All About Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is normally caused by asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma is cancer that occurs in the mesothelium.

Mesothelioma:
Mesothelioma is a type of cancer affecting the cells of mesothelial lining in the chest and abdomen. Mesothelioma cancer can develop in the tissues covering the lungs or the abdomen. Mesothelioma has also been found in the stomach and other abdominal organs but it is much rarer in those areas than are both pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma. Mesothelioma can also occur in the ovaries and scrotum. Mesothelioma invades the chest wall or the esophagus during the second stage.Mesothelioma also takes a long time to develop (typically 15-40 years), so patients today could have been exposed prior to the 1980s when asbestos was not highly regulated. Mesothelioma is not caused by smoking, as lung cancer so often is.

Symptoms:
Symptoms One of the most common symptoms of mesothelioma is an accumulation of fluid between the lining of the lung and the chest cavity. Symptoms include:abdominal painascites, or an abnormal buildup of fluid in the abdomen a mass in the abdomen problems with bowel function weight loss. Symptoms such as trouble swallowing, pain, or swelling of the neck and face can be indications that the cancer has spread beyond the mesotheliom to other parts of the body. Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma include persistent pain in the chest and severe difficulty breathing caused by pleural effusion, or an accumulation of fluid in the pleural lining Cough, weight loss, and fever are also common symptoms. Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include weight loss and abdominal pain and swelling due to a buildup of fluid in the abdomen. Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 20 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos.

Diagnosis:
The key to long-term survival from treatment of mesothelioma is early diagnosis, which enables the greatest potential for success from standard therapies. Diagnosis begins with a review of the patient's medical history, including any history of asbestos exposure. Diagnosis of Mesothelioma is based on a pathological exam, more commonly referred to as a biopsy.Since this disease can be hard to diagnosis and costly to treat, it may require the consultation of an experienced attorney. When conclusive diagnosis cannot be made from fluid samples, diagnosis is often made through a surgical procedure called a throrascopy.The average age at diagnosis of mesothelioma is between 50 and 70 years old, with men being affected three to five times more often than women. The diagnosis may be suspected with chest X-ray and CT scan, and is confirmed with a biopsy (tissue sample) and microscopic examination. The median survival time is 17 months, with ten percent of patients living for three years after diagnosis.

Conclusion:
Mesothelioma is a deadly cancer which is fairly rare although in the last few decades the number of people who have died from it have dramatically increased. Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer, but the deadliest one of all. Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer and only affects between 2,000 and 3,000 people in the United States per year. Mesothelioma is less common in African Americans than in white Americans. Mesothelioma is rare in people under age 55. National Cancer Institute stats show that 3000 new diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma is reported each year. Mesothelioma is not always fatal and that is the hope to hold on to.

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Columbus Day is more complex than it looks

Once upon a time, American history was a simple story we told to feel good about ourselves. George Washington chopped the cherry tree; Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Problems arrived only to be solved — slaves were hardly mentioned until right before Lincoln freed them.

The nation was run by white Anglo-Saxon men, and naturally they cast themselves in all the hero roles.

Eventually, the forgotten supporting cast grew tired of being in the shadows — women got the vote, blacks demanded civil rights, immigrant groups inserted themselves into the American story. That’s why Monday is Columbus Day, one of just 10 federal holidays.

“I’ll tell you how it happened,” said Dominic Di Frisco, president emeritus of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. “The Italian immigrants arrived after the German immigrants, after the Irish immigrants. They saw events like the Von Steuben parade and decided they needed a political hero. Christopher Columbus is not much of a figure in Italy. They said, my God, this country is named after him — the District of Columbia, Columbus in Ohio, in Georgia. He was the hero, a symbol of Italian pride, the first immigrant.”

Columbus was on coins and stamps. Chicago held its World’s Columbian Exposition.

