Para occupational secondary exposure

Family members of people who worked with asbestos and brought the dust home on their clothes have also sometimes developed mesothelioma.Washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos can also put a person at risk for developing mesothelioma.

Occasionally, mesothelioma develops in people who have never been exposed to asbestos.
Mesothelioma is not contagious and cannot be passed on to other people. It is not caused by inherited faulty genes and so family members do not have an increased risk of developing it, unless they have been in contact with asbestos.

Smoking and Asbestos Exposure

The combination of tobacco smoking and exposure to asbestos can greatly increase the risk factor for developing mesothelioma. The Kent brand of cigarettes used asbestos in its filters for the first few years of production in the 1950s and some cases of mesothelioma have resulted. Smoking modern cigarettes does not appear to increase the risk of mesothelioma.

Chronic inflammation

Heavy metals – nickel and beryllium

Chemical agents – Diethylstilboestrol.

www.BelluckFox.com – Treatment Information, Clinical Trials, Hospitals & Specialists, Attorneys / Lawyers — Mesothelioma information for patients and families.

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Asbestos exposure:

Asbestos exposure is the primary risk factor for mesothelioma. Asbestos is a group of minerals once used in industrial and construction materials, but is now produced in small quantities. Working with asbestos is the major risk factor for mesothelioma.

Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, (The occupations most associated with mesothelioma are shipyard workers, electricians, plumbers, construction industry workers, pipefitters, boilermakers, and anyone subject to heavy exposure to dangerous asbestos and airborne asbestos fibers) or they have been exposed to asbestos dust and fiber in other ways.

An abundance of cases have also demonstrated that mesothelioma can develop among people who lived in communities where asbestos factories or mines were located. In some instances, entire towns have been adversely affected by the presence of asbestos fibers in the air.

Asbestos is also fire-retardant and was used in many fire-protective materials. Unfortunately, because of its fibrous nature (and because of the brittle nature of these fibres) asbestos particles are readily released into the air (most especially during the manufacturing process) and these are readily inhaled or swallowed. Being needle-like these can stick into and irritate the pleural membranes of the lungs and the peritoneum of the abdomen. Continuous irritation can lead to inflammation and ultimately to cancer.
In addition to mesothelioma, exposure to asbestos increases the risk of lung cancer, asbestosis (a noncancerous, chronic lung ailment), and other cancers, such as those of the larynx and kidney.

Mesothelioma is an incurable asbestos cancer. This short film was produced to raise awareness of the issues around mesothelioma. It includes interviews with people who have the disease. It was produced for Action Mesothelioma day on belhalf of Forum of Asbestos Victim Support Groups. For more information visit www.ActionMeso.info

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There are three Types of Mesothelioma: epitheloid, sarcomatoid, and biphasic. In this video Mary Hesdorffer, a nurse practitioner and Medical Liaison for the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (www.curemeso.org), gives an overview of how the different types of mesothelioma can affect the lungs and abdomen.

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Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 20 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma symptoms often resemble less-serious conditions, which can make diagnosis difficult. Below is a list of several common symptoms mesothelioma patients may experience.

The Symptoms of Pleural Mesothelioma includes:

Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma may be sometimes confused with symptoms of other common diseases such as pneumonia, extreme cough, flu or cold.

• A persistent cough
• Pain in the lower back or the side of the chest
• Pleural effusion
• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• A hoarse or husky voice
• Fatigue
• lumps under the skin on the chest
• Losing more than 10% of your weight when not dieting
• Sweating and fevers
• Difficulty swallowing
• Some people have changes in the shape of their fingers and nails called finger clubbing, but this is not common.

The symptoms of Peritoneal Mesothelioma:

Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma may be sometimes confused with symptoms of other common diseases such as gall bladder problems, hernia or pelvic mass.

• Pain in the abdomen (tummy)
• Swelling in the abdomen
• Feeling or being sick
• Poor appetite
• Losing more than 10% of your weight when not
• Diarrhoea or constipation
• bowel obstruction
• Anemia
• Distension (spreading & stretching in all directions) of abdomen
• Fluid in abdomen
• nausea

The symptoms of Pericardial Mesothelioma:

Symptoms of pericardial mesothelioma may be sometimes confused with symptoms of other common diseases, thus it is very difficult to diagnose mesothelioma.

• Heart palpitations
• irregular heartbeat
• chest pain
• difficulty breathing
• Fever
• Fatigue
• night sweats

The symptoms of Testicular mesothelioma:

There are no defined symptoms for testicular mesothelioma.

• Painful or painless testicular lumps
• Swelling of scrotum