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Mississippi Personal Injury Law Firm Discusses the Symptoms of Mesothelioma

Supporting individuals and families facing asbestos-related lung disease

If you worked in an industry or occupation where you were in an environment contaminated with asbestos, and now, decades later, you are experiencing some troubling symptoms, you might be wondering if you have developed mesothelioma. The symptoms of the disease are common to many other ailments that people experience, so lung disease might not be your first thought. Exposure to asbestos is the primary risk factor for mesothelioma, so if you have that risk factor along with the symptoms discussed below, discuss them with your doctor. At the law firm of Cumbest, Cumbest, Hunter & McCormick, we have been assisting clients with getting fair compensation for their injuries for more than 50 years. Let us help you.

What are the early symptoms of mesothelioma?

One of the challenging things about the symptoms of mesothelioma is that the early signs of the disease are subtle and can be easily mistaken for mundane ailments. Another challenging aspect is that symptoms vary depending on the type of mesothelioma as categorized by where the disease emerges in the body. Below are the various symptoms associated with specific types of mesothelioma.

Pleural mesothelioma symptoms

This most common form of the disease begins in the lungs. Symptoms frequently associated with pleural mesothelioma include:

  • Chronic dry cough and shortness of breath
  • Coughing blood
  • Chest pain when breathing
  • Hoarseness
  • Night sweats
  • Dramatic weight loss
  • Chronic, extreme fatigue
  • Appearance of lumps under the skin of the chest
  • Lower-back pain

Peritoneal mesothelioma symptoms

The next most common form of mesothelioma begins in the peritoneum, which is the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity. One of the challenges with this form of the disease is that the symptoms can be easily confused with gastrointestinal ailments, so the disease may progress unchecked for a long time. The symptoms of this form of the disease can include:

  • Anemia
  • Abdominal pain
  • Changes in bowel habits or difficulty moving bowels
  • Chronic nausea and vomiting
  • Lumps under the skin over the abdomen
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Swelling or fluid in the abdomen
  • Loss of appetite
  • Weakness
  • Weight loss

When a person ingests asbestos fibers, some of those fibers penetrate the stomach lining. Over the course of time, the fibers embed themselves in the membrane and eventually form tumors. As the tumors grow, they put pressure on nearby organs and cause pain.

Pericardial mesothelioma symptoms

This is the rarest form of the disease, and it often occurs along with the pleural type. As with the other types of mesothelioma, the symptoms are the same as those for many common ailments, which makes it difficult to get a clear diagnosis:

  • Irregular heartbeat
  • Chest pain
  • Difficulty breathing at all times, including when resting
  • Coughing
  • Fluid and inflammation in the pericardial space
  • Shortness of breath

Because mesothelioma has a latency period of 20 to as many as 40 years between when a person is exposed and when the disease begins to manifest, by the time these symptoms appear, the disease is usually so far advanced that treatment is often ineffective.

If all of these symptoms sound familiar and you have experienced asbestos exposure t your current or previous workplace, consider discussing your case with a doctor and then contact our firm. We help clients recover damages for mesothelioma diagnoses.

Contact a Mississippi personal injury law firm focused on helping mesothelioma victims access the resources they need

At Cumbest, Cumbest, Hunter & McCormick, we want to help you get the fair compensation to which you are entitled for your injuries. Contact us online or call us at 866-461-1591 today to schedule a confidential consultation.