Mesothelioma affects one person in about a million typically, and is a type of cancer which is not common. It is usually caused by asbestos exposure.

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 disease are many and varied. They might include breathing difficulties due to build-up of fluid in the lungs, as well as fever, loss of weight and pain in the chest, abdomen or even head and neck. The symptoms might not appear for many decades after the exposure to asbestos. Diagnosis is sometimes supported by chest X-ray or CT scan, and can be confirmed by examination of a small piece of the affected tissue (called a biopsy).

Most people don’t recover when they know they have the disease. The median survival time is about nine months, with a 5-year survival rate at only about ten percent. A few patients sometimes live for more than twenty years with the disease. While radiation treatment alone is not very effective, in combination with radical surgery and chemo-therapy, some patients can live more than five years.

Most patients die within 18 months of knowing they have this disease not because the disease is rapidly progressing, but because diagnosis is often only clear at a late stage of the disease. Treatment can be expensive, sometimes totaling up to 800,000 US 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.

Looking to find the best info on Mesothelioma? then see http://www.mesothelioma-reports.com to find the best advice and info.

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