So what changed? Why is Columbus now frequently a villain? Well, the same process that put Columbus Day on our calendar — heretofore marginalized people insisting their part in the story be told — kept going, to include Native Americans. They don’t feel Columbus discovered anything — the Indians knew they were here all along — and given how quickly the Europeans began murdering, enslaving and pushing aside indigenous peoples here, to them there isn’t much to celebrate, which is why there’s a card widely posted on Facebook: “Let’s celebrate Columbus Day by walking into someone’s house and telling them we live there now.” A fair synopsis of what happened, minus the genocide.

And yet perhaps because I learned the 1970s history catechism, where national unity trumps the complaints of each individual group, I feel for the Italians, who just want to be part of the story and celebrate themselves without having to wipe the blood of the slaughtered off their hands every October.

What bothers me most about the “Let’s celebrate . . . ” card is the casual declaration of free-floating guilt that we liberals seem to have mastered. What are you saying? You’re sorry the nation was founded? At least Native Americans have a reason to say that, though, like everybody else, their narrative is also self-serving — heavy on “Dances with Wolves,” light on the hearts-torn-out-atop-pyramids-to-honor-Quatzequatel.

The Aztecs were the most violent state in recorded human history, so it isn’t as if, had Columbus never arrived, the American Eden would remain to this day. To post that card is hypocrisy. Europe’s still there. Go back if you feel so guilty about living here. I sure don’t. My ancestors never killed an Indian or owned a slave. They were selling rags in Poland when all this was going on, and America was the golden door a handful fled through before the most cultured and sophisticated society in Europe put the rest in ovens. That still doesn’t prompt me to show up at German Unity Day and wave pictures of Auschwitz. The past is a lousy place to live.

So I have sympathy for Italians on Columbus Day; though really — Columbus, Balbo, Berlusconi — there is a pattern of clinging to bad choices here.

“He was one of the great navigators of history, and we’ve taken that away from him,” said DiFrisco, “and reduced him to some kind of bloodthirsty, syphilis-spreading marauder, and that is not the case.”

Not the entire case. We live in a time when heroes are ritualistically tarnished and, frankly, everybody is better off with the more accurate, though less flattering, narrative than with the pretty story. It’s easier for me to grasp the current inability of the government to confront our problems when I consider that it was formed on a lie —“All men are created equal” — that skirted the issue of slavery, kicking it down the pike to explode 75 years later. Ignoring our biggest problems is an American tradition since 1776.

“Columbus Day is an Italian pride holiday,” said Di Frisco. “We decry that fewer and fewer schools have it off. Here’s a man who planted the flag of Christianity on the shores of the new world and teachers are systemically taking the image of Columbus we all knew and they’ve turned him into a villain.”

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Rapid Reaction: Patriots 30, Jets 21

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New York Jets lost their third straight game, falling to the New England Patriots 30-21 at Gillette Stadium.

What this means: Rex Ryan's crisis-management skills will be tested. The Jets (2-3) dropped below .500 for the first time since starting 0-1 last season, and there are signs of dissension in the locker room. Next week is a must-win, or else their Super Bowl hopes (and predictions) will be ruined.

Schotty plan: As promised, the Jets got back to Ground & Pound, with Shonn Greene rushing for a season-high 83 yards. But to prove a point, they may have cost themselves a chance to attack the Patriots' woeful pass defense. QB Mark Sanchez passed for only 166 yards, rarely looking for his wide receivers on the outside. He found Santonio Holmes for a 21-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, but it was too late. The offense was inconsistent, with seven three-and-out possessions against the NFL's 32nd-ranked defense. Inexcusable.

Turmoil on offense: The Jets issued a pregame statement, denying a New York Daily News story saying that receivers Holmes, Plaxico Burress and Derrick Mason met individually with Ryan in recent weeks to question coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. True or not, there are serious internal issues on offense. Holmes and Mason have complained publicly in recent weeks, and Mason’s comments earned him a seat on the bench, a source said.

