Meothelioma or malignant mesothelioma is a rare kind of cancer that is found in the protective lining(mesothelium) that covers certain internal organs like:
Pleura - Lining of the lung and chest
Peritoneum - Lining of abdominal cavity
Percardium - Sac around the Heart
Tunica Vaginalis - Sac surrounding the testis.
Mesothelioma is usually caused by exposure to asbestos and inhalation of asbestos particles. There are three types of Mesothelioma:
- Pleural Mesothelioma - Most common kind accounting more than 70% of mesothelioma patients.
- Peritoneal Mesothelioma - 20% of mesothelioma patients come from this category.
- Pericardial Mesothelioma - Seen rarely.
Mesothelioma is an aggressive and rare form of cancer caused mainly by exposure to asbestos. Hence it is also called asbestos cancer. Mesothelioma affects the protective lining of the internal organs. The protective lining is called mesothelium, that is why the diseased stage is called mesothelioma since it is a cancer affecting mesothelium. Mesothelioma usually affects the protective lining(mesothelium) of internal organs like :
Pleura - Lining of the lung and chest
Peritoneum - Lining of abdominal cavity
Percardium - Sac around the Heart
Mesothelioma is classified into three main types based of the internal organ which gets affected by the disease. The three main types are:
1. Pleural Mesothelioma
2. Peritoneal Mesothelioma
3. Pericardial Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a rare aggressive form of cancer. It is found to be caused mainly by asbestos exposure. Asbestos exposure means working in buildings roofed with asbestos or transporting asbestos or inhaling of asbestos particles. This will be different in different industries. Rarely mesothelioma is also seen in people who used to wash the clothes of the asbestos exposed workers. If we just look at the records of the mesothelioma patients we could see that some of the mesothelioma patients were exposed to asbestos for more than 40 years but some are exposed for less than 15 years. Also we should note one more IMPORTANT thing; some asbestos exposed people are also there who are not affected by this disease even after a continuous for 50 years. This makes this disease even more complicated for medical experts. From these findings we could say that mesothelioma have some relation with our genetics.
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Victor
