Vioxx news, articles and information

Gardasil presents elevated risks for sexually active women and expectant mothers25/01/2011 - In the face of increasing reports of adverse events and death rates that are 400% higher than other vaccines against, Merck continues to maintain that its controversial Gardasil vaccine is safe and continues to push for use. One group Merck would especially like to gain approval is for older women (currently, ...

Australian courts rule that Vioxx should never have been approved for sale20/06/2010 - Australian courts recently ruled that Vioxx, a popular prescription pain killer, should never have been approved and allowed on the market. The case represents the world's first successful class action lawsuit against a drug company for damage caused by its drugs. Merck, the drug giant that produced ...

Drug side effects "neglected, restricted, distorted and silenced" by drug companies06/05/2010 - New research shows that information on potentially lethal side effects of the blockbuster painkiller Vioxx was "neglected, restricted, distorted and silenced" by pharmaceutical giant Merck, writes London-based physician and author John Briffa in The Epoch Times. Vioxx was first approved for sale ...

The Lancet retraction of vaccine autism paper condemned as Big Pharma conspiracy to discredit Dr. Wakefield2/5/2010 - When I saw The Lancet's recent retraction of Dr. Wakefield's famous paper linking vaccines to autism, I could not help thinking back to 1989 when Fleischmann and Pons were widely attacked and discredit over their demonstration of ColdFusion technology. These two brilliant physicists had accomplished ...

Merck sat on Data Showing Vioxx Risks Years Before Pulling for DrugA recent market study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine has revealed that information about heart risks from pharmaceutical giant Merck's Vioxx drug was available in 2000, four years before Merck pulled the drug from the the - 1/15/2010. Because the information was not published and made public, Merck ...

Merck ignored evidence that Vioxx for four years had deadly heart risks12/08/2009 - Pharmaceutical manufacturers would never knowingly withhold, gloss over or otherwise ignore evidence that any of their drugs could be killing people, right? Wrong. Take the case of Big Pharma giant Merck - the company kept a dangerous drug, Vioxx, on the market for years as least of thousands died from ...

Merck's Vioxx scandal widens: Drug maker knew Vioxx was deadly for years before risk was made public (opinion)11/25/2009 - The Vioxx scandal widened this week as new research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine reveals that Vioxx maker Merck held data for three years proved that Vioxx caused an alarming increase in the risk of heart attacks and strokes. And yet Merck chose not to release that data. In fact, it ...

The Food-Pharma-Government Coalition Brings Fear Mongering and Death10/22/2009 - In the United States, one of our favorite slogans comes from our national anthem: "The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." Most Americans do not seem to realize that this statement is no longer relevant to our nation and its people. We have become the land of the diseased and the home of the ...

Shut Up Or Be discredited: Merck Threatens Doctors Critical of Their Drugs06/10/2009 - According to an article in The Australian by Milanda Rout, the folks at Merck are threatening the livelihoods of doctors who dare to have negative opinions about its drugs. Apparently, this fact was revealed in a very interesting e-mail that surfaced in a federal courtroom in Melbourne during a class ...

Modern Medicine, Part I: How Healing Illness Became Managing Illness01/27/2009 - For over 6000 years, we looked first to nature to heal illness and maintain wellness. As a result of a deliberate and often sinister plan, the past century and a half has seen curing illness with nature replaced with managing sickness and treating the symptoms of illness in a system that places profits ...

Will Dr. Sanjay Gupta Disclose His Financial Ties to Big Pharma? (Opinion)1/8/2009 - As we all learned earlier this week, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is President-elect Obama's choice for Surgeon General. Numerous questions have been raised, however, about Dr. Gupta's ties to pharmaceutical companies and his tendency to promote vaccines and pharmaceuticals while dismissing safety concerns about ...

Bone Drugs: The Latest Skeletons in Big Pharma's Closet08/12/2008 - Bisphosphonates Bone drugs have been in the news recently, and if you look outside the mainstream media you will find that the news is not good at all Instead of a product that actually cures illness or corrects deficiencies, bisphosphonates are just the latest scandalous skeletons in the closet of ...

