The Maune Raichle Law Firm

Mesothelioma Symptoms

Mesothelioma has historically been a cancer which is particularly difficult to diagnose in its early stages because its most common symptoms are nondescript and often resemble those of less serious conditions. Typically, the first of the symptoms to be noticed is slightly labored breathing and/or painful breathing. However, these two symptoms are usually seen as a symptom of aging and becoming less active. As awareness of mesothelioma and its symptoms have spread, doctors are now beginning to take early mesothelioma symptoms more seriously. It is becoming more routine for individuals who have had asbestos exposure to have some form of imaging taken as soon as pain in the chest and labored breathing are noticed.

If early symptoms are missed, more serious symptoms will often develop, at which point the symptoms themselves can pose as a serious threat to the individual. A pleural effusion does not always develop but can often develop following the mesothelioma tumors’ uncontrolled production of fluid. The pleural effusion puts pressure on the lungs and often leads to low dissolved oxygen, which can lead to fatigue and the very visible clubbed fingers. Shortness of breath increases as the effusion grows and can ultimately lead to organ failure.

Although pleural mesothelioma accounts for 70% of all cases, mesothelioma is possible in the other types of mesothelium as well. Peritoneal mesothelioma accounts for almost all other cases of mesothelioma (somewhere between 20 and 30%). The symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma are pain in the abdomen, decreased digestion, decreased organ function, and often a bulging abdomen caused by either a growing tumor displacing the stomach and bowels or the tumor itself pressing against the abdominal wall. Peritoneal mesothelioma can start in the pleural mesothelium and spread, or originate in the peritoneum.