Understanding Mesothelioma Symptoms

If you have been exposed to asbestos, either through your work, in a home, school, or office building, or through a spouse or parent who brought home asbestos fibers on work clothing, it pays to be vigilant for signs of asbestos diseases. The thin, spiky fibers of this toxic mineral can lodge in lung tissue and cause long-term irritation that may eventually lead to mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases. It can take many years – often decades – for this irritation and inflammation to lead to mesothelioma symptoms.


While researchers search for a cure for mesothelioma, the best way to improve your life expectancy if you have this form of cancer is to catch it early, when surgery or chemotherapy have the best chance to slow the progress of the disease.

As we age, it can be harder to tell the difference between normal aches and pains and signs of something more serious. Understanding mesothelioma symptoms can help you decide when you should consult your doctor and ask for testing.

 Mesothelioma Basics

Although you may not have heard of it, the mesothelium is a membrane that serves a vital function in your body. This thin lining surrounds your abdominal organs, giving them a lubricated surface so they can move. The mesothelium also protects your heart, lungs, and reproductive organs.


Malignant mesothelioma is a rare cancer, caused by exposure to asbestos, that affects this membrane. Pleural mesothelioma, is cancer of the lining around the lungs. Pericardial mesothelioma affects the sac around the heart and peritoneal mesothelioma attacks the protective lining around the organs in the abdomen. Like many cancers, mesothelioma comes in a number of different forms. Asbestos exposure is the known cause of mesothelioma.

Recognizing Mesothelioma Symptoms

Mesothelioma symptoms may be hard to recognize because, taken individually, most symptoms could have a range of other, more mundane, causes. Here are some symptoms that might be a warning sign of mesothelioma as well as other types of cancer:


    Excessive tiredness without a clear cause
    Unexplained or sudden weight loss


The warning signs for each type of mesothelioma may be slightly different. Here are some signs that you should get checked for pleural mesothelioma, which affects your lungs:


    Chest or back pain
    Difficulty breathing, short of breath
    Persistent cough, wheeziness, or hoarseness
    Coughing up blood
    Difficulty swallowing
    Fever
    Swelling in the upper body, especially around the face or arms.


In addition, if your doctor notices that you have fluid around your lungs or a blood clot in one of the arteries that supplies blood to your lungs, you might want to get checked for pleural mesothelioma. If you are experiencing some of these mesothelioma symptoms, and especially if you have been exposed to asbestos, you may want to ask your doctor to check for mesothelioma.

For peritoneal mesothelioma, which affects the lining around your abdominal organs, you may experience a somewhat different set of mesothelioma symptoms, including:

    Pain in the stomach or groin
    Swollen belly caused by excess fluid
    Difficult bowel movements or constipation
    Nausea that can’t be explained by other causes

Pericardial mesothelioma, which affects the lining around your heart, can look a lot like other heart problems. Symptoms may include:

    Chest pain
    Difficulty breathing, especially when lying on your back
    Coughing
    Tiredness
    Swelling in your abdomen
    Heart palpitations (fast, irregular heartbeat)
    Heart failure

In advanced cases of mesothelioma, you may notice some additional mesothelioma symptoms:

    Jaundice, which gives your skin and eyes a yellowish tinge
    Extreme and noticeable fluid retention or swelling
    Low blood sugar


Mesothelioma Diagnosis

If you have worked with or otherwise been exposed to asbestos, you should keep an eye on your health. If you are experiencing mesothelioma symptoms, your doctor has several tools to determine whether you are suffering from this cancer or if there is another reason you aren’t feeling up to par.

Your physician will probably start by checking your breathing and listening to your lungs. The next step may be X-rays to look for telltale signs of mesothelioma. Your doctor may want to do additional imagining such as a CT or CAT scan or an MRI. If these tests indicate that mesothelioma may be present, a tissue biopsy will be needed to make the final determination whether this rare cancer is the cause of your symptoms. In most cases, the biopsy can be done through minor, outpatient operation that requires a very small incision.

Early Detection to Help Fight Mesothelioma


No one wants to hear the bad news that they have cancer, least of all one as malicious as malignant mesothelioma. The only thing worse is not getting diagnosed. If you think you may be having mesothelioma symptoms, make sure your doctor knows your full work and medical history.