Vioxx "scandal risks, side effects

VIOXX 2 © AP
Of the drug now suggests itself from the manufacturer
Market players were told how it always earlier than doctors and patients. "Sell" recommendation of analysts for the shares of Merck, Sharp & Dohme, MSD was short, as on 30th September at noon, the largest voluntary recall in the history of medicine began.
Patients, doctors and authorities, however, it had to learn harder, why the popular pain medication Vioxx from the market suddenly disappeared. The Federal Institute for Drugs in Bonn had arrived in the morning from share legal reasons only an indication that there was to be expected around noon an important warning to the company. After the investor conference then rang all the phones in the German medical practices.More articles

    In Germany, too many victims of Vioxx?
    Merck Pharmaceuticals debacle discourages shareholders
    Dramatic setback for Merck stock
    "Drugs bust": shares of Merck & Co are from
Suddenly, it was necessary to inform the world more insecure two million patients and advise them which of the alternative drugs they should now take place against Vioxx their often unbearable pain.
Touted as "super aspirin"
Because Vioxx was touted as "super aspirin" against joint rheumatism, because it performs differently than the traditional pain relievers, aspirin, ibuprofen or diclofenac, rarely cause serious stomach bleeding. In the United States, the Group MSD ever $ 100 million per year for TV advertising in order to differentiate themselves from competitors.
Vioxx tablets were prescribed as a painkiller and in Germany by some doctors "like lollipops," says an outraged Bruno Müller-Oerlinghausen of the Drug Commission of the German Medical Association: "This is what has always been wrong and dangerous." The Drug Commission of the German Medical Journal has regularly published warnings, but the doctors in the "fog marketing were often ignored." An increased risk of heart attacks among experts will discuss intensively for years.
Worldwide Recall
The potential damage to the cardiovascular system was then at the end of the reason for the worldwide recall of Vioxx. In a clinical study involving 2600 patients, the manufacturer "APPROVe" baptized, Vioxx was tested as a means of long-term prevention of colon polyps. The aim was thus to open up a new field of application of the remedy. After three years of daily intake of 25 milligrams of Vioxx, the routine monitoring of the data showed, however, that 45 of the patients had suffered "serious thrombotic events" - in the control group, there were only 25
For the first time is a tangible indication of an increased prior to the double risk of heart attack and stroke. When 400 patients taking Vioxx for a year, would be expected according to the British Medicines Authority six instead of three with severe thrombosis. However, this effect in the study was only after more than eighteen months of treatment have been detectable.
Flood of class actions
The MSD decided after receipt of such data for the immediate withdrawal - possibly because of the stringent U.S. liability law. In fact, off victims' lawyers in the United States immediately release sites to the Merck with a flood of unprecedented class actions cover.
Fire pours into oil heated debate now, the renowned U.S. cardiologist Eric Topol in the New England Journal of Medicine. The MSD and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had "paid more attention to warning signs along the way" the many, the physician writes the Cleveland Clinic, a "debacle can be avoided such" would. Topol will have calculated using data from the APPROVe study, even the potential total loss of the use of Vioxx since 1999. According to his figures could in ten million with Vioxx treated patients, "tens of thousands" have suffered a heart attack or stroke. This assumption is supported by Merck vehemently rejected such an extrapolation based on a single trial is inadmissible.
From the results, "not surprised"
First indications for blood clotting disorders recognized scientists actually shortly after the launch of the first two super-aspirin. "The experimental pharmacology, the cardiovascular risk is postulated many years ago," says Kay Brune of the University of Erlangen. He was of the results, "not really surprised."
Not only for the clinical pharmacologist is now more the question of whether it is at increased risk for a problem by acting alone or whether Vioxx behind it previously underestimated risks lurking around the pipeline. That is the billion-dollar question. Because in addition to Vioxx, there are a number of so-called coxibs, which all have a similar mechanism.
"The theory and the results of experimental pharmacology, there should be true for all coxibs" suspects Brune, where he emphasized that the risk of cardiovascular events would "of course not necessarily meet all drugs equally." The traditional pain relievers ibuprofen and diclofenac have a one as good for pain like Vioxx & Co, but have the distinct disadvantage that they attack the stomach lining and in patients at risk for stomach ulcers and bleeding can cause sometimes fatal. The reason is that they inhibit an enzyme called Cox-1 in the stomach wall. It normally protects them from the corrosive stomach acids.
