Sunday, December 12, 2010

Pericardial Mesothelioma Symptoms and Misdiagnosis


Pericardial mesothelioma is a mesothelioma cancer that starts perilously close to the heart. Misdiagnosis is common, and treatment options are slim. The tumor can be benign, allowing for easier removal, or malignant - fast spreading and deadly. There are many cancers and diseases that affect the pericardial space around the heart, and pericardial mesothelioma is one of the rarest. However, it is the most common primary malignant pericardial tumor. It can also be secondary to malignant pleural mesothelioma.


Five to ten percent of all mesothelioma cases are pericardial mesothelioma, and the failure to diagnose pericardial mesothelioma early enough contributes to its low life expectancy from a few months to less than two years. The failure to detect the disease can also contribute to its statistical status. Early detection of pericardial mesothelioma provides a faint hope for prolonged survival, but only in the rarest and perhaps most medically advanced of mesothelioma cases is this possible.


Exposure to asbestos is the primary cause of pericardial mesothelioma and other mesotheliomas, such as the abdominal peritoneal mesothelioma, and the more common pleural mesothelioma of the lungs. The lungs, the abdomen and the heart are surrounded by a membrane. The cancer tumors of mesothelioma attack these membranes that are made out of mesothelium cells. If you can visualize your heart hanging within a sac, you can visual the membrane that is the subject of pericardial mesothelioma.


Pericardial mesothelioma, pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma all involve the fluid that is retained with the membrane. This fluid is necessary for proper functioning of the heart, lungs and other vital bodily systems. Excess fluid interferes, and even halts normal organ functions. The excess fluid is what is responsible for many of the mesothelioma symptoms of pain.


Chest pain, shortness of breath, coughing, and severe sweating at night have all been recorded as symptoms of malignant pericardial mesothelioma. These are more likely to be symptomatic of a non-cancer pericardial disease such as an inflammation of the pericardium - which is called pericardiocentesis and has identical symptoms. There have been cases where a misdiagnosis of lupus and even tuberculosis turned up as being malignant pericardial mesothelioma. Secondary cancers from lung cancer, breast cancer, lymphoma and leukemia can also attack the pericardium. Malignant mesothelioma in the pericardial region is often not discovered until surgery.


To further complicate matters, a CT scan can be interpreted as fluid, rather than the malignant tumor it is. This happened in 1979 with a 17 year old boy. Computed tomography has fortunately made significant advances since 1979, but CTs, MRIs and PETs must be done quickly. Poor detection and recognition still exist, and a second and third opinion should always be pursued. A patient should persist to find the source of pain and mesothelioma symptoms whenever a physician suggests an unknown etymology.


Pericardial mesothelioma treatment is in its infancy. Research continues in the areas of combination chemotherapies to reduce mass, intracavitary chemotherapy and irradiation, vaccines, molecular therapy and other mesothelioma treatment and preventative measures. As mesothelioma cases increase, so will effective mesothelioma treatments. It may be a long time before a cure for pericardial mesothelioma and other mesotheliomas are discovered. For now, advocacy work to ban asbestos use world wide is one of the best preventative medicines for the future that even a non-scientist can pursue.


Pericardial mesothelioma is often underdiagnosed in traditional tests and not found until heart surgery. The pain of pericardial mesothelioma and other malignant mesothelioma cancers can be quite severe. If a patient has pericardial mesothelioma with severe pain, the chances of survival and mesothelioma life expectancy is under two years. In 2004 a pericardiectomy was performed on a 19 year old boy and he died soon after surgery. A case study on a 54 year old man reported in the 2008 publication of the Annals of Thoracic Cardiovacular Surgery concluded that pain been shown to be reduced with resectioning the tumor and a pericardiectomy, which removes the pericardium, or a section of the pericardium.


Pericardiectomies are used more frequently to reduce constriction. However this barely touches the surface of the disease. The surgery is risky, but as knowledge of the cancer increases, so does the effectiveness of surgery. The earlier the pericardial mesothelioma tumor is found, the less risky the surgery. Pericardial mesothelioma does not respond to radiotherapy. Chemotherapy is used to reduce the cancerous mass.


