Mesothelioma Symptoms

Mesothelioma is a lethal form of cancer that attacks an internal membrane called the mesothelium, which serves to cover and protect several organs in the body, as well as the walls of the chest cavity and the abdominal cavity. The disease takes root in three principal areas.Pleural mesothelioma develops in the pleural membranes, which are two layers of the mesothelium that cover the chest cavity wall and that wrap around the outer surface of the lungs. Peritoneal mesothelioma develops in the abdomen; specifically in the peritoneum, which is a section of the mesothelium that covers the abdominal cavity wall. The most unusual form of the disease, pericardial mesothelioma, attacks the portion of the mesothelium that forms a sac around the heart.

The only known cause of mesothelioma is asbestos exposure. Hundreds of thousands of American workers were exposed to asbestos products on the job during the twentieth century. Asbestos products were taken off the market in the United States, for the most part, by 1980; but prior to that time asbestos was a highly popular and widely used mineral incorporated into construction, industrial and manufacturing products – and into some consumer products as well. Asbestos insulation could be found in millions of American homes and in every ship the Navy commissioned from 1930 to about 1975. It was used in cement, wallboard, joint compound flooring, roofing, adhesives, auto and truck brakes, and hundreds of other products.

Workers who were around asbestos products that were worn or deteriorating or that were mangled in some fashion would be exposed to microscopic asbestos fibers that would separate and take to the air in dust clouds or industrial waste. Those fibers were inhaled or in some cases ingested unknowingly, causing the development of mesothelioma or asbestos is decades later. Family members who were exposed to asbestos fibers that came home on work clothes and shoes also developed the disease.

Asbestos Exposure: Who Is At Risk?

Asbestos was one of the most common industrial materials put to use in the twentieth century. It has also proven to be one of the most lethal, as inhaling asbestos fibers can lead to a wide range of pulmonary problems such as asthma and asbestosis - and can also be the direct cause of mesothelioma.

What is mesothelioma? It is a lethal cancer that attacks the membranes around the lungs, the heart and the abdominal cavity. Mesothelioma cancer of the lungs is by far the most common form. Perhaps its most unusual characteristic is thatmesothelioma diagnosis usually occurs decades after the initial exposure to asbestos.

It takes years for the asbestos fibers to work their way into those membranes; after an extended presence they begin to cause fluid accumulation and tumor development. However the first mesothelioma symptoms are such afflictions as a persistent cough or shortness of breath - symptoms that are often mistaken for evidence of more common lung problems, which delays the mesothelioma diagnosis even further.

Source: http://www.asbestosnews.com/