The new coxib inhibitors emerged as researchers realized that there is a second body, the so-called Cox-2 enzyme. It is increasingly formed by inflammatory reactions in the body. Pharmaceutical companies then developed selective inhibitors, which only slow down the activity of Cox-2 enzymes, but not Cox-1. Because old painkillers like ibuprofen blocked both enzymes, although they relieve the pain, let your stomach bleed but sometimes literally. The stomach was to preserve that property, which established the special reputation of new painkillers.
Antagonist of blood coagulation
Unfortunately, it's a catch. For long pharmacologists know that Cox-1 also plays an important role outside of the stomach. Thus, both enzymes act in the blood vessels as antagonists in blood clotting. Device their interaction out of balance may increase the propensity for thrombus formation. The more selective the new "super aspirin" Cox-2 block in the blood vessels, the more there could shift the microenvironment in favor of Cox-1-effects. In animal experiments it was found that under administration of coxibs - can lead to vasoconstriction and Blutplättchenverklumpungen - but not in the old painkillers. The more risk factors a patient in the cardiovascular system, show the more likely it is that when the coxibs, this mechanism increases the blood pressure, increase the risk of atherosclerosis and in the end may bring about the risk of life-threatening blood clots.
Garret FitzGerald, the least of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia believes the last few years. In a recent article for the New England Journal of Medicine, he calls after the end of Vioxx now, "reverse burden of proof for all coxibs the". It would now have long-term and meaningful safety studies are required. They alone could rebut the presumption established by cardiovascular risk. Eric Topol had just called for such studies in patients at risk in 2001 in vain.
Questionable advertising
Whether representing the remaining substances on the market at risk for blood clotting system or not, remains unclear for now. The world's largest pharmaceutical company Pfizer, who brought with Celebrex the pioneer of coxibs on the market advertised, just hours after the recall of Vioxx to that for Celebrex until now all studies of pain patients with rheumatoid not indicate an increased risk for severe heart cardiovascular disease have shown. However, older patients were present with risk factors for heart attack or stroke in the previous studies, no. In currently ongoing long-term studies on prevention of intestinal polyps in patients with Alzheimer's and it says at Pfizer, was also also "no evidence of an increased risk of" recognizable. And, although some patients would have been treated for longer than three years with Celebrex. Verified, such statements are naturally only in the moment when the first results of these studies appear in journals would.
Novartis also recently presented data from their new drug that will inhibit Cox-2 is extremely selective. The tablet with the name Prexige is currently in the United States and Europe in the approval process. In the so-called target-study of 18 325 patients have not only a clear reduction in the incidence of serious gastrointestinal bleeding showed, the company issued a press release dated August, but "no significant increase in cardiovascular events." Garret FitzGerald has pointed out, however, that in the group treated with Prexige patients taking aspirin to thin the blood, after all, 14 patients suffering from heart and vascular diseases. In the placebo group there were only nine.
Start again at MSD
Of the German public so far unnoticed, and MSD is already back on track. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is still hesitating with the authorization, a press release praising the just recently approved anti-inflammatory drug Arcoxia in Germany with the words, the new Cox-2 inhibitors could "relieve joint pain quickly and effectively sustained 'the. In "terms of security," there is scarce, fill etoricoxib, the active ingredient of the agent that "expectations of a modern day anti-inflammatory drug" would be made.
However, what concerns the risk of heart attacks and strokes, even when there Arcoxia certainly still "not enough experience to give the all clear." Stichtenoth Dirk believes that the pharmacist at the Medical University of Hanover, who has published several review articles on the latest generation of coxibs. Main characteristic of these novel agents, except that it is the Cox-2 enzyme far more selective inhibited as Vioxx & Co. "caution" was therefore also for new active substances, the need of the hour, in any case in rheumatic patients with cardiovascular risk factors - or if the pain killer must be taken for more.

