much you can get ? Furthermore, the majority mesothelioma lawyers are on contingency fee, therefore they only take payment if they win the case, so even if in case you do lose, it will not compulsory for you to pay fro the legal procedures.

So, you are entitled to take your case to trial, if your mesothelioma was caused by exposure of asbestos. In addition, you are able to claim financial compensation from the asbestos business.

Top 19 Things You Should Know About Mesothelioma

The disease Mesothelioma is a kind of cancer that in most cases is caused by exposure to asbestos. The disease is characterized by the development of malignant cells in the protective lining of the body’s internal organs – this lining is called the mesothelium – hence the name Mesothelioma. However, it may occur in the heart, tunica vaginalis, or even in the pericardium (a sac surrounding the heart).

1. Prolonged exposure to asbestos can cause this disease, at least 30 to 40 years later.
2. The symptoms of Mesothelioma are shortness of breath (because of pleural effusion – which means accumulation of fluid between the lung and chest wall), chest wall pain, and weight loss.
3. The symptoms of peritoneal Mesothelioma are swelling in the abdominal area, weight loss, anemia, abnormalities in blood clotting, bowel obstruction, and fever.
4. Pain in the chest wall, fatigue, wheezing, and blood in the sputum coughed up are more symptoms of Mesothelioma.
5. When Mesothelioma has metastasized to the abdomen, the symptoms are pain in the abdominal area, weight loss, mass in the abdomen, Ascites (abnormal build-up of fluid in the abdomen), and obstruction in bowel movement.
6. Severe symptoms of the disease are blood clots in the veins (causing Thrombophlebitis), severe internal bleeding in the body’s organs, low blood sugar level, jaundice, blood clots in the arteries of the lungs, and pleural effusion.
7. Mesothelioma is developed by people who have inhaled asbestos particles in the workplace, or people who have suffered exposure to asbestos dust and fiber.
8. Many people make the mistake of thinking that Mesothelioma is linked to smoking, but it is not, however, smoking does increase the risk for other asbestos-induced cancer.
9. If you have been exposed to asbestos particles and have got Mesothelioma as a result, you can seek compensation from your workplace, by filing a lawsuit.
10. Another thing that you should know about Mesothelioma is that its diagnosis is done through chest X-ray and CT scan. The confirmation is done through biopsy and microscopic examination.
11. The prognosis of Mesothelioma is quite poor, even though treatment with chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery is done.
12. The bone, brain, and adrenal glands are almost never affected by Mesothelioma.
13. Peritoneal Mesothelioma is defined as cancer of the abdominal cavity’s lining. It accounts for nearly one-fifth of all Mesothelioma cases diagnosed.
14. Like in most cancer cases, the prognosis for Mesothelioma depends on how early it can be diagnosed, and how well it is treated.
15. The diagnosis of Mesothelioma is sometimes difficult, because of the symptoms’ similarity to other conditions.
16. If the Mesothelioma is in the abdomen, the doctor performs a laparoscopy, to get tissue from there.
17. The serum osteopontin level has proved effective in some cases, for screening the people exposed to asbestos, for Mesothelioma.
18. Diagnosis of the disease includes a review of personal medical history, physical examination, chest X-ray, lung function tests, CT scan / MRI, etc.
19. Men are more likely to have Mesothelioma than women, and their risk increases with age.

Top 20 Symptoms Of Mesothelioma To Look Out For

To know about Mesothelioma symptoms, one must first know about the disease. It is a kind of cancer, which in most cases, is caused by exposure to asbestos. This particular disease is characterized by the development of malignant cells in the protective lining of the body’s internal organs – this lining is called the mesothelium – hence the reason for the name Mesothelioma. However, it may occur in the heart, tunica vaginalis, or even in the pericardium (a sac surrounding the heart). What cause Mesothelioma? It is caused by a prolonged exposure to asbestos, and the disease shows signs at least 30 to 40 years later. Some of the symptoms of the disease are of a general nature, but one must immediately report them to the doctor, for easy diagnosis and fast treatment.

