A mesothelioma symptom can appear up to 50 years after the exposure to asbestos which makes it a difficult disease to diagnose. Screening is sometimes done, and can sometimes be effective to some degree although there are no standard accepted screening methods yet.

Symptoms of mesothelioma can include coughing, shortness of breath, pain in the chest, weight loss, swelling and pain of the abdomen, bowel obstruction, blood clotting problems, anemia, fever, general pain, difficulty swallowing, blood in the fluid coughed up, jaundice, low blood sugar level, swelling of the neck and/or face. Different symptoms might occur at different stages of the disease, and with different variations on the disease such as peritoneal mesothelioma or the more common pleural mesothelioma.

However, diagnosis of mesothelioma is often very difficult because any or all these symptoms can be caused by a variety of other less serious medical problems other than mesothelioma. If one has been exposed to asbestos (or other mesothelioma-causing chemicals, asbestos is not the only one), mesothelioma maybe suspected. The patient is usually examined physically first, then chest X-ray and lung function tests. After that, any fluid building up in the chest cavity can be tested, and a biopsy done, which involves taking a small sample of relevant bodily tissue (such as from chest or abdomen) for examination under a microscope by a pathologist.

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer which is relatively rare and is typically found in 1 person per million. This is much less common than for example lung cancer where the incidence in those who smoke is one in a thousand. Smoking on its own does not cause the disease, but smoking can make the disease more likely if there is also exposure to asbestos.

The disease can be treated by a variety of approaches. A combination of radical surgery, radiation and chemo-therapies is sometimes used and tends to be more effective than any one treatment on its own. What can seem to be a mesothelioma symptom is more likely to indicate a much less serious condition. Claims for the disease can often be considerable.

Learn more about mesothelioma . Stop by Thomas Goldman’s site where you can find out all about what might be regarded as aMesothelioma Symptom, and further relevant info on the subject.