Vioxx Zu Risiken und Nebenwirkungen ...

Once over two billion dollars in annual sales: the painkiller Vioxx © Henry Leutwyler
The victim does not look like a victim. The great man, who asks in his Hamburg flat looks elegant, healthy and determined. Frank B. is 69 and what is called spry at that age. The heart attack three years ago has left no traces, externally. B. says: "I feel good compared to others." He speaks in a sonorous voice, quick wit and precision. In the afternoon we will go to Sylt, he still has to tackle. By the infarct three years ago he did not come earlier life lost, like so many others who took the painkiller Vioxx and were sick. Many can since her heart attack and stroke no longer work. To some it is the partner died. Lives as comfortable with his wife in Hamburg-Blankenese, fine upholstery, beautiful view, economical draped in memory of the top job in India.
Found in ... SternIssue 41/2007
He does not want to leave the matter to rest, it can not. The infarction was there, in 2004, he has been frightened, he has reduced his life expectancy, and he did not come from somewhere. B. is certain that the drug Vioxx has caused him to him. He then took a pill every day. He had no idea what the manufacturer had since long been know that Vioxx may seem risky, it multiplies the risk for thrombosis, heart attacks, strokes. That, at worst, kill. There is some peculiarity in the case of Frank B. An - delicious - is that he himself is a pharmacist and worked until retirement in the management of a pharmaceutical company in Hamburg. "Actually, I set the industry have some sympathy." The image of his profession has become cracked. Took as a lawyer, not any. Andreas Schulz from Berlin hangs like in sensational cases, even in seemingly hopeless. Like the "La Belle" process to the attack of a disco in Berlin in 1986, Libya was behind the bomb at the end and paid $ 35 million to the victims. Or grotesque, as to the alleged Sexposse Thomas Borer-Fielding, ex-ambassador of Switzerland. He sued the tabloids - and later got a million in damages. Thanks Schulz.Frank B. wants to see those responsible to justice - he wants punishment
For three years, Schulz is now tuned to Vioxx, a big thing, the enemy has it all: the U.S. pharmaceutical giant Merck and its German subsidiary, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Haar near Munich headquarters. Vioxx, drug rofecoxib, was at the turn of the century a very prosperous new, because stomach gentle remedy for joint pain, until the end of September 2004, it consolidated from the market worldwide. Voluntary, they say, Merck and MSD, utmost precaution. Since then it goes to thousands of lawsuits in the U.S. and the rest of the world about whether that's true whether so or not Merck's researchers in 1997, but knew no later than the beginning of 2000 that Vioxx may increase the risk for thrombosis, heart attacks and strokes significantly. According to calculations by the Cologne Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care and the Scientific Institute of the Army may have become ill or died in Germany alone 2001-2004 at least 7091 people by Vioxx.
But so far the manufacturer has all attempts to sue him in Germany, as a dog thrown off the water. So Schulz has been waiting for. He has looked at the failures of others, and collected 900 cases. He has made wind in the press, but not complaining. But now he had to. On 30 September, three years after withdrawal, are all in Germany claims that Vioxx victims can make the statute of limitations. For months, Schulz prepared the complaints, 67 were there, he says, in any case, only those which he considers to be promising. Most of its claimants for relief from their suffering, to compensation for pain and suffering, consolation. Frank B. but wants to see those responsible to justice. He has against the former executives of Merck also filed a complaint for assault. He wants punishment.It lasted until the old packs were off the market
His personal "event", it means the medical community, was a rear wall infarctions of the heart, which is on 24 Had disguised September 2004, against four clock as abdominal pain, bloating and nausea. Pushed as the first symptoms of a corrupt walnut, which he had eaten. A week later, but was recalled Vioxx, the drug, which he swallowed daily. Only, this is the specialty of his next event: B. had no pain - he participated in a recent large clinical trials Vioxx. They ran only a few months. The pain reliever should have a more profitable activity and prevent prostate cancer. Merck and MSD were out of the box office, annual sales over two billion dollars to make an even bigger hit. The study was called "VIP", should run for six years and include 15,000 men worldwide aged 50 to 75 years.
In retrospect, Frank B. is appalled that Merck MSD and the test at that point yet ventured. For in the early summer of 2004 when, in the study got in, was the suspicion that Vioxx might be dangerous, the longest in the world, but not where it belonged: in the advertising of pharmaceutical representatives, in the journals of family doctors, the leaflet . There was suffered side effects: "Individual cases: myocardial infarction (not shown causation)." The bracket remark was indeed deleted in May 2004. But it took until the old packs were off the market. "Isolated cases" means less than one case among 10,000. It was at that time the company for four years before the results of a study that "Vigor" and was "designed" the Merck researchers themselves had: 4,047 people with arthritis had taken Vioxx, 4029 other conventional pain killers naproxen. The stomach friendliness of Vioxx should be proved. Was it too. But also came out: In Vioxx twice as many subjects were thromboses, infarctions or strokes, as in the comparison group. Statistically were 1,000 people suffer a heart attack up to 10. And that, although patients were excluded with heart risks even from the study.Vioxx increases the risk for heart attacks, according to FDA by three times
In internal e-mails, wrote that Merck's researchers, the events "are clearly there," they were based on the mode of action of Vioxx. It was "very unfortunate". Outwardly, they found a better explanation: Vioxx was not a problem, but naproxen is a blessing. He acted under "cardioprotective", protect the cardiovascular system. The Food and Drug Supervision FDA had warned Merck about these "misleading" advertising - in September 2001. The doctors who prescribed Vioxx were, with the FDA of Merck's conflict with anything. Independent researchers have been critical of Vioxx sued Merck. When his urologist in early 2004 asked him if he wanted to join the trial, Frank B. had no qualms about. He believed himself a man know about the subject. "Vioxx was an incredible success story." The urologist he was under observation in 2004 because of his prostate, "as that's just at that age." Otherwise saw the doctor no reason to then exclude 65-year-olds in the study, as was considered healthy: The slightly elevated blood pressure was on medication adjusted again normal, the condition of his coronary arteries was "age-typical good and without sclerosis" was. He walked a lot, swam like not smoking. And signed the informed consent eleven pages long.

