Malignant Mesothelioma Blog

Mesothelioma and asbestosis, the scarring diseases caused from asbestos exposure, typically take years to fester within a body before symptoms become visible. Filling your lungs with smoke if youâ??ve been exposed to asbestos will hasten asbestos disease and expose you to additional medical testing to properly diagnose your disease. It will also take years off of your life.

Asbestos and smoke are a deadly combination that hastens the onset of painful and fatal lung cancers.

Lung diseases such as asbestosis, pulmonary fibrosis, pleural disease, lung cancer and mesothelioma are caused by asbestos. The symptoms of these asbestos caused diseases are so similar to the lung diseases and cancers caused by smoking, that proper diagnosis is difficult. Treatment for mesothelioma or other asbestos caused diseases begin too late because of earlier misdiagnosis. With most cancers, and mesothelioma treatment in particular, early diagnosis and treatment is crucial to survival. A late diagnosis and treatment of mesothelioma because an asbestos caused disease was mistaken for a smoking-related disease can take years off of your life, and lead to harsh and painful living during your last few years.

Medical research has also shown that smoking will hasten the attack of mesothelioma because of the internal damage caused by the toxic elements of cigarettes. Cigarette toxins eat away at your lungs. Asbestos fibers can then gain early entry into your vulnerable lungs and quickly take over or assist the cigarette toxins in creating your lung disease or cancer. Not smoking will not protect you from asbestos disease or mesothelioma, but it can reduce the severity and pain of mesothelioma and other asbestos caused diseases – and add years on to your life. If you donâ??t smoke and you have had exposure to asbestos, diagnosis will be swifter and you will be subject to less medical testing. Your chances of developing secondary lung diseases are substantially reduced.

Mesothelioma symptoms and lung disease symptoms from smoking typically both start with shortness of breath and trouble breathing. A productive cough typically follows, and the shortness of breath and the productive cough slowly worsen and persist. Because mesothelioma symptoms progress slowly, there is time to make a proper diagnosis if early treatment is sought. If the symptoms are ignored and are merely accepted as a side-effect of smoking, the disease has more time to become uncontrollable, and the asbestos disease will soon have control over you.

Mesothelioma affects the lining of internal organs, in a membrane called the mesothelium â?? hence the cancer name mesothelioma. This membrane does not affect just your lungs, it can affect most of your internal organs. Once mesothelioma symptoms of the lungs surface, such as breathing difficulties and productive coughs, the next step is typically an attack around the heart. Mesothelioma symptoms will then include chest pain, along with respiratory problems. This too can be misinterpreted as a sign of a smoking related disease, or a sign of old age or other heart and lung ailments. Mesothelioma is rare, and doctors will test according to the most likely disease to occur based on the symptoms. Because of that, it is very important to mention to your doctor your exposure to asbestos at your first visit.

Mesothelioma symptoms are slow to surface, and difficult to diagnose. Smoking while being exposed to asbestos will make proper diagnosis of mesothelioma difficult, and proper treatment may come too late to be of any benefit other than pain reduction and respiratory control. Mesothelioma is a cancer caused by asbestos, not cigarettes â?? but cigarettes will make your mesothelioma worse. Donâ??t let the fibers of asbestos and the toxins of cigarettes team up on your lungs. Quit smoking and stay away from asbestos. If you must be exposed to asbestos, wear proper protection and donâ??t smoke. Donâ??t rush the disease, diagnose it. And you canâ??t diagnose the disease fast enough unless you quit smoking.