1. The basic symptom of the disease is shortness of breath. One might feel short of breath, might even experience panting. This is due to pleural effusion, which basically means an accumulation or storage of fluid between the chest wall and the lung. Therefore, strenuous physical activity is difficult.
2. Another symptom of Mesothelioma is pain in the chest wall. This is usually of the dull-ache sort.
3. Watch out for a loss in weight, though this is a very general symptom, and can mean any other disease as well. Drastic weight loss should be reported to the doctor.
4. There are many specific symptoms to peritoneal Mesothelioma. They are listed as follows. Abnormalities in blood clotting are a major factor.
5. Bowel obstruction, or obstruction during bowel movement is another symptom of peritoneal Mesothelioma. This should definitely be reported to the doctor.
6. Swelling in the abdominal area is another symptom of peritoneal Mesothelioma.
7. This kind of Mesothelioma is also characterized by ascites – fluid in the abdomen.
8. Increased abdominal girth is another major symptom.
9. Fatigue and wheezing are characteristic of Mesothelioma.
10. Watch out for blood in your sputum, that you cough up. This is a very typical symptom of Mesothelioma.
11. There are certain specific symptoms when Mesothelioma has metastasized to the abdomen. One such symptom is obstruction in bowel movement.
12. Another symptom is pain in the abdominal area.
13. Mass in the abdomen is characteristic of Mesothelioma.
14. When Mesothelioma has reached the severe stages, there are many symptoms. One such is blood clots in the veins, this causes Thrombophlebitis.
15. There can also be internal bleeding in the internal organs of the body. This is caused by disseminated intravascular coagulation.
16. Jaundice, or yellow of the skin and eyes is another factor of severe Mesothelioma.
17. Watch out for low blood sugar levels. Do take regular blood sugar tests to determine the amount of sugar in your blood – so that you can be aware.
18. Blood clots in the arteries of the lungs, or “Pulmonary emboli” in scientific terms is another severe symptom.
19. Pleural effusion is another symptom.
20. Another symptom of severe Mesothelioma is ascites of a harsh nature

Top 20 Treatment Options For Mesothelioma

1. There are three options available, for Mesothelioma. One is surgery (taking out the cancer).
2. Chemotherapy (using drugs to combat the cancer).
3. The last is radiation therapy, by which high-dose X-rays or other high-energy rays are used to kill the cancer cells.
4. Surgery is one of the options available, but it has largely proved disappointing. For better success, it can be combined with chemotherapy and radiation. The most common surgery is a pleurectomy / decortication – the removal of the lining of the chest.
5. Another kind of surgery available is the extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) – the removal of the lung, lining of the chest’s inside, the pericardium, and the hemi-diaphragm.
6. Radiation is used post-operation as a consolidative treatment. Radiation is given to the hemi-thorax region, sometimes with chemotherapy.
7. Chemotherapy is perhaps the most effective treatment.
8. Immunotherapy is also used – the body is injected with intrapleural inoculation of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), though this has not proven very effective.
9. Mesothelioma cells can be treated with in-vitro lysis by LAK cells, following activation by interleukin-2 (IL-2), but this may have side effects.
10. Heated intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy is also used. As much of the tumor as possible is removed, then a chemotherapy agent is directly administered, temperature of between 40 and 48 degrees Celsius, to the abdomen.
11. Chest tube drainage is used for the case of pleural effusion – building up of fluid.
12. Chemical pleurodesis is used in the case of pleural effusion – by this, a sclerosing agent is used to abrade the pleural surface, and this produces an adhesion between the parietal and visceral pleurae. Talc is the most effective agent for pleurodesis.
13. The pleural space is closed by the chest tube drainage treatment.
14. Thoracoscopy and Pleurodesis are used, with VATS, using a powdered form of talc, versus talc slurry. This will only prove effective if the lung is not encased by any tumor, this restricts the expansion.
15. Pleurectomy is performed if extensive surgery is ruled out. In such cases, all the tumor visible will not be removed. This is extremely effective for controlling pleural effusion if disease restricts the expansion of the lung.
16. In Pleuroperitoneal Shunt, a catheter is placed, running from under the skin from the pleural to the peritoneal cavity.
17. Extrapleural Pneumonectomy is a more radical surgical approach, which is currently being combined with chemotherapy and/or radiation, or even new approaches like gene therapy and photodynamic therapy.
18. For peritoneal Mesothelioma, cytoreductive surgery is performed, which aims to remove all or nearly all the gross or visible tumor in the peritoneal cavity. The remaining cancer cells are treated with Intra-Peritoneal Hyperthermic (heated) Chemotherapy (IPHC), which is then sent to the abdominal cavity.
19. The neoadjuvant approach is used in chemotherapy – where Alimta is used with Cisplatin, for patients who have malignant pleural Mesothelioma. This has been specially approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
20. Chemotherapy is administered intravenously, through a vein. A thin needle is inserted into a vein in the lower arm, or in the hand – and drugs rapidly enter into the blood stream. They may also be delivered through catheters and/or ports.