Mesothelioma Prognosis

What factors help determine a mesothelioma prognosis?

When an individual is diagnosed with mesothelioma or any other kind of cancer, one of the first questions they will have is “How long do I have to live?” This is a scary question - and a hard one to ask - but one for which most cancer patients will eventually seek an answer.
It is often very difficult for oncologists and members of a patient’s medical team to give a definitive answer to this query. Indeed, every case is different and cancer can be an unpredictable disease. Sometimes, cases that look hopeless turn out to be not so bleak. In other cases, cancers that don’t look so bad progress quickly and result in an untimely death.
Overall, the prognosis has been rather grim for mesothelioma patients during these past few decades. Malignant mesothelioma is extremely aggressive and has a long latency period. Hence, cases are usually not detected until the disease has reached the advanced stages of cancer. As a result the prognosis for such patients is often not favorable; the mesothelioma survival rate following diagnosis is usually just a year or two. That doesn’t mean, however, that there won’t be exceptions and that this dour outlook will not change in years to come, especially as more and better treatments are developed.

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Determining Prognosis

Currently, a number of different issues determine the mesothelioma patient’s prognosis. These include:

Type - Mesothelioma is classified as one of three types, depending on the tissues involved. The epithelial type accounts for about 50 percent of all cases, sarcomatoid mesothelioma is seen in 15 percent of diagnosed patients, and 35% have the mixed type of the disease. Those with epithelial mesothelioma have a better survival rate than the other types.
Location - Mesothelioma is also classified on the basis of location. For example, pleural mesothelioma, which attacks the lining of the lung, is the most common, accounting for approximately 8o percent of all cases. Those with this type of cancer have the best rate of survival. Peritoneal mesothelioma, found in the lining of the abdomen, is the next most common and is diagnosed in about 10 -15 percent of mesothelioma victims. It is generally harder to treat. Less common types are very difficult to treat, including pericardial and testicular mesothelioma.
Stage of the disease - The prognosis for mesothelioma cancer depends on how early the disease is diagnosed and how soon treatment can begin. Because of the disease’s extended latency period, it is often not diagnosed until it has reached Stage 3 or 4, when mesothelioma symptoms finally appear. Sadly, many of these symptoms are common to a wide range of respiratory diseases including many that are less serious, like the flu or pneumonia. This often results in misdiagnosis.
Metastasis - When a mesothelioma diagnosis is finally made, oncologists will often find that the cancer has spread - or “metastasized” - from the location of the primary tumor - usually the pleura - to other parts of the body, often to the nearby organs as well as the lymph nodes. The extent of the metastases will determine what type of treatment is recommended as well as the prognosis.
General health of the patient - Simply put, younger and stronger patients with mesothelioma live longer than those of advanced age who have extant health problems. Seniors are often dealing with issues like heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure, making mesothelioma surgery as well as traditional cancer treatments much more risky and severely limiting treatment options.