Mason was active, but he was replaced by rookie Jeremy Kerley in three-receiver packages. Mason, who ended up playing a handful of snaps, is in Ryan's doghouse, and it wouldn't be a shock if they cut him this week to send a message. They'd have to eat Mason’s 2011 contract, a total of $1.4 million.

Welcome to Revis Island: The big question going into the game was, will Darrelle Revis cover Wes Welker? The answer: Yes. Revis covered him on most of the snaps. Welker had only one catch for 3 yards against Revis, who shut down the Patriots' No. 1 weapon.

On the first play of the third quarter, the Jets got burned by Welker on a 73-yard pass, but that was on safety Eric Smith. He bit on a play fake and let Welker run by him on a seam route. Revis chased him down, but the Patriots -- after winning a critical replay challenge on what appeared to be a fumble by Deion Branch -- went in for the touchdown to make it 17-7.

That's what makes Tom Brady so great; he recognized the Jets' zone coverage and knew immediately he'd have Welker on Smith.

Defense wilts: All things considered, the Jets played good defense, sacking Brady four times and creating some confusion. But they gave Brady too many opportunities -- that goes back to the offensive struggles -- and they eventually succumbed in the third quarter. The Jets wound up allowing their second 100-yard rusher in three games, as BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for 136 yards.

Joe, again: One week after his 107-yard kickoff return, Joe McKnight -- emerging as one of the team's MVPs -- ripped off an 88-yard return to set up the Jets' second touchdown. It’s scary to think that if Antonio Cromartie hadn't hurt his ribs two weeks ago, McKnight might not have received a chance to shine.

What's next: After three straight road games, the Jets return home for a Monday night game against the Miami Dolphins (0-4), who are coming off their bye. They usually cause problems for the Jets, who have dropped four of their past five to the Dolphins.

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Final Chapters

Roger Williams was a pianist whose 1955 hit “Autumn Leaves” was the only piano instrumental to reach number one on the Billboard pop charts. Williams died Saturday of complications from pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles. He was 87. Williams performed for every president from Harry Truman to George H.W. Bush.

Ramiz Alia was Albania’s last Communist leader who presided over his country’s often chaotic moves toward democracy before his downfall in 1992. Alia died Friday of lung complications. He was 85. Alia introduced economic reforms, eased restrictions on religion and civil liberties and sought ties with Western Europe and the Balkan states. But his government crumbled in 1989 and 1990 during the wider collapse of Soviet and Eastern European communism. He was convicted of corruption in 1994 and served a year in prison, but was arrested again in 1996 on genocide charges. But when Albania descended into anarchy in 1997, Alia and other inmates simply walked away from their prison.

Julio Mario Santo Domingo was one of Colombia’s richest and most influential men. Santo Domingo died Friday in New York. He was 87. He had holdings in nearly every major Colombian industry, including beer, soft drinks, aviation, automobiles, banks, cinema and telecommunications.

Diane Cilento was an actress who was nominated in 1963 for an Oscar for best supporting actress for her work in the movie “Tom Jones.” Cilento died Thursday in Queensland, Australia. She was 78.

Bert Jansch was a guitarist whose blend of classical, jazz, blues and traditional British folk music inspired a long list of folk and rock guitarists in the 1960s and ’70s. Jansch died Wednesday of lung cancer in London. He was 67. Jansch caused an immediate sensation with his first album, “Bert Jansch,” in 1965. He was a founder of the progressive British folk group Pentangle.

Sarkis G. Soghanalian was an arms dealer who provided weapons to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and many other dictators and rebels and worked closely with U.S. intelligence. Soghanalian died Wednesday of heart failure in Hialeah, Fla. He was 82. In 1981 he pleaded guilty to fraud in the sale of .50-caliber machine guns to Mauritania. But a judge granted him probation, saying the case “involved international affairs conducted by the State Department.” In 1993 he was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison for smuggling 103 helicopters to Iraq in violation of U.N. sanctions. But his sentence was reduced after he told U.S. officials where counterfeit $100 bills were being printed in Lebanon.

