Catching a Killer - New Steps in the treatment of mesothelioma

It is a silent killer out there. It crawls on its victims, it does quietly and unsuspectingly, and initiates a wound that develops over many years before it eventually causes pain. This unstoppable murderer is known as mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a malignant tumor, mesothelial cells of either the lungs, heart or abdominal organs developed, and pests are those that have been exposed to asbestos over a long period of time. Many people who suffer from this disease are people who have worked in certain professions or fields for the year 1970, such as blacksmiths, electricians, mill and oil refinery workers Wright.

Since it can take up to 40 years for symptoms to surface mesothelioma deaths is higher than ever in the 21st Century. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that 1493 people died from asbestos in 2000, compared with 77 persons in 1968.

Mesothelioma Treatment methods vary depending on the stage of the cancer detection and the patient's age and personal choice of treatment depends. The four stages of the disease are a factor in determining the type of mesothelioma treatment, which can be carried out. The first stage is when the tumor is limited growth on the pleural lining (the lining of the lungs) had. In this phase, attempts to surgically remove the entire tumor be. However, if the tumor was discovered at a later stage than the surrounding areas, is considered incurable.

Traditionally, the later stages of mesothelioma treated with either chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Chemotherapy drugs kill cancer cells during radiation therapy uses high energy X-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.

Although mesothelioma treatment methods have been to extend the life of the patients, they can not cure the disease. Ongoing clinical trials are to overcome this debilitating disease. Current experimental therapies include:

Drug therapy: a drug called Alimta, Eli Lilly has been developed has been found that significantly increase the life expectancy of patients and the symptoms of the disease. It is the only chemotherapy drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration approved for treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Gene therapy: The mesothelioma treatment is currently in the testing phase. The procedure involves inserting a "suicide gene" directly into the tumor. This gene makes the cells susceptible to normally ineffective drug called glanciclovir destroyed all the cancer cells and leave healthy cells unaffected.

Photodynamic therapy: still in the experimental stage, uses the photodynamic therapy light to kill cancer cells. The patient first receives a photosensitizer that only collects in cancerous cells. Fiber optic cables are then placed into the body to the right frequency of light target the tumor. The photosensitizer is then to a toxic oxygen molecule that kills cancer cells produce that result.

Immunotherapy: Also called biological therapy, this mesothelioma treatment in defending the body's own immune system against mesothelioma. It is found that the immune system is able to decipher healthy cells from cancer cells and can thus eradicate those cells causing the cancer.

While treatment methods are still in development or pilot phase, there is hope that one day all mesothelioma victims from the murderous hands of this terrible disease free.

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The Internet is a gold mine for mesothelioma lawyers

A man the misery of the happiness of another man. This seems to be the case with the mesothelioma victims on the one hand and mesothelioma lawyers on the other side. An online feeding frenzy is taking place right now. The average mesothelioma case is now set at about $ 1 million and that figure jumps to $ 6,000,000 in the action goes to court. With such enormous money, companies are hungry for a piece of the action, and shelling out money for online visitors. The result is that search engines and other sites that can help visitors, shelves are huge revenue.

It works as follows. The sponsors of search engines, clicks (visitors) will be auctioned to the highest bidder. If someone searches "mesothelioma", the highest bidding law firms appear. With the fierce competition, these companies pay as much as $ 100 per mesothelioma-related traffic to their website. That is $ 100 every time someone clicks on their ad alone - and a lot of clicks from competitors. Fewer than one in ten visitors may actually submit an inquiry about the services of the company. And only a fraction of the requests for customers to convert. Therefore, the lawyers thousands of dollars in advertising costs down to a client.

There is something truly obscene about this situation. But it is inevitable that, although many made money from litigation, lawyers and publishers will continue to work for their share of hectic action. You can even these vultures on YouTube making an undignified pitch for business. If only a portion of the money would be directed to cancer research. Perhaps these firms and others who benefit from this terrible disease are donating a portion of their profits to research facilities. In this way, they seem a little more real and less like vultures.