Additional Mesothelioma Prognosis Factors

Mesothelioma Life Exptectancy

Life expectancy for those diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma depends on a number of factors including, general patient health, cancer stage at diagnosis, and the eligibility of the patient for certain treatment options. Those diagnosed with early stage cancer and in generally good health will have a more favorable prognosis than those diagnosed with later-stage disease.

Mesothelioma Survival Rate

Most survival rates for cancer are quoted in regards to what is commonly known as the relative five-year survival rate. This indicates the number of patients who are still alive five years after they are diagnosed with the disease. Currently, the five-year survival rate for mesothelioma victims is just 10 percent. Though this seems like a grim number, it is indeed higher than it was about 10 years ago and much higher than it was 20-30 years ago.
The current one-year survival rate for mesothelioma patients is about 40 percent. This has also increased significantly in the last 10 years. Unfortunately, however, the prognosis for most mesothelioma patients remains poor overall. Many still die less than a year after diagnosis, with the average survival rate being 10-11 months, according to the American Cancer Association.

Mesothelioma Remission

Mesothelioma is one of the most aggressive types of cancer and can quickly metastasize from its origin into the lungs, abdominal cavity, and lymph nodes. As a result, very few mesothelioma patients go into remission. However, if treated properly and early enough, many patients have been able to extend survival rates long beyond previous expectations. Treatment options include surgical resection, chemotherapy, and mesothelioma radiation.

Mesothelioma Survivors

While there is currently no cure for mesothelioma, many patients have had success in managing their cancer with not only traditional treatments like chemotherapy and surgical methods, but also through the use of nutritional supplements, palliative therapies, and body-stress reduction techniques. Some patients diagnosed with mesothelioma have survived many years after what was an initially unfavorable prognosis.

Improving the Mesothelioma Prognosis

During the last decade, the plight of mesothelioma sufferers has gained more attention and more research dollars have been funneled towards the study of this disease and the discovery of new and novel drugs and treatments to provide more hope of a better prognosis for the mesothelioma sufferer.
Scientists have been working on new tests that strive to diagnose the disease at an earlier stage. For example, the Mesomark® assay is a simple blood test that measures the rate of Soluble Mesothelin-Related Peptides (SMRP) in the blood. This biomarker is released by mesothelioma cells into the bloodstream and SMRP can be elevated for many years before symptoms appear and an actual diagnosis of the disease is made. This tool for early diagnosis could potentially save hundreds of lives.
Treatments with new chemotherapy drugs like Alimta® and procedures that deliver more targeted radiation to the tumor have also helped to add to a mesothelioma patient’s life expectancy. In addition, experimental treatments such as immunotherapy, gene therapy, and photodynamic therapy have shown some success in treating this difficult disease.
Each new step in the field of mesothelioma research improves the mesothelioma prognosis little by little and provides additional hope for mesothelioma-affected individuals and their loved ones.

Read more: http://www.mesothelioma.com/mesothelioma/prognosis/#ixzz1jpxYwRII

Mesothelioma Risk Factors

1. 
   What are the risk factors for malignant mesothelioma?
   There are several risk factors that increase the likelihood that a person will develop mesothelioma. The primary risk factor is asbestos exposure. Exposure to this very harmful substance can significantly enhance the chances of contracting the disease. Smoking does not have a direct causal relationship with mesothelioma but is a significant compounding factor and increases the chances of developing the disease. Other less common secondary factors include exposure to radiation, zeolite, simian virus 40 (SV40) and erionite. We discuss each of these risk factors in more detail below. Please click on the links to learn more about each mesothelioma risk factor.
   

   Exposure to Asbestos

   Exposure to asbestos is the leading risk factor associated with mesothelioma. Asbestos is an insulating material comprised of magnesium-silicate mineral fibers. It was favored by builders and contractors for many years for its low heat conductivity and resistance to melting and burning. Since researchers have identified more and more links between mesothelioma and exposure to asbestos, the material is now less widely used. Prior to this discovery, however, millions of Americans have experienced serious exposure to this harmful substance.
   

   Smoking and Mesothelioma

   Smoking alone is not linked to mesothelioma, but smokers who are exposed to asbestos have a much higher chance of developing asbestos lung cancer (as much as fifty to ninety percent higher) and as much as double the risk of developing mesothelioma.
   

   Less Common Mesothelioma Risk Factors

   Radiation

   Thorium dioxide (Thorotrast), a substance used in x-ray tests in the past has reported links to pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma. The use of Thorotrast has been discontinued for many years due to this discovery.
   

