Mesothelioma in US States

Follow Us

No Comments

What you should know about Mesothelioma Diagnosis

admin

Over the years, a lot of effort has gone into methods of detecting mesothelioma in patients before it reaches the critical stage where the cancer cannot be reversed. So far, what is known is that depending on the type of mesothelioma, the incubation period range from twenty to forty years. However, many of the symptoms associated with mesothelioma during its early stages are similar to regular respiratory, cardiac and abdominal diseases. This makes it difficult to be diagnosed and often leads doctors off on a wrong path to treating many of these other ailments without focusing of tackling the mesothelioma during its early state.

Help in Mesothelioma Diagnosis from New Technology

Previously, doctors had to rely only on X-rays and surgery to diagnose mesothelioma. However, with the arrival of ultrasound, CT scans and procedures such as thoracoscopy and lung biopsy, doctors can perform non-surgical procedures to look inside body cavity or extract infected cell tissue for analysis. These procedures also come at significantly less cost to the victim.

Mesothelioma often confused with Lung Cancer

It is important to make the distinction between lung cancer and mesothelioma. Though they may have the same symptoms of shortness of breath, tightness in the chest and persistent coughing, both diseases attack the lungs in different areas. Lung cancer involves the growth of cancerous cells within the lungs usually due to excessive smoking. On the other hand, mesothelioma involves the uncontrolled growth of cancerous cells in the mesothelium, which is the tissue cells surrounding the lungs. This restricts the movement of the lungs resulting in difficulty breathing and is known as pleural mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma is usually caused from exposure to asbestos particles that become lodges into the cells of the lungs.

Other forms of Mesothelioma

Pleural mesothelioma is the most common form of mesothelioma. However, there are two other forms of mesothelioma known as pericardial and peritoneal mesothelioma. Though not as popular as pleural mesothelioma, these two types of mesothelioma are far more lethal.

• Peritoneal Mesothelioma: Peritoneal mesothelioma is the second most popular form of mesothelioma. It accounts for about 20% of all documented mesothelioma cases. Peritoneal mesothelioma is diagnosed when the mesothelial lining of the abdomen becomes cancerous due to being infected with asbestos particles. During the exposure to asbestos, the particles are ingested and become lodged in the lining of the esophagus and abdomen. They then travel down through the digestive tract and becomes trapped into the mesothelium and remain there causing the cells to become cancerous. Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include swelling of the stomach, abdominal pain, unexplained weight loss, bowel obstruction and blood clotting problems. Peritoneal mesothelioma is also known to spread down to the testicles where it is called mesothelioma of the Tunica Vaginalis Testis. It is usually detected through ultrasound, x-rays and biopsy examinations.
• Pericardial Mesothelioma: This is the rarest form of mesothelioma. It is diagnosed when the mesothelioma affects the pericardium which is the protective layer around the heart. Doctors are still unsure of exactly how asbestos migrate to this region, but what is known is that pericardial mesothelioma results in excruciating heart pain, fluid buildup around the heart, chronic coughing and irregular heartbeat. Patients suffering with pericardial mesothelioma also have a very short life expectancy.

Leave a Reply