Mesothelioma Symptoms

If you contract mesothelioma, you might feel perfectly fine for a good long while. In fact, after the initial asbestos exposure, it can take 20 or 50 years before you actually show any symptoms of mesothelioma. That's why it's important to learn how to recognize the symptoms now. Because given the long latency period, once symptoms do appear, you won't have any time to waste - you'll want to identify it immediately.

If you have pleural mesothelioma (in the outer lining of the lungs and chest wall), common symptoms include shortness of breath, cough, and chest pain. This pain results from fluid accumulating in the pleural space.

If you have peritoneal mesothelioma (in the lining of the abdominal cavity), common symptoms include cachexia and weight loss. Normally, people look forward to weight loss, but in this case it's a bad sign. Other very common symptoms of this particular type include swelling in the abdomen and pain resulting from fluid buildup in the abdominal cavity, called ascites. But wait, there are other (though less common) symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma. They include fever, anemia, abnormal blood clotting, and bowel obstruction.

If the disease metastasizes, or spreads to other parts of the body, the symptoms list grows. You're looking at pain, swelling in the neck and face, and difficulty swallowing. But you also have to keep in mind that all of these symptoms can be caused by other diseases. Therefore, you should not immediately conclude that you have mesothelioma just because you're showing one or more of these symptoms. Only your doctor can make such a determination. It may turn out that you have a condition that's far less serious, so be sure before you jump to conclusions.

So, back to pleural mesothelioma. I forgot to list some of the symptoms before. It can also include coughed up blood, wheezing or cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, fluid in the lungs, and chest wall pain, though some of those sound similar to the ones above.

Because mesothelioma is a type of cancer, it can result in many tumors. Usually though, you'll only see lots of tumors if it progresses to a very severe stage. Other severe symptoms are pneumothorax, or a collapsed lung. Metastasis may also occur in advanced cases.

If you get tumors in the abdominal cavity, don't expect them to necessarily show symptoms until the endgame. When they appear, symptoms may include things such as ascites, blood clots in the lungs, pleural effusion, low blood sugar, jaundice, severe internal bleeding, weight loss, bowel difficulties, and abdominal pain. If you have mesothelioma, my condolences.

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