   Zeolite

   Some mesothelioma cases in the Anatoli region within Turkey have been linked to Zeolite, a silica based mineral with chemical properties similar to asbestos found in the soil there.
   

   Simian Virus 40 (SV40)

   Some scientists have found the simian virus 40 (SV30) in mesothelioma cells from humans and have been able to create mesothelioma in animals with the virus. The relationship between this virus and mesothelioma is still unclear, however, and further research is being conducted to gain clarity on this potential link.
   

   Erionite Exposure

   Erionite is a naturally occurring mineral that possesses properties that are very similar to those of asbestos. There have been several documented cases of mesothelioma in indivuduals living near large erionite deposits.
   

   Carbon Nanotubes

   Researchers continue to evaluate nanotube exposure as a possible risk factor for mesothelioma even though scientists have not expressed immediate concern.
   
   
   Read more: http://www.mesothelioma.com/mesothelioma/risk-factors/#ixzz1jpxG9Flb

Mesothelioma Cancer

Listen to an audio summary on Mesothelioma Cancer.

Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer affecting the membrane lining of the lungs and abdomen.

Malignant mesothelioma is the most serious of all asbestos-related diseases. Although uncommon, mesothelioma cancer is no longer considered rare. The primary cause and risk factor for mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos.
Making a correct mesothelioma diagnosis is particularly difficult for doctors because the disease often presents with symptoms that mimic other common ailments. There is no known cure for mesothelioma, but treatments such as surgery and chemotherapy have helped to improve the typical mesothelioma prognosis.
Pleural mesothelioma (affecting the lung’s protective lining in the chest cavity) represents about three quarters of all mesothelioma incidence. Peritoneal mesothelioma which affects the abdominal cavity and pericardial mesothelioma, which affects the cardiac cavity, comprise the remainder. Testicular mesothelioma is extremely rare and is typically presents with metastases of the peritoneal variety. There are three recognized mesothelioma cell-types. Between 50 and 70% of all mesotheliomas are of the epithelial variety. While prognosis is generally poor, it is considered less aggressive than sarcomatoid mesothelioma and biphasic mesothelioma, which comprise the remainder of cell type diagnoses.

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The cavities within the body encompassing the chest, abdomen, and heart are surround by a membrane of cells known as the mesothelium. Mesothelial cells assist in general organ functions. The mesothelium is particularly important to organs that are commonly in motion, such as expansion or contraction of the lungs, stomach, or heart. Lubrication from the mesothelial cells allows free range of motion within the body. The mesothelium of the chest, abdomen, and cardiac cavity are called the pleura, the peritoneum, and the pericardium, respectively. Each of these groupings of mesothelial cells are extremely critical to the functions of the body structures which they encompass.
Malignancies (cancerous tumors) occurring within the mesothelial membranes are known as malignant mesothelioma, or simply mesothelioma. Benign tumors of the mesothelium are known to occur, but are much rarer than the more common malignant cancer.
While tumors of the mesothelium were first recognized in the late 18th century, it was not until the middle of the 20th century that this particular cancer was studied and examined with more detail. It was at this time where suspicions of the cancer’s causal relationship with asbestos exposure became more substantiated. A joint research venture through the Department of Thoracic Surgery at the University of the Witswater and/Johannesburg General Hospital in South Africa provided the most compelling evidence of the nexus between asbestos exposure and the development of pleural mesothelioma.
Incidence of mesothelioma is still quite rare, with only 2,500-3000 diagnoses in the United States each year. There was a spike in reported diagnoses between 1970 and 1984, which has been attributed to the latency period between diagnosis and the height of industrial exposures, which occurred roughly 40-60 years prior to this time. Exposure was common in nearly all industries but was particularly common in the WWII-era military industrial cycle, including Navy Shipyards.
Although this cancer is much more common in men over the age of 60 (largely attributed to the industrial exposures within male-dominated industries), mesothelioma in women and children has been described as well. Mesothelioma causes for diagnosis in women and children are mainly attributed to secondary exposure to asbestos, as it was not uncommon for men to bring asbestos back into the home on their body or clothing if proper cleaning facilities were not available on site.

Mesothelioma is diagnosed through a comprehensive combination of biopsy and imaging scans.

