Traditional Mesothelioma Treatments: Enhance Your Lifespan

If you have or know someone with mesothelioma then you know it's an awful way to live your precious time on earth. The general lifespan of a person diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma or peritoneal mesothelioma is from 1 to 3 years. That figure varies from person to person depending on their age, general health and stage of the illness. Meaning a mesothelioma infected person may live even less than that.

This is all very sad and gloomy, but with traditional mesothelioma treatments life could be enhanced by eighty to a hundred percent. These meso treatments vary from surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Regrettably these procedures don't cure the cancer; they just act on symptoms and try to alleviate the patient from as much pain as possible.

Radiation
Inside the traditional mesothelioma treatments, radiation is considered to be the best. Although secondary effects like skin irritation, hair loss and even nausea can accompany this treatment, your lifespan is expanded the most. This procedure tackles infected areas only so your whole body won't be bombarded by the rays.

Chemotherapy
It could be bitter at the start, but sweeter in the end. Causing nausea, hair loss, fatigue, general dehydration, between other side effects; it has been proven that infected cells die and are prevented from regenerating further more.


Surgery
This could be the most common of the mesothelioma treatments. No severe side effects come with this procedure. It's generally about going inside your body and removing tumors and affected zones with mesothelioma.

Future Mesothelioma Treatments
The National Cancer Institute of the United States is very much aware of this illness and is in the top 10 of their diseases to eradicate. They promote clinical campaigns that let the patient be part of and try to find new and more efficient and cost effective mesothelioma treatments. This is so because current treatments cost thousands of dollars and they should be available for everyone.

After certain events in his life, Ermenegildo Billar has dedicated years of his life to understanding and helping people with the malignant mesothelioma. For your comfort he decided to create www.infothelioma.com so you can have easy access to his research.


Author: Ermenegildo Billar

:: Peritoneal Mesothelioma ? The cancer of abdominal lining ::

One of the fatal types of mesothelioma is Peritoneal Mesothelioma in which the cancerous cells attack the lining of the abdomen called Peritoneum. Peritoneum is the thin membrane, which shields various organs of the abdomen and also provides a lubricating fluid to enable the organs to move and work properly. Peritoneal Mesothelioma, which affects this lining, is yet now a relatively rare disease that accounts for about 1/5 of all mesotheliomas. Its only known cause in the U.S. till date is previous exposure to asbestos.

Major symptoms
Though Mesothelioma is neither age nor sex specific, peritoneal Mesothelioma is mostly seen in men who are in the age group of 50-70 years. There are a number of symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma most of which start appearing after 20, 30 or 50 years after the exposure to asbestos. These symptoms may include weight loss (however, waist line may increase), pain or swelling in the abdomen, weakness, loss of appetite, bowel obstruction, anemia, nausea and fever. Also, fluid often accumulates in the peritoneal space leading to a condition called Ascites.

Diagnosis of peritoneal mesothelioma
The initial step towards detection of peritoneal mesothelioma includes X-rays and CT scans. For confirmed diagnosis, however the doctor needs to do biopsy whereby a piece of tissue is cut from the affected part of the victim's body and is placed under microscope for examination. If the disease is detected at an early stage it stands better chance of getting cured than the state of diffuse peritoneal mesothelioma, where the cancer has already spread to various parts.


The cure
It's true that peritoneal mesothelioma is fatal and leads to several deaths every year. However, with continued researches, several modes of treatments have been embarked upon and in the future there is a fair chance of the disease becoming absolutely curable. The types of treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma include surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

In surgery a part of the abdominal tissue is cut out to remove the tumor. At times the doctor may also need to remove a lung or a portion of the diaphragm as per the requirement of the surgery. Radiation therapy, the second method, requires the application of high energy X-rays to shrink the tumor and kill the malignant cells. The rays may be applied from an external machine or by placing the radiation source directly to the affected part of the body, by means of plastic tubes. Last treatment type is the chemotherapy whereby a combination of drugs is applied to kill the cancer cells. The drugs may be administered by mouth in the capsule form or may be applied intravenously via needle.

However, it is essential to mention that cost of treating any form of cancer is extravagant and you may consult a mesothelioma lawyer to earn you a handsome compensation from the authority who was responsible for your prior exposure to asbestos.

So learn more about peritoneal mesothelioma so that you can initiate the treatment at the very early stage and get cured.

Author: Fred Lindell