Mesothelioma. You know what this is?

A week ago I was surfing the internet and saw a word that caught my attention: Mesothelioma. I thought and thought and could not imagine what could be mesothelioma. But then I remembered that carcinoma cancer, also ending in "oma".

 

But I did not pay attention to it, it is difficult to understand foreign names, at first thought it would be a cure or some type of medication. But I am a very curious and searched on the internet and found that mesothelioma is a type of cancer, but I was not enough to know that mesothelioma was a cancer, I wanted to know more, then researched on wikipedia and here is what I found:

According to Wikipedia, Mesothelioma is a cancer caused by asbestos exposure. In this disease, malignant cells develop in mesotelium, a protective lining that covers most of the internal organs of the body. Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity), but can also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity) or the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart).

How do you getmesothelioma?

Most people who develop mesothelioma was exposed often in work situations - in places with plenty of particles where they would inhale the particles and asbestos dust. There are even cases of contamination by washing clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos.

 

Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between smoking and mesothelioma. Workers are exposed to asbestos in various segments of industry and mining (cement).

Asbestos is used in the production of water box, corrugated sheets and pipes, friction products like brake linings and clutch plates, textiles, such as special gloves, hoses and lining clothes, filters for liquids of commercial production; papers and cardboard; production of sealing products for the automotive industry. Half of the roofs in our country is of cement, because they are a cheap and practical.

Approximately 10% of workers exposed to asbestos develop the disease. The latent period between exposure to asbestos and the onset of symptoms can range from 20 to 40 years.

In general, the average age of onset of symptoms and diagnosis of mesothelioma cancer is around 60. It is a type of tumor that can spread rapidly and invade the pericardium (membrane that surrounds the heart), mediastinum and pleura contralateral.

Thesymptomsofmesotheliomaare:

Symptoms of mesothelioma include shortness of breath due to pleural effusion (fluid between the lung and the chest wall) or chest wall. Pain and general symptoms such as cough and weight loss. The diagnosis can be made with chest X-rays and a CT scan, and confirmed with a biopsy (tissue sample) and microscopic examination. A thoracoscopy (inserting a tube with a camera into the chest) can be used to take biopsies. It allows the introduction of substances such as talc to obliterate the pleural space (called pleurodesis), which prevents more fluid from accumulating and pressing on the lung. Despite treatment with chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery, sometimes the disease carries a poor prognosis. Searches for early detection of mesothelioma are still ongoing.