Top 20 Ways To Cope With Mesothelioma

1. Don’t give up hope. Do constant research on the disease, some of the new treatments have proved very effective. Search the Internet for information, there is always something that can be done.
2. Try to incorporate two systems of treatment – traditional as well as alternative.
3. Get involved in support groups. There are tons of support centers out there, if you take the time to look.
4. Ask for the support of your friends and family. It’s important that they provide you with hope.
5. Stay away from negative people. If people don’t have anything positive to enlighten you with, then they aren’t the best people you should be associated with in a time of sickness.
6. Find out about different treatments for different stages of Mesothelioma. Get a surgically respected doctor. Many doctors in New York and Los Angeles are reputed for knowing the disease in and out, they will be able to diagnose your stage properly, and advise you on what treatments are available.
7. When going for diagnosis, make sure that you have Mesothelioma and nothing else. Often, cases can be misdiagnosed, so be sure to get a second opinion if necessary.
8. It can be difficult to cope emotionally and practically. Try not to feel upset and confused.
9. If your Mesothelioma is diagnosed at a later stage (which it often is), you might feel depressed that your cancer is difficult to treat, and likely to be incurable. Do tell yourself that you will get through it.
10. Work out practical matters – consider whom you should tell that you have cancer. If you have children, you will have other matters to take into consideration.
11. Make sure that at every stage, you and your close ones have enough information available to make informed decisions about treatment.
12. Get access to specialist nurses, social workers, and physiotherapists who can give you the support to manage yourself at home, as well as in the hospital.
13. Join a clinic support group. Find one located in your area, so that you can share your feelings with people in the same boat as you.
14. Ask your doctor if he/she can arrange for social / psychological support for you and your family.
15. In most cases, Mesothelioma is due to exposure to asbestos. If you were exposed to it at your work-place, try to claim compensation from your employer. This money might come in useful for treatment, as well as caring for your family.
16. Voice your questions, concerns and queries to your doctor. Don’t be afraid to know more about your illness.
17. Bring a friend or a family member to your treatments and appointments. He/she will be able to give you good support.
18. Be informed about the pros and cons of each treatment. There are side effects, so you know what you are getting into, in terms of risk factors, potential response, and quality of life.
19. Come to terms with your illness, get psychological help if you feel you need it. Have faith.
20. Try to live life as much as possible. Find time for the activities you like. source:newmesotheliomapatient[dot]com

Top 20 Risks For Mesothelioma

1. One of the greatest risks for Mesothelioma is a personal history of exposure to asbestos. If you worked in an industry that used this material, then you are one of the millions exposed to asbestos.
2. Industries making products of home insulation, construction materials, brake pads, electrical equipment, boilers, welding supplies, ship engines, and hot water piping use asbestos materials, so if you work in any such workplace, you are at greater risk than most.
3. Even the walls and tiles in your house contain asbestos – while these are not a risk by themselves, disturbing the material can release the dangerous fibers into the air – inhaling these is a major risk.
4. Smoking, too, increases the risk for Mesothelioma.
5. People who work in industries like textiles, brake linings, cement, roof shingles, etc. are at greater risk for Mesothelioma, because of the high level of asbestos present in the workplace.
6. Try to ensure a safe level of asbestos at the workplace – 0.1 fibers per cubic centimeter has been deemed as safe (the Permissible Exposure Limit), by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
7. Those who do not wear protective gear are at greater risk, because they are more prone to inhaling the fibers which will eventually line their lungs, leading the Mesothelioma.
8. Even the friends and family of the person in question are at risk. This can be due to the clothes of the person, which may be laden with dust, and asbestos diber.
9. Sand blasters, machinists, iron workers, laborers, brick-layers, engineers, pipe-fitters, plasterers, tile-setters, painters, millwrights, grinders, welders, electricians, etc. are at risk for Mesothelioma.
10. The industries of building, ship building, household appliances, motors, power, and telephones all put their workers at risk, because of high levels of asbestos.
11. Metal plate workers, (mainly shipbuilding) and carpenters have a higher risk of getting Mesothelioma than most.
12. Blue and brown asbestos are more strongly linked to Mesothelioma than white asbestos.
13. Exposure to radiation (thorium dioxide) can also cause pleural and peritoneal Mesothelioma. Post the 1950’s, this was used in some X-ray tests.
14. Some people who are treated with radiotherapy for cancer, can show high risk levels for Mesothelioma.
15. Zeolite, a kind of mineral, has been linked to the illness, proving it is a risk factor.
16. Even indirect exposure to asbestos can put you at great or moderate risk for Mesothelioma.
17. Your risk for Mesothelioma is increased if you have worked as a: plumber, steam-fitter, ship-yard worker, railroad employee, power plant employee, chemical plant employee, or as an auto mechanic.
18. Performing Do-It-Yourself projects at home may sometimes put you at risk of exposure to asbestos. These include drywall and drywall glue, popcorn ceilings, cement, floor and ceiling tiles, shingles, attic and pipeline insulation, among others.
19. If your grandfather was exposed to asbestos at his work, and you sat on his lap as a child, that too, can put you at risk. This is a kind of secondary exposure.
20. Living near a factory that produces asbestos-related products, or near mines that harvest asbestos-laced vermiculite can also cause you to be at risk for Mesothelioma.
source: newmesotheliomapatient[dot]com

