Exposure to asbestos causes a wide variety of health problems. Perhaps one of the best known is mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer. Every year, two to three thousand new cases of the asbestos cancer are diagnosed in the United States. Asbestos was valued through the first three quarters of the twentieth century for its durability and fire resistance properties. Asbestos fibers, which are naturally occurring fibrous minerals, were used in textiles, concrete, and roofing and flooring materials.

Mesothelioma attacks the membranes that cover the lungs, abdominal cavity and internal organs of the body. There are three main types. The most common type is pleural mesothelioma. This type occurs when asbestos fibers invade the cells of the membrane covering the lungs, known as the pleura. The second most common type of this cancer is peritoneal mesothelioma, which attacks the peritoneum, or membrane covering the abdominal organs. The rarest type of the asbestos cancer is pericardial mesothelioma, which attacks the membrane covering the heart, or the pericardium.

Most cases of asbestos cancer are not discovered until the disease is in its later stages, making the chance of patient survival very poor. The usual treatments of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery have not shown much promise as a cure for the disease. Radiation and surgery often can do little more than relieve the symptoms of the cancer, yet one promising treatment for peritoneal mesothelioma is heated chemotherapy. After the surgery, the drugs are heated and injected into the abdominal membrane. Heating makes it easier for the cancer cells to absorb the drugs, increasing the chances of destroying the tumors. Sadly, for most people with asbestos cancer, the prognosis is poor, with the average survival time being from six months to a year.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 at 8:20 pm and is filed under Health & Beauty. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.