Mesothelioma is one of the most painful, aggressive and deadly cancers which is infected over the thin layer of tissue called the mesothelium that covers most internal organs. Mesothelioma affecting the lungs is called pleural mesothelioma and the which affect the abdomen is called peritoneal mesothelioma. Inhaling excess asbestos dust is what causes mesothelioma cancer in most cases. The detailed overview of mesothelioma cancer causes and their treatments are in the coming paragraphs.
What causes mesothelioma cancer?
Prolonged asbestos exposure is the main cause of mesothelioma cancer. Asbestos is a material that is widely used in the construction and manufacturing industries. Asbestos is used for fireproofing, pipe and ceiling insulating, strengthen products, heat, fire, and acid resistant gaskets and various other industrial applications. Those who are prone to prolonged inhaling of asbestos will have a higher risk of having mesothelioma cancer now or in near future.
Mainly employees who are working in industries are more prone to this cancer. Peoples working in following industrial areas have increased the risk of causing mesothelioma:
- Asbestos abatement
- Manufacturer of Brake lining
- Construction
- Production of gaskets
- Pipe and ceiling insulation
- Milling
- Mining
- Shipbuilding
The cause of this cancer is most commonly associated with high exposure to asbestos and represents less than 1% of all cancers. Medical statistics show that more than 80% of the mesothelioma cancer is as a result of asbestos. Pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma usually have a long period of dormancy after exposure and before symptoms or effects of disease starts showing. In fact, some patient does not show any symptoms for 40 years after exposure to disease-causing factors.
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And there are some cases when people’s won’t take that much seriousness when small symptoms start to show. They might not be aware of the disease either. And when major symptoms start to appear they go through tests to find the disease. Until then the disease might be at the worse stage. Even though there is no cure for the disease, early disease detection can significantly increase your mesothelioma life expectancy.
Is mesothelioma lung cancer curable?
It’s a common question for most of us. Well, the bad news is, there is barely any complete cure for mesothelioma and has a poor prognosis. The only cure we could give them is preventing the severity of the disease as much as we can. In the early stages of detecting the disease, reducing exposure to asbestos can increase the life expectancy of mesothelioma cancer.
Though this is a disease which has no cure, we shouldn’t forget the fact that this disease was very rarely seen before the commercial use of asbestos became extensive as a part of industrialization.
Statistics show that In 2013 from about 50,000 people who had mesothelioma lung cancer, 34,000 died. In most reported cases diagnosis typically occurs after the age of 65 and most deaths occur around the 70s.
Hope this article lighted an insight into the topic ‘what causes mesothelioma cancer’