Mesothelioma is type of cancer which is relatively rare and affects about 1 in a million. It is usually caused by exposure to asbestos.
Although smoking does not directly cause Mesothelioma, a combination of smoking and asbestos exposure has been proven to increase the risk of Mesothelioma occurring in the lungs. Mesothelioma is usually caused by the asbestos poisoning effects when breathing in asbestos dust such as at work or even when washing the clothes of someone who has worked with asbestos.
The symptoms of this cancer sometimes include difficulty in breathing due to liquid which builds up in the lungs, pain in the chest as well as less specific symptoms including loss of weight, high temperature and pains in the abdomen, head and neck. The symptoms might not be present at all until up to 50 years after the asbestos exposure. Diagnosis of the disease can be helped by a CT scan or chest X-ray, and could be verified by a biopsy (tissue sample).
Recovery from the disease is not common, and median survival times is about 9 months from presentation (with the 5-year survival rate being about 10%), although a few people do survive for more than 20 years after having the disease. Some patients have survived more than 5 years after having radical surgery plus chemo and radiation therapy, but radiation therapy alone has proved ineffective.
Most people who get the disease are dead within 18 months from knowing they have it. This is due to the challenges in having a clear diagnosis rather than the progression rate of the disease. Treatment for the disease can sometimes total 800,000 dollars.
Legal action about the disease started in 1929 and more than five hundred thousand claims have been filed so far. The highest mortality rate from the disease is in the ship-building and repairing industries, because of the extensive use of asbestos on ships. There are specialist attorneys and lawyers who handle legal action. The amounts received from a claim can be considerable.
The prognosis for the disease is typically not good, even given the currently available treatments.
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