Source Address:- http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/pericardial-mesothelioma-symptoms-and-misdiagnosis-766778.html

Mesothelioma Life Expectancy

Mesothelioma life expectancy at the time of diagnosis will traditionally be announced at being somewhere between a few months to only a year or two. Statistically speaking, mesothelioma life expectancy is frighteningly short. However, the mesothelioma life expectancy rate is a mere average, mean or median of mesothelioma patients with wildly different independent variables. Many of these mesothelioma patients have lived years past their expected “date of death” estimate.


Mesothelioma treatment and mesothelioma treatment options for these patients differed. Physicians for some patients may have been more experienced than physicians for the less fortunate. Not all patients follow through with chemotherapy or cancer treatment plans upon hearing the low mesothelioma life expectancy statistics, and many are not in shape to handle surgery. Others fight to live for just one more day.


Survival stories that can affect mesothelioma life expectancy rates range from the rarer cases of a young woman being “cured” – or having no remittance for decades, to the extremes on the other side, an 80+ year old gentleman with lifetime asbestos exposure, smoking heavily and suffering from numerous pre-existing diseases who dies a month after diagnosis. Others die during surgery. Most mesothelioma patient circumstances are somewhere in between. Many mesothelioma sufferers and their life expectancy statistics go unrecorded. Mesothelioma life expectancy will depend on your individual variables, your medical treatment, and your perseverance and outlook.


Mesothelioma life expectancy diagnosis will always depend on how early or late the disease was discovered. Because mesothelioma has been largely unrecognized in the past, the bulk of mesothelioma life expectancy statistics are mesothelioma patients who were diagnosed late in the disease. A greater awareness of the disease exists in the medical community, and although the majority of physicians do not have experience treating mesothelioma, most are aware of the potential presence of mesothelioma if a patient has been exposed to asbestos, and can refer a potential mesothelioma patient to a specialist.


Early detection and early treatment leads to longer life expectancy. Individuals who have been exposed to asbestos can be pro-active in diagnosing and treating mesothelioma and other asbestos-caused diseases. Patients can monitor their health and mesothelioma symptoms and begin early detection X-ray and CT scan tests. Mesothelioma patients can research mesothelioma treatment options available in clinical trials and discuss these with their physician. A physician can not be aware of every clinical trial that exists, and a mesothelioma patient’s own research could add years on to mesothelioma life expectancy.


Statistics for mesothelioma life expectancy will logically improve rather than become worse. Clinical trials on mesothelioma treatment options are increasing with an urgency to halt the disease. Many clinical trial participants live years past the initial diagnosis due to innovative mesothelioma treatment. Others may have participated in a mesothelioma clinical trial that was not as successful, but their participation has cleared the way to successful mesothelioma treatment for others. Chemotherapy and drug combinations have been proven to lengthen mesothelioma life expectancy. Imaging and radiation technology has made significant advances.


Mesothelioma life expectancy can pass the low mesothelioma life expectancy rates of the past. Nobody in the statistics of mesothelioma has the identical combination of the physical, emotional, and environmental variables that you do. Medicine advances, it does not go backwards. Mesothelioma treatment and mesothelioma treatment options for your early stage or advanced malignant stage mesothelioma will be up to you. There is a strong chance that you can defy mesothelioma life expectancy statistics. Research. Stay alert to new mesothelioma treatment options. And look at yourself, not statistics.

Source Address:- http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/mesothelioma-life-expectancy-766791.html

Choosing a Structured Settlement Buyer

Are you interested in finding a structured settlement buyer who will give you cash in exchange for your monthly or annual payments?  You don't want just any buyer, you want a reputable structured settlement company that will give you the best return for your payments and will help you determine what the best solution is for your needs.
Your settlement payments are your money and you deserve a company that maximizes their value while providing a helpful service.  To receive expert financial service and learn what your structured settlement is worth, contact a structured settlement buyout company.


