Friday, September 4, 2009

Mesothelioma symptoms.


Have you ever wonder what Mesothelioma really is? I was once one of those people who does know it but doesn't really understand it, Until someone I know passed away because of this.

Mesothelioma is a cancer. Most of these cancer cases were associated with the exposure with asbestos. It arises in cells called mesothelial cells. Mesotehelial cells line the chest cavity, and they also line the abdomen, The lining in the chest is called the pleura, So if you have the mesothelioma there it's called pleural mesothelioma.

But what are the symptoms of Mesothelioma?

Well the symptoms can be rather non-specific,sometimes you can just have back pain, or a chest pain or a little bit of shortness of breath, or you going to have a fever or fatigue. A lot of the symptoms can be seen in a lot of different illnesses, it's a little bit difficult to make that diagnosis.

So how is it diagnosed? Well same as the others, the first thing that anyone should so is to see a physician, and getting a detailed history and your physical from that physician, and if there's a concern for mesothelioma from that point further studies are ordered.

Usually the initial studies would be the chest X-ray, sometimes pulmonary function tests, as well as other lab work. If these studies comeback abnormal, you need a more definitive study like MRI for chest to look for more detailed information.

Mesothelioma is still one of the rare cancer in the world, only 1 in 1,000,000.

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