Mesothelioma can be a difficult malignancy to diagnose because the symptoms and pathology of the disease closely resemble other respiratory conditions. For this reason, misdiagnosis is not uncommon in mesothelioma patients. Symptoms of mesothelioma include chest pain, chronic cough, effusions of the chest and abdomen, and the presence of blood in lung fluid.
Diagnostic surgeries, including a biopsy, will typically be required to determine the type of malignant cells that are present in the body. Typically a body imaging scan, including a magnetic resonance image (MRI) or computer topography (CT scan) will be required to determine the extent and location of the disease.
Mesothelioma patients are generally referred by their personal physicians to one of the many renowned mesothelioma doctors in the United States. These oncologists are well versed in the disease behavior and pathology and are the most familiar with cutting-edge mesothelioma treatment options. Dr. David Sugarbaker of the Brigham and Women's Hospital, an extension of Harvard University and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA, is at the forefront of mesothelioma treatment through the International Mesothelioma Program.

While mesothelioma is typically advanced at diagnosis, treatment options are available.

Mesothelioma, while certainly an aggressive disease, is a manageable malignancy. While there is no cure for the cancer, mesothelioma treatment options including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy are available for many patients. While a combination of Alimta® and Cisplatin is currently the only FDA approved chemotherapy regimen, several clinical trials are currently in progress utilizing other drugs including Gemcitabine and Onconase, with many showing dramatically improved results in certain cancer patients.
Radiation therapy is also utilized, but typically in conjunction with other treatment methods like surgery and chemotherapy. Surgical resection of mesothelioma is possible in early-stage-diagnosed patients. Aggressive surgeries such as extrapleural pneumonectomy can extend survival rates far beyond previously-thought timeframes. Diagnostic and palliative surgeries such as pleurocentesis and pleurodesis are also common in patients of malignant mesothelioma cancer.
Alternative therapies have also been used effectively by many mesothelioma patients to assist in managing symptoms of the disease and conventional treatments. These treatments are mainly preferential but can be extremely valuable to many patients.

Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos.

Mesothelioma is only caused by exposure to asbestos, though cases have been documented in children or other individuals with no asbestos history. Asbestos is a microscopic and naturally-occurring mineral that lodges in the pleural lining of the lungs and the peritoneal lining of the abdominal cavity. In most cases, several years will pass (up to 60) before mesothelioma develops in those who had been exposed to asbestos.
In many cases, those individuals diagnosed with mesothelioma that have been known to be exposed to asbestos may be eligible for financial compensation from asbestos manufacturers for their illness. Those who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma and were exposed to asbestos should fill out the brief form on this page. We'll rush you a complimentary mesothelioma and asbestos exposure information kit detailing new mesothelioma treatments, active clinical trials, top doctors, as well as how to obtain compensation for asbestos-related health conditions like mesothelioma.

Topics in this Section

Mesothelioma Risk Factors

Asbestos exposure is the primary risk factor for mesothelioma. Others include Radiation, Zeolite and SV40. Read more in this section.

Mesothelioma Causes

The primary cause of mesothelioma is asbestos exposure. Learn more about direct occupational exposure as well as second hand exposure.

Mesothelioma Symptoms

Mesothelioma symptoms often mimic those of common respiratory ailments. Learn more about the signs and symptoms to be aware of.

Mesothelioma Diagnosis

Read about the diagnostic tests that doctors use to determine whether or not a patient has mesothelioma including imaging scans and biopsies.

Mesothelioma Types

Pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma and pericardial mesothelioma are the most common types of mesothelioma. Learn more.

Mesothelioma Stages

Learn about the different staging systems that medical experts use find out how far mesothelioma cancer has spread.

Mesothelioma Prognosis

Learn about the various factors that determine what the prognosis is for individuals that have been diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma Information

This section provides a wealth of information about mesothelioma including the disease itself, latency period, survival rates, prevention and more.

Mesothelioma Pictures

This section provides visual depictions of the types of mesothelioma that patients are most often diagnosed with, available treatment options, and the dangers associated with asbestos exposure.

Mesothelioma Charities

These organizations support the mesothelioma community through a variety of programs that serve to raise awareness, fund ongoing research and assist asbestos disease victims in their fight against cance

Read more: http://www.mesothelioma.com/mesothelioma/#ixzz1jpx7rve3

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