One of the worst parts of malignant mesothelioma is the physical pain it brings. It is tragic that malignant mesothelioma cuts life short. The tragedy is compounded when severe physical pain interferes with daily living and prevents the full enjoyment of the time that remains. Mesothelioma pain is draining, distracting and just plain awful. Now there is new evidence that a spinal procedure may provide pain relief for malignant mesothelioma patients. Called cordotomy, it is a surgical procedure that disables selected pain-conducting pathways in the spinal cord, in order to eliminate … [Read more...]
palliative care
Palliative Care Can Help Ease Mesothelioma Symptoms
As a mesothelioma patient, it’s important to understand the concept of palliative care and how it can help you. Simply put, palliative care aims to relieve mesothelioma symptoms like pain even if the pain relief efforts are not helping to treat the disease. Palliative care focuses on mesothelioma symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping and depression, according to The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). It also helps you gain the strength to carry on with daily life. It improves your ability to tolerate medical … [Read more...]
When to Choose Palliative or Hospice Care
Doctors who treat people diagnosed with lung cancer and mesothelioma have a lot to discuss with their patients. One of the most important conversations they often have involves how to tackle treatment, which often leads to the following questions: Will surgery remove enough diseased tissue? Are the side effects of radiation and chemotherapy too much? Is the patient strong enough to live independently? Aside from killing off as much of the malignancy as possible, the goal of cancer treatment is to make sure the patient is comfortable and able to manage pain. To do that, doctors and patients … [Read more...]
How Lung Cancer Patients can Benefit from Palliative Care
The link between asbestos and lung cancer is undeniable. The Environmental Working Group estimates that asbestos-induced lung cancer claims the lives of about 4,800 individuals in the U.S. every year. As the prevalence of this condition is expected to grow in the next decade or so, scientists are trying to find more effective ways to improve the lives of patients. At Mesothelioma Circle, we try to keep tabs on the latest news from the scientific front. One team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital decided to explore the use of palliative care that gets integrated into standard … [Read more...]