Asbestos Exposure Symptoms

Asbestos in general are minerals having silica in them. They are naturally occurring and have thin fibrous crystals. These minerals have been getting its importance felt in industries due to various parameters---it is resistant to heat, can be used to extinguished fire as it has flame retardant properties, and it can also be used as insulator. But using this mineral has also caused severe problems. It is a threat to human health on prolonged exposure. Asbestosis, lung cancer and cancer in mesothelial cells are some of the deadly diseases prolonged exposure to asbestos can cause. But the tricky part is that asbestos exposure symptoms developed are generally imitations of other diseases, thereby making it difficult for proper diagnosis of asbestos infection.

It is a long drawn out process for the asbestos exposure symptoms to develop. Another challenging aspect of the symptoms is that the symptoms vary from person to person. The variation is due to the span of time for which an individual is exposed to asbestos and is also dependent on the type and nature of asbestos exposed to.

Development of asbestos exposure symptoms is a slow process. There are different symptoms generated for long and short term contact to the mineral. The symptoms that are likely to develop due to proximity to high levels of asbestos can lead to the development of the cancer in lungs and abdomen (mesothelial lining) and asbestosis. The asbestos exposure symptoms for these major health effects are detected over years. The indications are generally in their latent state and surface only after years. Some of the general symptoms developed are chest getting stiff accompanied by pain, chronic cough that sometimes has blood, crackling sound in the lungs while inhaling air, clubbing of fingers and toes, bluing or discoloration of lips and fingers called cyanosis, loss of appetite and weights getting reduced.

Asbestosis comes with symptoms that include breath shortness, pain in the chest, chronic cough, and problems related to proper breathing, and an individual also faces problem with physical exertion. Mesothelioma affects chest and abdomen lining, the mesothelium, thereby causing stiffness in chest, chest pain, constant cough, fatigue and there is a remarkable weight loss. Mesothelioma can actually lead to peritoneal or pleural mesothelioma. Asbestos exposure symptoms in case of peritoneal mesothelioma are abdominal cavity getting swollen, smooth flow of bowel getting obstructed, night sweats and fever that get accompanied by others like weight loss, nauseating tendency and anemia.

Short term exposure can happen to people who work in industry or who inhaled some asbestos while their house got renovated. The symptoms that are developed are pain in one's chest and also in the abdomen, and certain irritating sensation in one's skin and mucous membrane. These get added up with breath problems.

The pericardial lining of the heart can also be affected by mesothelioma. It comes with the palpitation, chronic cough and fatigue. Asbestos exposure symptoms that accompany lung cancer are dryness of cough, infections in the lungs, blood getting mixed with sputum.

The asbestos exposure symptoms if reported early to the doctors, then proper diagnosis and treatment can help cure all the ill effects produced due to the proximity to the naturally occurring minerals named asbestos

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Asbestos Related Diseases

Asbestos is something very dangerous and a lot of people are still unaware of that. Asbestos surveys need to be carried into buildings if it has not be done yet in order to identify if asbestos was used or not in the building.

A recent survey carried out actually indicates that the highest risk of asbestos related lung illness in fact arises from insulation work in the United Kingdom. Epidemiologic work done by a professor called Peto has shown that in the first few years of the twenty first century we can keep on expecting a rise in the number of new cases of mesothelioma in Great Britain mainly due to asbestos. Mesotheliome really is a horrible cancer with a very long latency period.

In the United Kingdom, it presently causes more deaths than road traffic accidents and epidemiologists predict that a further one hundred thousand individuals would die from one type of asbestos cancer called mesothelioma in the coming years. When all types of asbestos-related diseases are gathered, the final death toll could be even higher than that previous number which is shocking.

Research into the treatment and care of this aggressive cancer in the United Kingdom is apparently in bad shape due to a lack of government help over the last years. In 2007 there was just one project dedicated to mesothelioma research funded by Cancer Research UK, but nothing by the Medical Research Council, despite the fact that between 1995 and 2004 the incidence rate of this disease in United Kingdom grew faster than any other cancer. Improvement have been made though with the availability of support for people suffering from mesothelioma by cancer charities throughout the United Kingdom.

Any delay in diagnosing mesothelioma can impact negatively on treatment options, since an early diagnosis is a key to achieving a better cure for the patient.

With the fact that patients are now getting older and are often diagnosed at a late stage of the disease. It becomes more and more urgent to use asbestos surveyors to carry out asbestos surveys.

It seems that other countries like Australia have done things differently when it comes to deal with asbestos related diseases. The Australian government actually committed millions of pounds for a research program which would help people suffering from those diseases.

It is very easy to find a company specializing in asbestos management. They would usually also do legionella risk assessment and asbestos awareness training.

Signs and Symptoms of Mesothelioma

Symptoms of mesothelioma does not always appear right away. It can take anywhere from 20 to 50 years after the exposure to surface. Shortness of breath, pain in the chest and coughing due to fluid in the pleural space (in between the two pleural membranes)are often symptoms of pleural mesothelioma.

Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma(serous membrane that forms the lining of the abdominal cavity) include:

weight loss

cachexia (which is fatigue)

abdominal swellin and pain due to ascites (a buildup of fluid in the abdominal cavity

Other symptoms may include:

bowel obstruction

anemia

bowel obstruction

fever

These symptoms will may occur if the cancer spreads to other parts of you body.
May also include pain, trouble swallowing, or swelling of the neck or face.

The Affects of Mesothelioma in the Pleura can cause these signs and symptoms:

chest wall pain

shortness of breath

blood in the sputum (fluid) coughed up

fatigue

wheezing

coughing

In more advanced cases when a person has many tumor masses, the individual could end up with a collapsed lung. Tumors that affect the abdominal cavity don't cause symptoms until a later stage.

Symptoms can be:

a mass in the abdomen

problems with bowel function

weight loss

abdominal pain

abnormal buildup of fluid in the abdomen

In severe cases symptoms can be:

blood clots in veins

jaundice

low blood sugar level

pleural effusion

bleeding in may organs

Symptoms of Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is an extremely nasty and permanent cancer that infects the membrane surrounding most internal organs. It is also a very subtle form of cancer providing only a few noticeable symptoms until it becomes extremely advanced. The most common type of mesothelioma is called pleural mesothelioma. It causes shortness of breath and/or chronic coughing that can easily be mixed up with allergies or a common cold. In many cases mesothelioma is discovered by accident when patients are looking into these symptoms. Other symptoms of pleural mesothelioma include:

-Chest Pain

-Chronic coughing that worsens over time

-Shortness of breath

-Coughing up blood

-Fatigue

-Wheezing

-Lung infection

-Swollen lymph nodes

-Loss of appetite and weight loss

75% of all mesothelioma cases are Pleural mesothelioma. Another type is called Peritoneal mesothelioma. Peritoneal mesothelioma affects the lining around the stomach and intestines and can be just as dangerous and deadly. Symptoms of Peritoneal mesothelioma include:

-Pain or swelling in the abdomen

-Weight loss

-Bowel obstruction - blockage in the small / large intestine

-Anemia - reduction in number of red blood cells

-Fever

High risk groups such as asbestos and construction workers must undergo frequent check-ups to monitor any conditions leading to mesothelioma. Because this cancer is so deadly, early diagnosis and treatment can help prolong life, but the mortality rate is usually 100% within five years.