While there is no cure yet, there are treatments that can slow the growth and spread of mesothelioma, so you can have more time to spend with the people you love. If your doctor thinks you might have mesothelioma, early testing is your best chance to extend your life.

source:  .mesotheliomacircle.org

Too little sleep linked to heart disease risk

NEW YORK - In a large US study, people who tended to get less than six hours of sleep nightly were more likely to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and to be obese.

The research is the first to look at differences in risk between racial and ethnic groups, and also finds the strongest effect among Black and Hispanic Americans.

"This is important, since racial minorities are generally at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity," Michael A. Grandner said. "And if they also tend to have more sleep difficulties, that could be making things worse."

Grandner led the study at the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Using nationwide survey data from 2008, researchers divided results from more than 5,000 respondents representing the US population into three groups. Very short sleepers got less than five hours per night, short sleepers got between five and six hours and long sleepers got more than nine hours.

Very short and short sleep were both linked to poor health, Grandner's team reports in the journal Sleep Medicine.

Very short sleepers were twice as likely to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, compared to people who slept around seven to eight hours. Very short sleepers were also 75 percent more likely to have diabetes and 50 percent more likely to be obese.

Short sleepers were about 20 percent more likely than normal sleepers to report high blood pressure and obesity.

Blacks were most likely to report sleeping less than five hours and very short sleep was most strongly linked to obesity among Blacks.

Short sleep was strongly linked to high blood pressure among Blacks, Whites and non-Mexican Hispanics, while people of Asian descent had the strongest link between short sleep and high cholesterol.

Long sleepers did not appear to experience any negative health effects once researchers adjusted for other factors.

There is no consensus on what the ideal minimum amount of sleep should be for good health, Kristen L. Knutson said.

Knutson studies sleep and heart health in different populations at the University of Chicago Department of Medicine. She was not involved in the new study.

There's no set number for sleep, in part "because there is likely to be some variability in how much sleep different people need," Knutson said. "Still, the majority of large studies have found that people who say they sleep between seven and eight hours are the healthiest."

Recommendations vary by age, with younger people generally needing more sleep than older people.

"Like most aspects of health, too little is bad for you and too much is also likely bad for you," Grandner said.

"It is hard to say that short sleep is worse than long—it's just that we currently have a better idea of why short sleep is detrimental to health," he said.

Quantity of sleep isn't the only important factor though, Grandner said. Insomnia, sleep apnea and waking frequently during the night may be related to heart disease, diabetes and obesity, he said.

"These data do suggest that short sleep, whatever the cause, is associated with important negative health outcomes," Knutson said.

Sleep and health are likely linked in a two-way relationship, Grandner said. Less sleep may negatively impact health, and certain health conditions like obesity might make sleep more difficult.

"Lack of sleep limits your body's ability to keep itself healthy, increasing risk for disease, which puts stress on the body, making sleep harder," he said. "It is likely a cycle like this." — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Legionnaires disease is a severe pneumonia

Legionnaires disease is a severe pneumonia. Pontiac fever is a mild, non-pneumonia influenza-like illness.

Most people who are exposed to the Legionella bacteria do not become ill. Middle-aged and older people are more susceptible to this disease. The disease has also been reported in children although less severe. Smokers and persons with chest problems are more commonly affected.

Legionnaire’s disease symptoms are headaches, temperature growth, abdominal pain, diarrhea, cough, fever, muscle pain, vomiting and having a problem in breathing.

Treatment with antibiotics is the cornerstone of treatment, erythromycin is the first choice of medication drugs. In addition to erythromycin, critically ill patients could receive rifampicin, an antibiotic commonly used to treat tuberculosis. Medications can be managed intravenously initially, then orally once the patient's condition become better, Treatment generally lasts for 3 weeks or even more and all prescription drugs must be taken, even if symptoms disappear. Critically, patients may be hospitalized in an intensive care unit (ICU), where oxygen can be managed and vital signs can be monitored regularly.  These precautions helps to stop or avoid complications such as heart failure, kidney failure, and change of  heartbeat irregularity.