How to Know If You Have Mesothelioma

By Laura Hageman

  • Overview

    Mesothelioma is a cancerous disease that you can get when working or living where there is asbestos. It can take as many as 10 years of being around asbestos and inhaling it for it to take a toll on your body. There are several symptoms that identify if you have mesothelioma. There are also three different kinds of mesothelioma; pleural, peritoneal and pericardial. The difference is where the disease begins, from the abdomen, from the chest area or around the heart.

    • Step 1

      Find it hard to breathe or breathe heavily. Shortness of breathe and gasping for breath (particularly when trying to sleep) is one of the signs of having mesothelioma. In conjunction with other symptoms, it could be an indicator.

    • Step 2

      Cough constantly. This is a cough that coincides with shortness of breath. You may feel loose fluid in your lungs which is coming from the fluid around the heart or chest cavity. This is mostly through the pleural or pericardial mesothelioma.

    • Step 3

      Feel pain in your chest. This is from the peritoneal mesothlioma which can also cause abdominal pain along with nausea, vomiting and swelling.

    • Step 4

      Have palpitations. This is from the pericardial mesothelioma. It begins from around the heart causing build up of fluids around the heart. This affects your heart rate, making it go faster than normal.

    • Step 5

      Go to the doctor to be tested or screened. You will need x-rays to determine for certain that you have mesothelioma.
    • Skill: Moderately Easy
    • Warning:
    • Go to the doctor for a check up if you work around asbestos or live near it to make sure you don't have the disease.

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