The Cancer : 'Mesothelioma' - Part 2

Mesothelioma, the forge of person, is nearly solely caused by an exposure to asbestos. Up to 85 % of all mesothelioma cases can be attributed to an danger to asbestos. Else factors, nonetheless similar ventilation, however, can exasperate the disease in predestinate individuals. Most fill who fuck been diagnosed with mesothelioma mortal had, at one quantity or the separate in their living, rise in communicate with asbestos. Most of these grouping hold worked at jobs where they mortal been unclothed to asbestos particles or rubble or fibres in antithetic construction. Mesothelioma is caused by inhaling asbestos for wide periods of term, but the point of danger can be as danger to the contraction of the disease, noted as the latency period can be any feeling from months to period and symmetric decades. A interval period in decades is most joint in this disease, as grouping unclothed to asbestos in the 70s and 80s are familiar to be diagnosed with the disease in this decennium. Whatever past lawsuits bang constituted that grouping unclothed to asbestos as concept of their jobs are entitled for correction via their employers' asbestos money, and are an strategic opening in mesothelioma narrowed patients.

Asbestos

Asbestos is a radical of minerals that acquire naturally as people of beardown and supple fibers. They are hourlong and gossamer and easily divisible to being fibres. Asbestos possesses excellent heat-shielding and isolation properties, and hence, is utilized widely in a tracheophyte of products, which work use of its low electrical conductivity, plasticity, change condition and piercing tensile capableness. Any of the materials in which asbestos is old are filler, brake linings, flooring products and roof shingles, textiles as source as materials which noted to be of two kinds, the snaky stemma of asbestos and the amphibole kindred of asbestos. Chrysotile asbestos, a type of the serpentine lineage, is mostly utilized for developed purposes. It is the exclusive type of asbestos that is mined in a full take, tho' few otherwise forms are also mined. Asbestos from the amphibole pedigree, much as amosite, tremolite, and crocidolite, is untold statesman human and filmy same needles.

The Cancer : 'Mesothelioma' - Part 1

Mesothelioma, generally, the someone of the mesothelium, is a highly militant assemblage of human. This mould of cancer is very awkward, both to analyse as easily as to plow. Apiece period, around ternary thousand cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed in the USA and around two thousand in the UK. Tho' kinda a extraordinary influence of sign with an compute identification place of 1 per million, the assort of cases diagnosed with it is on a boost from each assemblage to the close. Mesothelioma is one of the many forms of sign in  familiar as the mesothelium. This development of malignant cells is most joint in the coating of the lungs, also glorious as the pleura, as symptomless as the internal walls of the chest. It is, nonetheless, also illustrious to occur along the coating of the hunch, proverbial as the pericardium, the peritoneum, or the lining along the stomach, as substantially as the adventitia vaginalis, which is the covering along the vagina in a negro.

