| Frequently asked questions |
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| Pericardial Mesothelioma Information |
What you always wanted to know about Pericardial Mesothelioma
Cancer is among the most dreaded forms of diseases that have threatened mankind since a long time now. Although cure exists for many types of cancers if detected early, there are still some cancers that have baffled the medical scientists. Mesothelioma is one of them. This dreaded cancer is caused almost always because of exposure to asbestos. The highest incidences of Mesothelioma are found in people who have been exposed to asbestos either at their workplace or were exposed to asbestos particles or fibers at some other place. Interacting with people or wearing the clothes of people who had worked with asbestos can also put the person at risk of developing Mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is a cancer of Mesothelium which forms a protective lining around majority of the human body’s internal organs. Some of the most vulnerable areas of this lining are the peritoneum (protective lining of the abdomen), pericardium (lining the heart), and pleura (lining of the lungs and the cavity of the chest).
The way asbestos particles find their way inside the pericardium region is debatable. There are two hypotheses that have tried to explain this presence of asbestos in the pericardium region. According to one hypothesis, the asbestos is directly ingested into the pericardial region, whereas the other theory states that the asbestos particles travel through the lymph node system and into the pericardium membrane. Inside the membrane they remain dormant for a very long duration. The latency period could be as long as 50 years. Thus unfortunately by the time the cancer is detected, it is already in its final stages.
Inside the pericardium region the asbestos particles hamper with the functioning of the mesothelial cells. It is still debatable that how they interfere. However, this interference leads to the unregulated growth of the mesothelial cells. This unregulated growth causes the formation of cancerous tissues.
The symptoms of Mesothelioma are difficult to detect as they are very much similar to those of other diseases. As a result the prognosis of Mesothelioma is quite difficult. One form of Mesothelioma that is quite common is pericardial Mesothelioma. Pericardial Mesothelioma affects the protective lining of the Mesothelium covering the heart. Majority of the research work on Methelioma is being done on the pleural as well as peritoneal region as these two are the most vulnerable areas. However medical scientists have now started focusing on the pericardial region as well since this form of Mesothelioma is also seeing an increase.
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