The Symptoms of Mesothelioma
Presenting symptoms related to pleural mesothelioma can be as nondescript as can a chest pain, shortness of breath, or even slight fatigue during physical activity. The symptoms are also found to mirror the signs of less serious respiratory issues and are hardly uncommon for a senior. Pleural mesothelioma cancer may even take decades to develop after the exposure to asbestos. However, it attacks rapidly once it takes place. The microscopic asbestos fibers which are inhaled can lodge in the thin lining around the lungs and even trigger physiological cellular changes which lead this very rare yet aggressive cancer.
A lot of people with pleural mesothelioma are unaware of their own condition for several months or even years since the initial symptoms are often mistaken for less threatening illness. Any related history of exposure to asbestos, or even the suspected asbestos exposure, have to be discussed with physician, who can refer a patient diagnosed with mesothelioma to a mesothelioma specialists right away. The early diagnosis is essential to survival in as much as it can lead to more effective treatment or therapy options.
The Symptoms Can Be Confusing
Most symptoms of mesothelioma include the respiratory system and oftentimes are misdiagnosed because the disease is considered to be very rare that medical professionals may not even see the disease, at the early stage. It is projected that more than 2,000 people in the United States are diagnosed annually with this cancer. By comparison, an estimated number of 150,000 Americans are diagnosed with lung cancer every single year.
If you have been exposed to asbestos-related products, there is at least several risks that you may develop mesothelioma of various types. If you are experiencing symptoms that are found to be consistent with mesothelioma, the first thing to do is to talk to your family doctor so as to discuss the potential causes of the symptoms and determine whether mesothelioma or some other disease may be the culprit. It is so important not to postpone having immediate diagnosis in as much as mesothelioma is very dangerous and aggressive form of cancer and the prognosis is going to be much improved for individuals that find or detect it early.
Your doctor may suggest you to see a thoracic oncologist or another specialist to have further examination and consultation. There are of course a lot of details on mesothelioma specialists across the United States to help you. You can check the list on our website. In addition, there are some information pertinent to cancer centers which offer extensive mesothelioma treatment programs handled by well recognized specialists. Some of these mesothelioma centers also conduct clinical trials, which offer various experimental treatments which are otherwise not yet available to the general public.
Finally, the last thing that you need to take into account is that if you are diagnosed with having mesothelioma, it is likely that you need to explore the available options of treatments. You should also learn about what financial assistance may be provided, and understand, in depth, your legal rights as a patient diagnosed with mesothelioma.