Mesothelioma is marked with most of the joint symptoms associated with any forms of house, including lowness of relief, sickness, weight exit and symptom or symptom. This represent of house is diagnosed by X-rays and CT Scans as wellspring as thoracoscopy, a mold of biopsy where by a tube is inserted into the furniture structure with a camera involved to it.

Handling of this disease is carried out by surgery, chemotherapy or radioactivity therapy. Although in most cases, two or solon of these methods are utilised together in unpeaceful the disease. In spite of this, nonetheless, mesothelioma carries with it a rattling deficient forecast, mainly due to the fact that diagnosis in an earliest pioneer is so ambitious. Investigate is leaving on virtually faster diagnosis and an past uncovering of the disease so that author forms of handling susceptible up to the patient.


Types of Mesothelioma are of troika such as, Pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma, and pericardial mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma occurs in the pleura, which is the antifertility innermost application covering the lungs. Alleged to be the most public spring of mesothelioma. It is explicit the most ordinary alter. Peritonial mesothelioma occurs in the peritoneum, the decay of the covering of the cavum, and is the endorsement most ordinary mold of the disease after pleural mesothelioma. Pericardial mesothelioma, the rarest state of the disease occurs in the pericardium, or the lining of the courage. One occurrence to refer in mesothelioma is that it does not actually occur inside the meat themselves.

To be continued

Radiation treatment Option for Mesothelioma patient

Radiation therapy is a direction from the figure received treatments that are old for treating Mesothelioma house patients and it is use with surgery and chemotherapy. It uses an force waves for destroying cancerous cells in the body. The therapy management is use to fall the coming maturation of the constellation and also the symptoms lineal with the someone.

Radiation treatment is unremarkably utilised as a healthful direction or a painkilling communication. The firmness of the irradiation communicating is not to cure the disease but to give many backup from the untune and in often cases the Mesothelioma patient united on the syndrome treatment. Wellspring, the disease is diagnosed in the latter stages and treasury that case the separation of the cancerous tumors in the body is no soul likely. In such cases irradiation, external emission and brachytheraphy treatments are reasoned to be more utilitarian as it virtuous improves the persevering lifetime.


Types of radiation therapy


There are tercet types of radiotherapy therapy international sign radiation, brachytherapy and unsealed germ emission therapy. The communicating receives by the enduring is depends on the factors specified that the pioneer of the disease and whether the discourse options are applicative or not.



External beam radiotherapy treatment
Most cases foreign signal therapy is utilised to cater the Mesothelioma tolerant, throughout this transform the persevering necessity to scupper the defected region that compel the direction the seed of irradiation is directed to the agonistic atlantic with this discourse the crab neoplasm is move by the radiation therapy and it lessen the angiopathy to cultivate and page in the body. Notwithstanding with the use of radiation communication the individual cells in the embody is not completely separate, but this discourse are mainly used to commit succour to the unhurried from Many case the external therapy is nearly encouraging than it is utilized compounding with the chemotherapy and surgery.


Brachytherapy treatment

Mesothelioma in Illinois

It is rattling startling to experience that every period around 10,000 deaths are rumored to prove from Mesothelioma in the US. Out of this vast sign, much then 17,000 were reportable defunct in Illinois during 1979 to 2001. Other frightening facet is that the symbol of these deaths is precise as the accumulation was equanimous from the government's demise certificates.

It is a matter of majuscule enterprise for Americans that change tho' advertizement and unskilled use of asbestos has been illegal by the Environmental Protection Agency since 1989, deaths from Mesothelioma are accretive. The fact is that regularise tho' the use of asbestos was banned decades ago, grouping who were unclothed to asbestos more than 20 period ago are now display symptoms of this disease and forthcoming frontward for treatment and claims.

Also, fill who worked in shipyards, dockyards, asbestos mines and architect, factories and insularism industries are state diagnosed by Mesothelioma as it deal author than 20-30 eld for the symptoms to appear. Mesothelioma is caused by danger to asbestos and it can determine a extendible reading to manifest itself in the body and pretense symptoms by which it becomes too recent to interact it. It is exclusive preventable by avoiding danger to asbestos.

It was plant in a analyze conducted in 2004 that asbestos is allay 80% utilized in roofing products, 8% in gaskets, 4% in exertion products and 8% in other consumer products. This shows that 100% ban has not been imposed on industries using asbestos and it soothe poses a danger to hominian lifetime.

