What Causes A Mesothelioma? And What Symptoms Does It Cause?

The exposure to asbestos is believed to be the major cause for the resultant cancer called mesothelioma. However, this cancer has been reported even in individuals who have had no exposure to asbestos whatsoever! In certain cases, mesothelioma has also been related to the three 'i's; irradiation, intrapleural thorium dioxide and inhalation of some similar fibrous silicates like erionite.

Asbestos is the name given to a group of minerals that are masses of strong and flexible fibers. Asbestos has been used in many industrial applications and products, including the manufacture of cement, roof shingles and flooring products. When the tiny asbestos particles float in the air during the manufacturing process, they are inhaled or sometimes, swallowed. This is the primary cause of mesothelioma. However, the exposure to asbestos also increases the chances of lung cancer and a noncancerous, but chronic lung ailment called asbestosis.

It has been clinically observed that the fatal combination of smoking and being exposed to asbestos increases the risk of developing lung cancer and bronchial carcinoma. The symptoms of mesothelioma are known to only manifest after twenty to fifty years of asbestos exposure. The symptoms include breathlessness, a chesty cough and hoarseness and pain in the chest.

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Mesothelioma is a disease of the lungs caused by exposure to asbestos, a natural mineral mined from rock. Asbestos can be found in many different countries and it is composed of tiny fibres with the strength of steel. The fibre can be woven just like cotton. Asbestos is very resistant to heat and some chemicals and has been used in many products over the years.

When someone disturbs or moves asbestos, the tiny fibres can be breathed into the lungs and stomach, by way of the mouth and nose. People were not aware of this reality for many years of accepted usage. Long before the discovery of asbestos as a dangerous product many people died of misdiagnosed lung diseases among them was cancer. The tiny spores, the asbestos fibres, when breathed into the lungs causes inflammation and fibrosis, which is a build up of scar tissue, causing mesothelioma and sometimes cancer of the lungs. One of the first symptoms of mesothelioma is coughing , sometimes shortness of breathe and inability to take deep breathes.

One of the most common uses of asbestos was in insulation products, such as amosite insulation board and other building materials. Some cement contained asbestos. In the 1960's the discovery of asbestos as cancer causing, and a cause of mesothelioma the use of this product was outlawed in the United States and imports containing asbestos are forbidden for law.

In old buildings the risk of asbestos insulation is very high, and before someone can tear down old buildings they must first be tested for asbestos. If, asbestos is found arrangements must be made for its removal by skilled, trained technicians from the Environmental Protection Agency before anyone else can use the building or tear it down. Tearing it down with asbestos in it would fill the air for miles with asbestos fibres.

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Mesothelioma is a kind of cancer. It is caused due to exposure to asbestos. In this type of cancer, the malignant cells develop within the mesothelium, which is the protective lining that covers most of our internal organs. The presence of Mesothelioma is commonly seen on the outer lining of the lungs and the chest cavity and the lining of the abdominal cavity. This cancer is also known to develop on the pericardium or the sac that surrounds the heart.

The symptoms of mesothelioma do not actually appear before a good twenty to fifty years of exposure to asbestos. The symptoms include:
- Breathlessness
- Cough
- Pain in the chest

The cancer affects different parts of the body. The symptoms in each case differs too. Due to the accretion of fluid within the pleural place, a pain in the chest is frequently associated with pleural mesothelioma.

On the other hand, the symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma manifest in the form of weight loss and abdominal swelling and pain. These are caused due to the buildup of fluid in the abdominal cavity.

The other symptoms of mesothelioma includes blood clotting abnormalities and fever, wheezing , blood in the sputum and fatigue or anemia.

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Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by an exposure to asbestos.
What happens is that this cancer forms along the mesothelium, the protective lining that our body has all around our internal organs. Most of the time, mesothelioma occurs around the pleura, the outer lining of the chest and the chest cavity, while it can also occur on the outer lining of the peritoneum or the abdominal cavity, and on the pericardium, the outer lining of the heart.
Some of the symptoms of the disease are shortness of breath, incessant and uncontrollable coughing, acute pain in the chest, or abdominal swelling and pain and severe weight loss. It can also cause bowel obstruction, blood clotting, anaemia and a low grade fever. In severe cases, a large tumour may develop.

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