Source Address:-  http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/structured-settlement-buyout-2466850.html

Structured Settlement Buyout

If you're one of the millions of people who have been awarded a structured settlement because of injury or damages you've experienced, regular settlement payments may provide a source of financial stability.  But if your needs change and you're suddenly in need of a lump sum payment of cash, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to change the terms of the settlement.  In this situation, a structured settlement buyer may be able to provide cash in exchange for your regular settlement payments.
Structured settlements are a form of financial compensation in which payments are made on a periodic basis instead of one lump sum payment.  This kind of settlement is commonly paid out in injury lawsuits, by insurance companies, employers and workers' compensation and even by certain lotteries to their winners.  Structured settlements ensure that you'll have money coming in on a regular basis over a period of time.
The downside of these payments is that should you need more cash now to help with medical bills, college tuition, a down payment on a home or another financial need, there's very little room to adjust the payment structure.
Structured settlement buyers, also known as factors or structured settlement companies, provide a valuable service that makes it possible for the recipient of a settlement to trade in a series of slow, structured payments for a lump sum in cash.  The lump sum is not quite equivalent to the total value of the settlement payments, but it does provide ready money that the recipient can use right away instead of waiting months, or even years, for settlement payments to come in.
It's possible to sell some or all of your settlement payments.  Those who sell some of their payments will keep the remaining income payments in their own name and will continue to receive money from the remainder of their settlement.
Structured settlement buyouts are invaluable in situations where you need a lump sum to:
  • Pay increasing medical bills
  • Make a down payment on a new home
  • Invest in a family member's business, start your own business or invest more in an existing business
  • Fund a college education
  • Cover expenses while you search for work after the loss of a job
Any or all of these circumstances are good reason to consider a structured settlement buyout.


Source Address:-http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/structured-settlement-buyout-2466850.html

Sell Structured Settlement Payments: When It’S The Right Thing To Do

“Sell structured settlement payments”—this phrase, by itself, may not mean much to the average person. But put them together into a statement like: “I plan to sell my structured settlement payments”—and they create a controversial, emotionally loaded topic.

There are many reasons not to sell structured settlement payments

There are many reasons not to sell structured settlement payments. But there are also many reasons when, give the individual’s situation, it makes sense to sell structured a settlement annuity. Here are some common objections to that powerful phrase—sell structured settlement payments—and some circumstances when, even given the validity of the objection, it still can be smart to sell structured settlement payments.

Concern: Person does not want to damage total financial picture by removing a long-term, steady source of income.

Answer: If the annuitant will use the lump sum payment to invest in his or her income-producing future, such as for education or career training expenses or to start a business, it might be a smart decision to tap into the structured settlement. Each of these expenses—education, career training, business startup costs—should lead to a future stream of income that will replace the income lost as a result of the annuitant’s decision to sell structured settlement payments,


Source Address:- http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/sell-structured-settlement-payments-when-its-the-right-thing-to-do-1791231.html

Sell structured settlement: 3-4 weeks faster

When someone is planning to sell structured settlements, he or she wants the money as soon as possible. That’s why it is important to have the policy early in the process when you sell structured settlements. When you have the policy, you save time in two ways.
  • First, you save the structured settlement factoring company from having to request another copy of the policy for you. And that saves at least three or four weeks.
  • Second, you reduce the chance of error, because your factoring company has all the correct information from the beginning. Less chance of error means less chance of having to fix mistakes and re-do paperwork. Which saves time when you have one thing on your mind: sell structured settlement.
If this is important to you: sell structured settlement. Then know this: find your policy.
Even in today’s digital world, when you sell structured settlements, it’s still a paper transaction. And the most important paper of all is the policy.
The policy confirms all of the details about what is being bought and sold, including payment amounts and dates and all of the parties involved in the transaction: the annuitant, insurance company, policy owner, and beneficiaries.
In other words, the policy is the buyer’s record of what the insurance company is paying. The court must see the policy and the buyer can’t close the transaction without the policy. So if the seller has the policy at the beginning of the transaction, it speeds the process and helps eliminate errors—and errors are the major causes of funding delays.
Here’s how it works: The structured settlement factoring company needs the information from the policy in order to draft the paperwork when you sell structured settlements. If there are any mistakes in the documents drafted by the structured settlement factoring company, the insurance companies who own the payments will insist the structured settlement factoring company revise the documents—which delays the entire transaction.
Here is an example of a little mistake that could cause a big delay: The date of the expected structured settlement payment stated in the disclosure says December 14, 2012, but the payment is actually due December 1, 2012. This discrepancy would raise a flag at the insurance company. Worse, it would mean postponing the hearing and the whole process. Though the date is only off by 13 days, the insurance company could force a delay of three months because in extreme cases, it may require the parties to start the entire process all over again.
And it all could have been avoided if the seller had given the structured settlement factoring company the policy at the beginning of the transaction and before it drafted the original documents.
So it makes sense to get the policy to the structured settlement factoring company as soon as possible. It also makes sense for people who sell structured settlements to find the policy themselves in their files, boxes, or drawers—wherever they stored it. Because it can take three-to-four weeks for a structured settlement factoring company to obtain a policy from the insurance company on behalf of the seller. Longer if there are issues with the insurance company.
Therefore, it is worth it for the seller to take the time and effort to find the policy directly so the structured settlement company doesn’t have to wait to get it from the insurance company. And the sooner the structured settlement factoring company gets the policy, the more accurate the documents and the less chance of error—and delay.