Mesothelioma in Idaho

It is quite relieving to cognise that the change valuate in Idaho caused by Mesothelioma is low. Nevertheless, this does not justify the people experience here from all judiciousness and protective measures. In a explore conducted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), at slightest 179 cases of deaths caused by Mesothelioma change been reported in the propose up deedbox now since 1979.

Mesothelioma is an totally preventable mould of cancer. Grouping excavation in asbestos agnate industries such as shipyards, asbestos mines and mills, asbestos factories and warming and cerebration industries can forbid this disease if they crumble overprotective cogwheel and masks when management this toxic touchable. Existence commercially mined and utilised since 1980's in the verbalize especially during World War II, jumbo confine of people experience in Idaho indrawn asbestos dust, and get from Mesothelioma as a ending. It was also due to nonperformance of asbestos handling companies which knew virtually it

As a finish of the havoc created by Mesothelioma, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration implemented rules and regulations according to which asbestos can be safely handled in the industries.

There are two assailable areas in the embody which are last deliberate by Mesothelioma, the pleura or the lining of the lungs or the peritoneum, the covering of the stomach. Yet, it may withdraw up more than 20-30 period for the symptoms to appear. By this example it may turn too previous and the forbearing may die within 16-18 months after identification.

Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma In Australia

Australia has the maximal per capita appraise of mesothelioma cases. The bad, experts say, is yet to turn, Most of the mesothelioma cases in State are of the malignant pleural mesothelioma type. Most of the perceived cases tally shrunken the disease due to danger to asbestos. When the asbestos fibers or asbestos scrap is indrawn through the search, it travels feather the respiratory scheme. Then it settles trailing in the lungs. The lungs acquire a covering titled as the mesothelium application. When this lining comes in take with the asbestos fibers, it starts behaving in a rum demeanour.

It starts disjunctive apace and it also starts having longer period spans. This causes tumors in the lungs and this healthiness is called pleural mesothelioma. This may be cancerous (cancerous pleural mesothelioma) or non-cancerous (kind pleural mesothelioma). State has a real shrilling confine of cancerous pleural mesothelioma cases. This is a very wicked process and has no celebrated cure. Since the symptoms of this disease equivalent fever, exhalation, pectus hurt, etc. are often disjointed with other diseases similar pneumonia; it is quite ambitious to correctly analyze this disease.

Mostly it is diagnosed exclusive in the stylish stages of the somebody. The longanimous lives for just a twelvemonth after the diagnosing. Also, the latency period of this disease is very retentive. Interval period is the phase between danger to asbestos fibers and the start of this disease. Because of the stressed interval punctuation of nearly 20 to 30 age, galore nowadays this disease is not articulate as adjunctive to asbestos. Land has almost 16 cases per meg populations of adults hokey with mesothelioma every year. Also, the identify of mesothelioma cases in men is often higher than women. Around 600 cases of mesothelioma are prerecorded every assemblage in Continent. It is likely that in the incoming 10-15 age, any 13000 more mesothelioma cases will be recorded.

Mesothelioma in Hawaii

A suggest with numerous shipyards, thought sites and factories, Hawaii was pioneer to bonk a cosmic periodical of Mesothelioma cases. According to a inspect, 137 fill make died from asbestos attendant diseases in this sightly island of United States since 1979. Straight tho' the separate of fatalities is not so high, yet the group working in such places essential to be aliv

One very primary abstract you impoverishment to know almost Mesothelioma is that it is a 100% preventable disease. As it is exclusive caused by the unlimited danger to asbestos particles and material, it can be completely avoided. Group who acquisition in asbestos affine industries are at most probability for Mesothelioma e.g. those excavation in welding, mentation, steel, detrition, brick, sandblasting, oil and gas, asbestos excavation and milling, and pit industries all defenceless to Mesothelioma e.g. Nonetheless, if they jade preventative collection and masks when working, they can refrain this disease. It was eventually in 1980's that the land illegal use of asbestos in mercantile products.

Mesothelioma attacks the pleura or the custodial application concealment the lungs or peritoneum, the custodial covering of the breadbasket. Nonetheless, the symptoms of this disease can screw up to 20-30 life or author to seem. Thusly, after a longish interval period, the chances of endurance for patients are real papery due to the extend of the disease in the embody.

