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News
Links
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"Asbestos
Companies File Bankruptcy"
Federal-Mogul Corporation announced that to separate its
asbestos liabilities from its true operating potential,it
has filed for Bankruptcy.
"W.
R. Grace & Co. to Resolve Asbestos Claims"
The complany has voluntarily filed for reorganization under
the Bankruptcy Code in response to
a sharply increasing number of asbestos claims.
"
USG Files For Bankruptcy"
USG filed for bankruptcy protection in U.S. District Court
in Wilmington, Del.
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Symptoms
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-
shortness of breath
- coughing
- weight loss
- sexual dysfunction
- chest pain
- abdomen pain
- swelling of the abdomen
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If
you, or someone you know, has been exposed to asbestos
and would like to know the legal rights involved, please
feel free to contact us.
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There
is no standard treatment regimen for treating mesothelioma.
The FDA has not articulated a treatment regimen for the disease.
How and why the disease develops is not known. The American
Cancer Society has created a list suggested for those with
mesothelioma to ask their doctor. The questions include:
- What
type of mesothelioma do I have?
- What
is the stage of my mesothelioma (i.e. how advanced is it)?
- Has
the mesothelioma spread beyond its original site?
- What
treatment options do I have?
Which of these options do you recommend, and why?
- What
is my prognosis?
- What
risks or side effects are there to the treatments you suggest?
- What
are the chances that my cancer will recur with these treatment
plans?
- What
should I do to be ready for treatment?
Early
diagnosis of mesothelioma allows a greater number of treatment
options including chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, experimental
therapies and drugs, complementary medicine and therapies, and
lifestyle modifications.
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The
cause of death is typically from an extension of the
tumor into surrounding organs, creating bowel obstruction,
irregular heartbeat or heart failure, or respiratory
failure.
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Chemotherapy is often offered as a treatment for mesothelioma
but post patients who receive this type of treatment do not
respond favorably to it. Chemotherapy is also used when the
disease has spread and no other treatment is an option.
Radiation is offered but is seen as ineffective at increasing
survival but mildly helpful in managing pain and other disease
effects.
Surgery is used for exploratory measures, relief, and
tumor removal. Exploratory surgery of the chest can be used
as a tool in early diagnosis of mesothelioma. Palliative surgery
is used for relief, not as a cure. Usually this type of surgery
is performed when the tumor has spread beyond the mesothelium
and is hard to completely remove.
A pleurectomy is to remove the tumor from the surface
of the lung by opening up the chest. The pleura is removed,
also, which is where  the
majority of the tumor exists. Extrapleural pneumonectomy is
the operation that has the best record for removing the maximum
number of tumor cells. It involves removal of a portion of the
lung called the parietal pleura, which lines the lung, the pericardium,
the heart lining, and the diaphragm. Survival rate for this
type of surgery is 41 months because of the intensity of this
procedure.
Complementary methods like sticking to a vegetarian diet,
exercise, vitamins, herbal remedies, or stress management can
sometimes help a patient with mesothelioma better deal with
their condition or to enhance their quality of life.
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The
number of mesothelioma cases diagnosed each year is
expected to peak between the years 2000 and 2020 because
of the 20-40 year latency period in asbestos exposure
and onset of meothelioma.
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Mesothelioma can reoccur despite having being treated. Recurrent
malignant mesothelioma can come back in the same area it was
previously in or in a once unaffected area.
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