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Advertised as a miracle substance to an unwary public, asbestos has been applied in thousands of products and in many workplaces. Though the hurt caused by asbestos is not apparent initially, asbestos exposure can cause serious, debilitating, and frequently fatal diseases.

The most widespread forms of asbestos disease are pleural plaques, asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a cancer that assaults mesothelium and is most usually found in the lung. Mesothelioma is uncommon or nonexistent in non-asbestos exposed populations but is becoming more widespread among asbestos-exposed individuals.

In the United States, there is no other common proven cause of mesothelioma other than asbestos. Unlike other types of lung cancer, mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lungs and not a cancer that arises inside the lung. Mesothelioma causes the cells of the mesothelium to become abnormal and significantly reproduce.

The asbestos disease mesothelioma has an extended latency period, where it is present but not apparent or active. The disease can lie latent for ten to sixty years after being exposed to asbestos. Because of this, it is frequently hard to settle on the cause of mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma Asbestos Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases known to humankind. The common life span of someone who had been identified with the disease is less than 24 months. It is a cancer contracted men and women who have dealings with asbestos through work or in their homes through insulation, asbestos siding or roofing. Breathing in the asbestos fibers is fatal as they stick to the lungs and other parts of the respiratory system and major organs.

The major concern with each of these mesothelioma diseases is the spread of the asbestos linked disease to other organs of the body. If the cancer has broadened, it can become more complicated to treat or need more aggressive chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Mesothelioma asbestos diseases remind us that the exposure to asbestos is far more hazardous than we could have thought. If you feel that you were exposed at any point in your life, you may need to check with your doctor on getting tested.

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Mesothelioma is a relatively rare type of cancer which affects approximately one in a million people. The usual direct cause is exposure to asbestos.

Although smoking does not directly cause Mesothelioma, a combination of smoking and asbestos exposure has been proven to increase the risk of Mesothelioma occurring in the lungs. Mesothelioma is usually caused by the asbestos poisoning effects when breathing in asbestos dust such as at work or even when washing the clothes of someone who has worked with asbestos.

Mesothelioma symptoms can include breathing difficulties and coughing (due to fluid in the lungs), chest pain and less specific symptoms such as weight loss, fever and abdominal pain. These can occur several decades after the asbestos exposure. Diagnosis of Mesothelioma might be supported by chest X-ray and/or CT scan or MRI, and the verified by detailed examination a sample of affected tissue (biopsy).

Recovery from the disease is not common, and median survival times is about 9 months from presentation (with the 5-year survival rate being about 10%), although a few people do survive for more than 20 years after having the disease. Some patients have survived more than 5 years after having radical surgery plus chemo and radiation therapy, but radiation therapy alone has proved ineffective.

Most patients die within 18 months of knowing they have this disease not because the disease is rapidly progressing, but because diagnosis is often only clear at a late stage of the disease. Treatment can be expensive, sometimes totaling up to 800,000 US dollars.

Mesothelioma litigation started in 1929. Over half a million asbestos claims have been filed. Workers in the ship building and repairing industries have the highest mortality rate from Mesothelioma, and as such are the most likely to seek an asbestos settlement. The amounts received from mesothelioma claims can be considerable so there are specialist asbestos lawyers and asbestos attorneys.

Mesothelioma treatment options can include radiation and chemo treatment and less commonly surgery. But, despite treatment, mesothelioma prognosis is usually poor.

Covering our internal organs, the mesothelium is a protective tissue that lubricates and protects our internal organs thus allowing our lungs to breathe and our heart to contract or expand without any discomfort for us. The mesothelium tissue covering our lungs is known as the pleura. The mesothelium membrane located in our abdominal cavity is called the peritoneum, and the mesothelium membrane covering our heart is known as the pericardium. This fine tissue, the mesothelium enables breathing and heart beating therefore being essential to our survival.

This article focuses on a specific disease affecting the mesothelium – the mesothelium cancer known simply as mesothelioma. Though mesothelioma is considered a rare condition, this dreadful disease affects los of people from all corners of the world and it is nearly entirely caused by exposure to asbestos. Asbestos was used intensively as a flexible and very resistant material for constructions until recently because it has valuable properties but its effect on human health is devastating. Nearly all cases of mesothelium cancer are linked to an exposure to this material and today nearly all countries ban the use of asbestos due to its risks for human health. Nearly all mesothelioma patients have a long asbestos exposure history at their workplace.

Because only a very long exposure to asbestos leads to the mesothelium cancer most people suffering from this condition are older people of over 60 or 65 years of age and mostly men suffer from this disease. Fortunately there are fewer cases of mesothelioma every year in the Unites States of America but Europe and other parts of the world register an increasing number of asbestos related mesothelium cancer cases. In 2005 European countries banned the use of asbestos in any sector of the economy and hopefully fewer and fewer people will be diagnosed with this cancer over the next few years in Europe.

Still, if you can reckon of times when you were working with asbestos or you were exposed in any way to this material, you should seek expert medical advice as chances are a mesothelium cancer may be developing in your body and learning this condition in time is the only way to overcome this life threatening disease. You should keep in mind that mesothelioma is very silent in its initial stages and you might easily ignore its early symptoms. This is why you should take your time now and remember all your past asbestos contact at the workplace. If you reckon you were exposed to asbestos for a longer period of time, even if that happened a long time ago, you need to talk to your physician as soon as possible.