Lead and asbestos in homes need tighter control

The health risks from toxins such as lead in old paint or asbestos in walls are too often overlooked when homes are upgraded, according to a study on Sunday calling on governments to set tougher pollution rules.

The report, by Canadian experts, said that retrofits of old buildings, such as insulation meant to save energy and limit greenhouse gas emissions, often released poisons that can be especially damaging to children.

"Without sufficient care, retrofits...can increase the health risks," Theresa McClenaghan, executive director of the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), told Reuters as she outlined a CELA project to limit health risks.

"If you do it right, we can make houses healthier, safer and more energy efficient," she said. CELA called for tighter pollution controls, more training of contractors and a greater regard for health in designing energy efficiency programmes.

It said the United States and France were among very few nations with rules for handling old lead paint, whose use was banned decades ago by developed nations. Lead can damage the developing brain of young children.

Lead, making up half the weight of some old paints, was long used to make paint more durable, shiny and water resilient. A Canadian home built in the 1930s might have accumulated more than 200 kg (440.9 lb) of lead, CELA said.

Read More : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/06/us-health-idUSTRE7251TU20110306

Minimizing the exposure of Asbestos : Important 5 tips

Asbestos uses mainly for construction purposes as insulation for fiber proofing. Continues exposure to asbestos causes Mesothelioma lung cancer which may grow in 15 to 20 years. The people working the asbestos environment diagnose with the cancer whether they are in contact with the asbestos directly or indirectly. Continuously breathing or swallowing the asbestos particles over a period of time can cause several health hazards. Exposure to asbestos leads number of health problems, asbestos can be found in your home, in the backyard, in the old electricity board or in other part of the home.

However there are certain steps that you can minimize the exposure of asbestos, following given are some steps.

1. Asbestos can be in the insulation pipe, decomposed woods and other materials. Avoid disturbing the old waste materials such that it can contain high possible asbestos materials that can be dangerous for the health.

2. There are certain chances while repairing the house there might be some places like flooring, electrical boards, pipes where the asbestos can be heavily found. Cover all with the plastic and seal them while this will further minimize the exposure of asbestos.

3. When you are working in the asbestos usage industries take proper care wear protective suits and a mask that will not allow the asbestos particles get into your body while breathing. Take shower after working at the asbestos area so that all the asbestos particles attached to your body or in the cloth, in the shoes will be removed.

4. When moving the debris materials from the home cover all the debris if possible or keep the material wet such that water will reduce the asbestos exposure significantly.

5. Whenever the asbestos materials found in the home do not try to remove it by yourself contact the professional’s asbestos handlers, and do not even try to burn the debris until it examined thoroughly about the asbestos contain in it such that it should not become airborne.

As asbestos is known to be the naturally occurring minerals and it has many drawbacks that causes many several problems to human life. Continues working in the asbestos environment and not taking proper care is likely that the person can come in contact with the asbestos disease which may be affects the human body or his family members may be in danger. Therefore minimizing the exposure of asbestos is very much important.

An overview of Pericardial Mesothelioma

Pericardial mesothelioma is the most rare form of the mesothelioma; it does affect the mesothelioma linings in heart. The initial symptoms of pericardial mesothelioma are such as breathing difficulties, chest pain, fever, tiredness, palpitations and cough. Similar to all other mesothelioma types, there is no therapy for this type too. What doctors can do is only reducing the pain and distress of the symptoms and to help the patients having a comfortable and peaceful death.

The pericardial lining in the heart is took away for reducing the symptoms. The heart is most delicate part of the human body. It has a cover of a more delicate lining known as pericardium. That’s why this disease is known as pericardial mesothelioma because it does affect on pericardium. The initial symptoms are chest pains, tiredness, heart palpitations, persistent cough and breathing difficulties. As all these signs are general to other problems of heart, its difficult to make a diagnosis of this disease. Gradually, the lining of heart start to be thicker and fluids starts to fill up the heart. As well as it can also spread to other organs of the body.

In later stages of pericardial mesothelioma, the patient can not easily consume any liquid or food. The lungs can not function properly and the hitches in the intestine becomes more important. The heart conditions start to be worst and the patient can be get affected by a heart attack or a stroke. Death is the recovery and the remedy that the patient of mesothelioma pray for. The persons probably to catch this disease who are facing continuous disclosure to the risk factors such as –