Steven Jobs was the visionary co-founder of Apple who helped usher in the era of personal computers and then led a cultural transformation in the way music, movies and mobile communications were experienced in the digital age. Jobs died Wednesday after suffering pancreatic cancer. He was 56.

Charles Napier was an actor who portrayed ruffians, military officers and other strong men in films and on television. Napier died Wednesday in Bakersfield, Calif. He was 75. Napier appeared on the screen in “The Blues Brothers,” “Rambo: First Blood Part II,” “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia.” On TV he had roles in “The Rockford Files” “and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Kenneth Dahlberg was a World War II ace, businessman and an inadvertent figure in the Watergate scandal that brought down Richard Nixon’s presidency. Dahlberg died Tuesday of natural causes in Deephaven, Minn. He was 94. Dahlberg became linked to the scandal after a check he delivered to the Nixon campaign turned up in a Watergate burglar’s bank account. The contribution was legal, and a grand jury cleared Dahlberg.

Arthur C. Nielsen Jr. transformed the company his father founded in 1923 into an international leader in market research, helping to make its name synonymous with television ratings. Nielsen died Monday of Parkinson’s disease in Winnetka, Ill. He was 92. Nielsen moved A.C. Nielsen Co. into new areas, such as creating a clearinghouse for coupons and tracking magazine subscription data. Nielsen also presided over the development of scanning technology in its early days, allowing the company to collect information on consumer purchases of all kinds.

Hanan Porat was a former Israeli lawmaker who became a driving force behind Israel’s settlement of the West Bank. Porat died Monday of cancer. He was 67. Porat was a founder of Gush Emunim — Hebrew for “the bloc of the faithful” — a now-defunct messianic movement committed to settling land that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Ralph Steinman was a cell biologist who was named one of three winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine this year for his work on the human immune response. Steinman, who had pancreatic cancer, died Sept. 30 in New York, which the prize committee didn’t know when it made its announcement three days later. Steinman was 68. In 1973, Steinman and Zanvil Cohn discovered dendritic cells, which play a critical role in activating the body’s adaptive immune system. Steinman’s subsequent research led to a new understanding of how they function.

Lee Davenport was a physicist who developed a radar device that helped Allied troops win key battles in World War II. Davenport died Sept. 30 of cancer in Greenwich, Conn. He was 95. Davenport was credited with developing a microwave radar built into a semitrailer with a parabola on top that tracked enemy planes and helped to direct anti-aircraft batteries. It aided troops who shot down Nazi planes on Italy’s Anzio beachhead in 1944.

Marv Tarplin was a guitarist and songwriter who helped shape the sound of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and other Motown acts. Tarplin died Sept. 30 in Las Vegas. He was 70. Tarplin wrote much of the music for such Miracles hits as “The Tracks of My Tears” and “Going to a Go-Go,” and collaborated on several songs that Marvin Gaye recorded, including “I’ll Be Doggone” and “Ain’t That Peculiar.”

Roger Kennedy was the director of the National Park Service during the Clinton administration and an ardent preservationist of the nation’s cultural, historic and artistic heritage for much of his life. Kennedy died Sept. 30 in Rockville, Md., after suffering malignant melanoma. He was 85. Kennedy also ran for the U.S. House in Minnesota, worked as a Washington correspondent for NBC News, wrote and produced television documentaries, helped reorganize the Ford Foundation, and led the National Museum of American History, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

Michael Drake was a planetary scientist who proposed several times in the last decade that NASA send a spacecraft to an asteroid, take rock samples from the surface and bring them home for study. Drake died Sept. 21 in Tucson, Ariz., after suffering liver cancer. He was 65. NASA approved Drake’s idea in May. Drake also worked on several other NASA space missions, including the Cassini mission to explore Saturn; the Gamma-Ray Spectrometer aboard the Mars Odyssey orbiter, which first detected Mars’ ice; and the Phoenix Mars lander, which landed in 2008 in search of Martian water and microbial life.

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