Tuesday, February 12, 2008

How To Reduce Mesothelioma Cancer Risk In Our Body

How To Reduce Mesothelioma Cancer Risk In Our Body by Dwi Madik

Mesothelioma is a cancer which affects the tissue which surrounds and protects various organs in the body. This tissue is called the Mesothelium, and Mesothelioma causes it to become abnormal, divide without control, and invade and damage nearby organs. Mesothelioma most often begins in the pleura or peritoneum that surrounds lung and cover the chest and also other mesothelium tissue like pericardium that surrounds and protects the heart, the tunica vaginalis testic which surrounds the internal male reproductive organs, and the tunica serosa uteri which is the membrane covering the internal female reproductive organs.

Cause
Mesothelioma is caused by the inhalation of asbestos dust to lung in over number of year’s continual exposure. These fibers lodge themselves in the lining of the lung and infected mesothelium tissue. Asbestos may also cause coughing, lung damage, and shortness of breath in the short period for inhaled this.

Symptoms
Mesothelioma symptoms resemble pneumonia, which coughs, fatigue, wheezing, hoarseness, weight loss, blood in the phlegm from the lungs when coughing, breathing difficulties and abdominal pain. Mesothelioma often advanced before symptoms occur. It means that the prognosis isn’t very good, with average survival time for all stages of Malignant Mesothelioma being about a year.

Treatments
Mesothelioma treatments can be done by surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and palliative therapy.

Surgery
A surgical procedure, known as pneumonectomy. There is a high risk factor with this surgery, and its viability is dependant upon the patient’s overall health. A pleurectomy is another type of surgery that may be used, and here part of the chest, abdominal lining and surrounding tissue may be removed.

Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy consists of the use of high powered X-rays or gamma rays (XRT) that precisely target the area that is being treated. These X-rays or gamma rays are very effective in destroying the cancer cells that might recur where the tumor was removed. These X-rays are delivered by a machine called a linear Accelerator or LINAC.

Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy can be given both before and after surgery. Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy is used to shrink the size of a tumor prior to surgery. Adjuvant chemotherapy is given after surgery to reduce the risk of recurrence. Cancer cells usually grow more rapidly than normal cells, and chemotherapy drugs work against them by interfering with their growth and reproduction. The downside of chemotherapy is that the drugs used can contain high toxicity levels and can therefore make patients quite ill.

Palliative therapy
These therapies entail draining excess fluid from the patient through the use of a needle and suction. To prevent further fluid accumulation drugs may be fed through a tube into the chest following the fluid drainage.

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