What Is It?
Mesothelioma is deadly cancer that develops in the linings of organs, most commonly the lungs. The only cause is asbestos exposure, and it often does not appear until decades after the exposure occurred. It can be caused by a small amount of exposure or more likely a great deal of exposure. There appears to be a genetic link, where some people are more susceptible than others to developing Mesothelioma after asbestos exposure. When asbestos fibers are inhaled, they can lodge in the lungs, which have no effective means of absorbing or getting rid of them. Asbestos is essentially indestructible. The body as a defense often encapsulates the asbestos and it remains in the body. The constant irritation from the asbestos causes cellular changes that can eventually turn malignant.
Symptoms of Mesothelioma
The first symptoms of mesothelioma may include:
- Shortness of breath
- Fatigue
- Wheezing, coughing, or hoarseness
- Fever
- Sweating
- Chest pain
- Coughing blood
- Unexplained weight loss
- Pain or swelling in the abdomen
- Nausea
Growing tumors can cause abdominal pain, bowel problems, severe breathing problems, and fluid retention. Eventually, they can metastasize and spread throughout the body. Doctors typically prescribe chemotherapy, immunotherapy or radiation following a diagnosis, but the chances of survival are usually grim by the time mesothelioma is identified. The disease of mesothelioma has only one known origin: asbestos exposure. This allows for higher compensation in claims where mesothelioma is diagnosed compared to other cancers. Lung cancer, esophageal cancer, and other cancers may be caused or contributed to by asbestos exposure, but it cannot be proven that asbestos was the sole cause. If a smoker develops lung cancer, asbestos may have contributed to the lung cancer, but often the doctors simply blame smoking. If you were a smoker and developed mesothelioma, it will not affect the amount of compensation we can recover.