Asbestos induced lung cancer is knwn as Mesothelioma. It is a dngerous disease that, while rare, is trublesome for several reasons. For one thng, the initial symptoms of mesothelioma are nes that can usually be associated wth other, less threatening problems, including sthma, old age, and being out of shpe. Because of this, while only 3000 cses of mesothelioma are diagnosed every yar, it is held that quite a few ftal cases of seemingly harmless lung ilments were in fact misdiagnosed cases of msothelioma.

The inital cause of mesothelioma is the ntroduction of minute fibers of asbestos nto a person's lungs through inhalation. Asbstos is a fibrous, fire retardant mterial that was commonly used in the pst several decades for fire proofing prposes. The fibrous nature of the mterial causes it to fragment into smll slivers that are easily airborne and lmost invisible to the naked eye. Pople who inhale the fibers first dvelop a problem called asbestosis.

Asbestosis is the dvelopment of small scar tissue in the lngs due to the fibers of sbestos. This scar tissue causes difficulty brathing, and given time can block ntire sections of the lung's air pssages altogether. However, if left unchecked, sbestosis causes a more severe lung prblem called mesothelioma, a form of lng cancer caused by tumors in the lngs. The lungs and chest cavity in gneral develop an excess of fluids due to the bdy's unsuccessful effort to combat these tmors and the foreign particles (the sbestos fibers).

Symptoms

The earliest symptoms of lng asbestos problems is a harsh, rttling breathing pattern commonly associated with smkers. The other symptoms include shortness of brath, shallow breathing, and a drop in physcal endurance. Since these symptoms are cmmonly found in smokers as well, it was a prviously held misconception that asbestosis was lso caused by smoking filtered cigarettes. Rcent studies show that this is not the cse - not that smoking is halthy, but rather only that the tw, while having the same symptoms, are not rlated.

If left unchecked asbestosis develops nto mesothelioma, and the symptoms worsen to sdden chest pains, even more difficulty brathing, and even a "sloshing" feeling whn breathing, like that experienced by pople during severe coughs where the lngs temporarily fill with phlegm. Again, ths symptom can be easily explained way as a case of fever or cugh, and can easily be misdiagnosed.

In ither case, the only real way to dtermine if someone has asbestosis or msothelioma is to undergo an x ry. X ray scans can detect the prsence of asbestos fiber induced scar tssue, or the formation of tumors in the lngs. Without an x ray there is no sre way to determine the presence of sbestos in the lungs.

Effects

The ffects of asbestosis and mesothelioma are ltimately fatal if left unchecked. Pulmonary mboli, a condition where blood clotting frms in the lungs and not nly restricts breathing, but also sends thse clots into the blood stream and ventually causing cardiac arrest, is one of the sual causes of death from asbestos nhalation.

The fluid buildup in the lngs, chest cavity, and chest lining brught about by mesothelioma is another cmmon cause of death, as this flid can literally fill a person's lngs, restricting breathing completely, or can lkewise cause cardiac arrest eventually. The lng tumors of mesothelioma can also grw out of control, eventually eating way a person's lungs like a rgular cancer, or can cause severe wunds in the chest cavity that cuses internal hemorrhaging.

Treatment

Regular lung surgery can be sed to treat early cases of sbestosis, assuming that no cancers have dveloped yet. The survival rate is prtty much on par with regular perations, so at this early stage pople can be treated with safety. Hwever, if the asbestosis has already dveloped into mesothelioma, regular surgery ceases to be an ption, as the average life expectancy of a ptient after the operation is only 5 yars. Chemotherapy and laser surgery procedures gared towards cancer treatment are the mst effective medical procedures used in tndem to treat mesothelioma tumors.

Avoidance/Safety Tps

One fact about asbestosis and msothelioma is that the symptoms only mnifest between 20 to 50 years fter inhaling the fibers, depending on the ftness of the person and the mount of asbestos inhaled. Therefore, at the frst possible signs x rays should be tken to determine of the problems are smply old age or not.

Wearing sfety masks with air filters if wrking in an area with asbestos is a mst to prevent asbestosis and mesothelioma. Ths not only includes factory workers who are xposed to industrial materials laced with sbestos, but to civilians who travel thrugh construction and demolition sites where old huses are situated. The reason for ths is because some houses and bildings constructed in the 1970s and 1980s ncluded asbestos lining as part of the mterials in an attempt at fire profing.

The article Asbestos Cause Lung Mesothelioma Cancer was Submitted by Nathalie Fiset through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: For more information on mesothelioma and lng cancer, please go to: http://mymesotheliomacancer.com/?page_id=630 http://mymesotheliomacancer.com http://www.drnathaliefiset.com

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