Mesothelioma is a cancer associated with exposure to asbestos. In fact, 70% to 80% of mesothelioma cases are caused by a history of exposure to asbestos. It can take dozens of years the symptoms appear. Every year, reported from 2000 to 3000 new cases of mesothelioma. In the past 20 years, the number of reported cases increased significantly. While it may 50 years for symptoms to manifest, mesothelioma patients experience a variety of symptoms. These include shortness of breath or wheezing and coughing, which often lead to chest or abdominal pain. In severe cases, individuals bowel obstruction, anemia, jaundice and a bloody cough. It is extremely difficult to provide accurate statistics on how many people suffer from mesothelioma because in the early stages to provide secure, the symptoms are very similar to several other conditions. This often leads to misdiagnosis of the disease. Moreover, if an accurate diagnosis is finalized, the disease usually has an advanced stage.

With the renovation craze that has in the last 2 or 3 decades in countries such as Australia and the United States, it is expected that the high rates of diagnosis will continue in the coming decades. And as long as money can be made of this disease, the vultures also around.

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Mesothelioma Lawyers Question ....

What does the Dutch government about mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a leading cause of death in the United Kingdom and statistics are set within the next 10 to 15 years to a peak when the disease has a long incubation period. Under the carpet swept years the problem of the "silent killer" (as the disease became known) has recently been a greater exposure of the population received over the successful conclusion of a process, which the insurers were liable to pay the case centered a victim of development of the disease - the insurer with the company at the time of exposure or the insurer at the time of diagnosis. The trigger event took 'nine weeks in 2008, and by legal experts (lawyers) that the families of victims of mesothelioma as a milestone on the path of lawsuits against former employers for injuries or illnesses would be regarded as a direct result of exposure to asbestos.

The profile of this industrial prevention is further strengthened by the decision, 27 February 2008 to a Mesothelioma Action Day improved. The day was marked by events in the United Kingdom with the aim of raising awareness in the media and the public about the disease. An international conference discussing progress in the treatment of mesothelioma. John Edwards, consultant thoracic surgeon and chairman of the British Mesothelioma Interest Group, said the conference: "The researchers are desperate for funds for life-saving treatments, mesothelioma by far the least of the first studied twenty of cancer in the United Kingdom are developing .. financing for a British National Centre for asbestos-related diseases is a priority. Such an attitude could encourage virtual collaboration and stimulate research into future treatments to extend and generate save lives. "

The government has acknowledged that the unresolved problem of mesothelioma one that is not in the course of time is reduced. Although the use of asbestos as a building material for more than 20 years is prohibited, there are thousands of public buildings - especially schools - in asbestos as part of their primary structures. Although the asbestos is covered with a protective layer to prevent silicon dust pollution in the atmosphere can cause fatal damage of this layer of dust. Who in the ongoing fight against the disease and fear that plumbers, electricians and other maintenance of a risk to workers from exposure when participating on older properties still contain asbestos work.

Unite and other unions, physicians, patients, mesothelioma asbestos support groups and Michael Clapham MP, Chairman of the Subcommittee on All Party asbestos, lead to the proposal for the National Center for asbestos-related diseases. The development group has a broad support base and has the special adviser to Health Minister in Downing Street, the national director for cancer and the Minister of Health with responsibility for cancer. The meeting was seen as a step forward by all parties that the Government seriously the issue of mesothelioma. The campaign calls on the government for funding for a National Centre for asbestos-related diseases, such as the United Kingdom in line with other Western countries is necessary. The Australian government has already $ 6,200,000 to finance a national center for asbestos-related diseases. British patients and support groups are asking the government to match these funds, about 5 to € 10,000,000, a similar center in the United Kingdom there.

If the profile of this occupational disease is increased, is the hope of specialist lawyers families of victims of mesothelioma, that the long battle for compensation that many families will face it easier to ensure that the victims of the compensation they deserve.

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