Mesothelioma is a rare variant of cancer. It forms in the mesothelium, a thin cell layer lining the abdomen and chest. It is nearly always the result of a prior exposure to asbestos. Sometimes, mesothelioma symptoms don't show themselves until twenty to fifty years after the event.
The most usual and distressing symptoms of the disease are breathlessness and chest pain. Other common symptoms are weight loss, cough, tiredness and loss of appetite. Some people may experience sweating, emotional reactions, nausea and vomiting or constipation. Many symptoms can be controlled, usually with the help of the right health care professional.
The most common cause of chest pain is pleural effusions, accumulations of fluid within the two layers of the pleural membrane. Drainage via a chest tube is the treatment for this, producing rapid relief from pain and breathlessness. Future effusions are discouraged via pleurodesis, a way of obliterating the space where the fluid accumulates fusing the two pleural membranes together by the injection of a sterile talc.
Other causes of breathlessness, such as loss of chest wall mobility or loss of lung volume may be relieved by self-help techniques. Pericardial effusions, accumulation of fluid in the membrane surrounding the heart, need to be drained in a cardiac unit.
Pain is a common symptom and can usually be controlled by medication, either orally or via subcutaneous infusion through a special pump that injects the drug underneath the skin. Other methods of pain control include Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS), nerve blocks, spinal drug delivery or percutaneous spinal cordotomy.
In spinal cordotomy, some of the nerves that carry pain messages up to the brain are treated to heat. The resulting pain relief can persist for months or sometimes even years.
The most usual and distressing symptoms of the disease are breathlessness and chest pain. Other common symptoms are weight loss, cough, tiredness and loss of appetite. Some people may experience sweating, emotional reactions, nausea and vomiting or constipation. Many symptoms can be controlled, usually with the help of the right health care professional.
The most common cause of chest pain is pleural effusions, accumulations of fluid within the two layers of the pleural membrane. Drainage via a chest tube is the treatment for this, producing rapid relief from pain and breathlessness. Future effusions are discouraged via pleurodesis, a way of obliterating the space where the fluid accumulates fusing the two pleural membranes together by the injection of a sterile talc.
Other causes of breathlessness, such as loss of chest wall mobility or loss of lung volume may be relieved by self-help techniques. Pericardial effusions, accumulation of fluid in the membrane surrounding the heart, need to be drained in a cardiac unit.
Pain is a common symptom and can usually be controlled by medication, either orally or via subcutaneous infusion through a special pump that injects the drug underneath the skin. Other methods of pain control include Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS), nerve blocks, spinal drug delivery or percutaneous spinal cordotomy.
In spinal cordotomy, some of the nerves that carry pain messages up to the brain are treated to heat. The resulting pain relief can persist for months or sometimes even years.
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