What is Mesothelioma?
What is Mesothelioma?: It is essential to educate yourself about your body. You only get one life, so to live it wisely and to take care of yourself is the only way to go. The article is all about mesothelioma, and will aim to provide information in a compact manner.
What is the mesothelium?
The mesothelium is a membrane that encapsulates our inner organs. It comprises of two parts. An inner membrane wraps around the organs such as the lungs, heart and the stomach. An outer layer forms a kind of sac around the inner layer.
In order to enable the organs to move freely, a thin layer of fluid is present between the two layers of the mesothelium. It has different names, according to where it is present in the body. For instance the mesothelium surrounding the lungs is called the pleura.
What is mesothelioma?
The mesothelium is made up of cells called the mesothelial cells. The cells sometimes begin to behave abnormally, for instance they may stop growing. Changes in these cells can lead of cancerous growths, which may be either benign (that is, non-cancerous) or malignant (that is, cancerous). A malignant tumor refers to a group of cancerous calls that can grow into and destroy nearby tissue. It is also inherently harmful due to its ability to metastasize; this is spread to other organs of the body.
The mesothelioma is a very rare form of cancer. About 70 to 80 percent of mesothelioma starts in the pleura and is called mesothelioma.
Different types of mesothelioma manifests in different ways and symptoms are usually not apparent until it has progressed to a later stage. Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma can include chest pain and general body aches, chronic coughing weight loss and fatigue among others. Whenever your body shows signs of illness, always investigate!
Treatment of mesothelioma
The treatment of mesothelioma is quite similar to that of other types of cancer and includes surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Treatment can improve a patient’s life expectancy and can also reduce pain and discomfort due to symptoms.
It is essential to never ignore any warning signs related to your health and general wellbeing. Educate yourself all about mesothelioma to respond early if the situations ever arise.