Mesothelioma cases rising in Mexico

Recent studies done my America journal of Industrial Medicine shows that the diagnoses of mesothelioma which are caused by asbestos exposure are raising in Mexico. Developed nations like EU and North America already banned or regulated the use of asbestos while many other countries still continue to use it.

Since there is no so much demand in developed nations, the asbestos sellers are trying to increase their exposure in developing countries. If Mexico has to contain their rising cases of mesothelioma they either have to ban or at least regulate the use of asbestos in industries.

Many cases diagnosed for mesothelioma are as a result of exposure to asbestos at work places and many workers are not very aware of the side effects of playing at workplaces which involved working with asbestos.

There are many lawsuits that are being files in US for settlements with the employers.  There is a huge percentage of lawyers that from Houston, San Diego, Ohio. Houston mesothelioma lawyers are famous just for the percentage of the lawyers that hail from that region. Houston mesothelioma lawyers will sometimes fly to your place to understand the case as such is the returns in those cases.

Overall, Mexico has to either ban or at least regulate the use of asbestos at work places.

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Radiation therapy as a treatment for Mesothelioma

In this post I will discuss one of the treatments to treat mesothelioma. The treatment is Intensity-modulated radiation Therapy (IMRT). IMRT is a kind of radiation therapy which uses x-rays of high energy to kill mesothelioma cancer cells to destroy the tumors.


Two types of radiation therapy are

1) External radiation therapy

2) Internal radiation therapy

External radiation therapy uses a machine to beam x-rays into the body where the mesothelioma cells are located. Proper care has to be taken in this method as some times good cells adjacent to the bad cells could also get damaged. IMRT is a type of three-dimensional therapy. A computer delivers the radiation as it moves around the patient’s body. The machine can shape the beams; adjust the strength of the beams and the angle at which they are delivered.

Internal radiation therapy also called at brachytherapy is a process in which chemicals are introduced to produce radiation at the mesothelioma cancer affected location in the body. A thin plastic tube is used and is inserted into the chest or abdomen.

Mesothelioma tumors are not discrete solid tumors but are usually spread over a large area and because of this it is very difficult to deliver radiation in sufficient doses properly to kill the tumor without damaging good cells. For this reason, radiation is mainly used to kill the remaining tumors after a surgery. Another usage of radiation is to relieve symptoms of mesothelioma. However, radiation has its side effects as in the process good cells can also get damaged.

Source: mesothelioma-data.com

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Mesothelioma - Employer Sued

Today I was going through the news articles and found there was a Woman who sued the employer on behalf of his father. Samuel Mann server the US army 3 years from 1959 to 1961 and later he worked as a mechanic at crown cork till early 1970s and later he did construction work for 7 years for Norfolk Southern Railroad.

His daughter is suing these companies for letting his father exposed to asbestos at work without prior indication. As you see, Mann had worked in asbestos related work many years ago but the effects are visible now after several 10’s of years. Mesothelioma is very hard to diagnose and the survival rate is very low among the patients.

As per other statistics, every year 2 to 3 thousand of new patients are recorded to be affected by this deadly cancer which is caused my mesothelioma.

On a whole, the patients family has to go through severe crisis but if they win the settlement cases the make against the employers, they get sometimes millions of dollars but the loss of a human is not comparable to the money they get. Hope the employers around the US make their employees know the bad effects of asbestos and they themselves can escape from costly lawsuits.

Source: http://www.asbestos.net/

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Chemotherapy for Mesothelioma

Chemotherapy is a treatment in which doctors use drugs on patients which kills the cancer cells. Chemotherapy for mesothelioma can be used in different situations such as


1) To minimize the tumor before surgery

2) To kill remaining cancer cells after surgery

3) To kill cancer tumor that recurs

4) To use on patients who are not surgical candidates.

Chemotherapy is being continually developed by the researchers. Good news for the mesothelioma patients is that, there is considerable progress is the systematic treatment of this disease in last few years. Pemetrexed is seen as the most promising drug to treat mesothelioma. This is an inhibitor of proteins including thymidylate synthase and dihydrofolate reductase which are required in synthesis of DNA.

Chemotherapy drugs are often used in combination of others and this process is called combination therapy. When cancer occurs, bad cells in the body keep growing as exponential rate and the anticancer drugs can help the bad cells keep in control and during the process good cells may also get damaged which is the main reason for side effects. The cells most likely to be affected are the fast-growing normal cells such as the blood cells forming in bone marrow, and cells in the digestive tract which includes the mouth, stomach, intestines, and esophagus. Hair follicles may also be affected, hence, hair loss during chemotherapy. Some drugs affect cells of vital organs, such as the heart, kidney, bladder, lungs, and nervous system.

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What is mesothelioma cancer?

Malignant mesothelioma, a disease in which a tumor of cancerous nature grows on the mesothelium – the lining of the internal body cavities. In this disease, cells in mesothelium develop into malign cells. Its most common site is the pleura but may also occur in the heartm peritoneum, the pericardium or tunica vaginalis.


People who have worked on jobs where they inhale asbestos particles or any other jobs where people are exposed to asbestos dust develop mesothelioma. Compensation via asbestos funds or lawsuits is an important issue in mesothelioma.

Symptoms of this cancer are,

1) Shortness of breath

2) Chest wall pain

3) Weight loss


This could be diagnosed with X-ray and CT scan but could only be confirmed with a biopsy and microscopic examination. Even after treatment with radiation, chemotherapy etc the disease carries a poor prognosis.

Will cover more signs and symptoms in my next post.

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