Asbestos Cancer Symptoms
Asbestos is a naturally found mineral which has wide commercial uses. Its qualities of resistance to chemicals, heat and fire and non-conductivity of electricity make it a very useful material. Even though it has several uses, asbestos can also be a health hazard to people who are constantly exposed to it. When the products with asbestos contents are disturbed the light asbestos fibers are released into the air. These fibers are absorbed into the lungs while breathing. Being fibers they are trapped there and over a time they cause inflammation in the lungs and cause cancer.
There are many symptoms of asbestos cancer. They vary from type to type. Basically, there are four different types of asbestos cancer, or in medical terms, mesothelioma. Mesothelioma may affect lungs, stomach, abdomen, and heart. These are respectively called pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma, and pericardial mesothelioma. Though symptoms vary for each type of cancer, there are some common symptoms for all these diseases.
Loss of weight and fever are common for pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma. Persistent cough that gets worse over the time, shortness of breath, and constant chest pain are common symptoms for both pleural and pericardial mesothelioma. Nausea and vomiting are found in patients who are suffering from asbestos cancer related to heart and stomach. Mesothelioma of lungs is characterized by wheezing, hoarseness, blood in the sputum, pain in the lower back, and difficulty in swallowing. Swelling in the abdomen due to build up of fluids there, swelling of the feet, bowel obstruction, abdominal pain, abdominal blood clotting and anemia are classic symptoms for peritoneal mesothelioma. Palpitation and loss of appetite are found in patients having asbestos related cancer in the heart.
The presence of any of these symptom or a few of them in a person do not necessarily mean that the person suffers from mesothelioma. That person may be having some other minor health problem. Therefore, only an experienced doctor can conclude whether these symptoms are of asbestos cancer or not, and that too, after a thorough checkup.
The abovementioned symptoms usually prompt a doctor to order workups like chest x-ray, LFTs, CT scan, PET scan, etc. Chest x-ray and lung function tests are the normal procedures adopted to detect asbestos cancer of the lungs. Chest x-ray has only limited use to detect asbestos fiber in the lungs. But it reveals the signs of lung disease due to asbestos. A CT (computed tomography) scan can detect asbestos-related maladies. A biopsy done on lung tissues can reveal presence of asbestos fiber in the lungs. The lung tissues have to be obtained by surgery. This is a very reliable test to confirm asbestos in the lungs.
The unfortunate fact about cancer caused by asbestos is that the symptoms do not appear for decades after contracting the disease. That makes treatment for such diseases more complicated. It is better for anyone who is exposed to asbestos to tell one’s doctor about that fact. That will give a chance for the doctor for watching the patient for the slightest symptom and investigate it.
Comments on this entry are closed.