Source Address:- http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/sell-structured-settlement-34-weeks-faster-1635536.html

Five Tips When Selling Your Structured Settlement

You may have received structured settlement payments through personal injury or workers’ compensation claims.  You may be wondering if you should try to sell your settlement payments in exchange for a lump sum of cash.  Be aware, however, that despite the claims of advertisers, the selling your structured settlement may not always be possible – and even if it is possible, it may not be an economically wise decision.  There are some benefits to selling structured settlements, but also some hidden costs of which you should be aware.

Tip #1: Make a Wise Settlement Decision from the Beginning

If you have the option, it is always best to make a decision about receiving structured settlement payments from the start.  You may, from the beginning, choose to press for a lump sum payment vs. periodic payments.  This is not just black and white either – you may negotiate for a combination agreement.  You may want to get a smaller lump sum plus periodic payments, or decide that you will need a lump sum at a future date.  You may want to consult with a tax adviser and see what arrangement makes the most sense from a tax perspective.  If you are in this stage of the settlement, remember: now is your best time to decide.  Should you decide to sell your structured settlement at a future date, you will be losing a percentage of your money to companies that buy those structured settlement payments.

Tip #2: Watch Out for the Tax Man

Although you may be considering selling your structured settlement, it is important to consider that it was probably structured from the beginning to provide you with significant tax advantages.  As a result, you may be in for an unpleasant surprise if you decide to receive a lump sum payment.  Check with a competent tax adviser to see what the ramifications are in your situation.

Tip #3: Beware of Hidden Restrictions on Selling Structured Settlements

Many people do not realize that federal regulations can limit and restrict the sale of structured settlements.  In addition, approximately 60% of the states have some laws on the books which restrict the sale of structured settlements.  Find out which laws apply to your situation.  You may have to obtain court approval for the sale, and the process of transferring settlement payments to a buyer may be highly regulated by your state.  Also, if your structured settlement was issued by an insurance company, watch out for hidden clauses.  They may state that payments cannot be sold to another party.

Tip #4: Don’t Take the First Offer You Get

This seems like common sense, but many people attempting to sell structured settlements are excited by the prospect of receiving a huge lump sum of cash.  But it pays to shop around.  Even if your first offer seems excellent, get quotes from at least 2-3 other buyers of structured settlements to see if the first offer can be topped.  Do your research and make sure you are dealing with a reputable buyer of structured settlements.  If one buyer’s offer is way better than the others, be alert – if it seems too good to be true, it just might be.

Tip #5: Get a Good Lawyer

When dealing with such a large amount of money, consulting with a lawyer can pay for itself many times over.  A lawyer experienced in dealing with settlements can tell you if your buyer’s offer is reasonable, as well as if the terms of the purchase agreement are right for your situation.  He or she can also protect your rights, in case any of the parties in the transaction are not cooperating or sending payments according to the agreed contract.







Source Address:-  http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/five-tips-when-selling-your-structured-settlement-1004716.html