Mesothelioma Clinics Are Rare

Mesothelioma Clinics Are Rare
By Tony Ulrich

When diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer a person will most likely be faced with a roller coaster of emotions. Hearing this news can be an emotional drain; however, an individual must get past this heartbreaking news and start weighing their options for treatment.

Mesothelioma is still quite rare and finding a cancer clinic that specializes in treatment may be difficult for many people. There are some things that can help when researching a clinic for treatment.

You may be lucky enough to find a good clinic in your own city or at least nearby. However, many people may have to travel far greater distances to receive treatment. This may require prolonged stays away from their own home. If there are no insurance provisions to provide funds to help supplement the cost of this travel there are some other options.

There are groups located in some cities that will help with expenses related to medical travel. Contact the hospital or clinic where you will be seeking treatment to see if they can put you in touch with some of these groups. Also, if you belong to a church they may be able to help with fundraisers.

Mesothelioma clinics are frequently associated with the Association of Community Cancer Centers. Also, look for a clinic that the American Cancer Society has officially recognized. Any reputable mesothelioma clinic will be associated with these organizations.

In addition, make sure the clinic provides all necessary treatments in- house. Some clinics only specialize in one certain type of treatment and may require you to seek treatment elsewhere in the event that other treatments are necessary.

There may be times during your search for a clinic that you come across claims that may sound too good to be true. There are a number of mesothelioma clinics that claim that they can cure your cancer with alternative methods to traditional treatments. But the fact of the matter is, there is no known cure for mesothelioma.

Falling for these claims may ultimately shorten your lifespan and result in more pain and suffering. Some of these clinics may truly believe they are helping, but more than likely they are being staffed by well-meaning health care professionals who do not have any scientific training.

Because of the relatively small amount of people that suffer from mesothelioma there is not the same amount of money and time spent on a cure as it is for other forms of cancers.

One thing that a mesothelioma patient can do to help further the cause is participate in clinical trials. These are important steps in finding new treatments and possible cures for the future and some of them have shown first promising results.

The author Tony Ulrich was diagnosed with kidney cancer in October of 2009. In his research on what his cancer could have been caused by, he came across with data that suggests a strong link to environmental toxics, such as asbestos. Please visit his Kidney Cancer and Mesothelioma Clinic website for more details.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tony_Ulrich

Questions to Ask About Alternative and Complementary Therapies For Mesothelioma

Questions to Ask About Alternative and
Complementary Therapies For Mesothelioma
By Frederick Schenk

If you're facing a diagnosis of mesothelioma, you want all the help you can get. It's a tough disease to fight, and as with any cancer, you have to deal not only with the symptoms of the disease, but also with the side effects of chemotherapy and other treatments. People fighting mesothelioma often look to alternative or complementary treatments to help them through the fight.

Alternative treatments are non-standard treatments that patients may use instead of the recommended medical treatment. Complementary treatments are approaches used along with conventional treatment.

If you're looking at other treatments besides what your treatment team is offering, you'll want to be sure that you're bringing on board allies, not enemies. Here are five important questions to ask when you're looking at treatments other than the ones your mesothelioma treatment team has prescribed.

Will pursuing this alternative treatment delay or replace the mesothelioma therapy my doctors have prescribed? In all cancer treatment, and especially with mesothelioma, because it's so often not diagnosed until it is fairly advanced, time is of the essence. Any delay in treatment allows the cancer to progress. An alternative therapy may cost you precious time that you cannot get back.

Will the people who propose this alternative treatment work with my doctors? Responsible physicians with treatment methods that have stood up to research and scrutiny are eager to consult with other physicians about a patient's care. If the people advocating an alternative treatment won't consult with your regular doctors, you should be very concerned.

How safe is this treatment? Cancer treatment is strong medicine, and it has strong side effects. Nothing works for everybody. The people recommending an alternative therapy should be willing to discuss the treatment's side-effects and possible complications, and the statistical odds of your experiencing these downsides. If they can't give you solid numbers, and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Do the drugs, herbs, hormones, or supplements used in this treatment interfere with my regular mesothelioma therapy? Some substances can actually counteract the effects of chemotherapy, and undo the good that it's doing.

Mesothelioma patients should be especially aware of the risks of high doses of folic acid, a widely used nutritional supplement. The only FDA approved chemotherapy agent for mesothelioma, Alimta, can have its effects cancelled out by excessive consumption of folic acid.

Have you talked over the alternative treatment with your mesothelioma treatment team? Good doctors want to help you make use of any treatment that will help you with your illness and the side-effects of treatment. They need to know all of the medications and supplements you're taking, and the dosages, to be sure that the treatment effects are not being interfered with.

There are powerful and effective allies for your mesothelioma treatment, complementary approaches that can help you tolerate the rigors of chemotherapy and improve your quality of life. Physicians who treat mesothelioma place a high value on the use of complementary therapies and approaches to improve their patients' well-being.

Two of your best allies are simple, cheap, and available to just about everyone. Regular moderate exercise has been shown in several large-scale studies to improve cancer survival rates.

No diet can cure cancer (beware of any diet that promises to do that!), but a diet low in fat and high in plant-based foods, also called the Mediterranean diet, has been shown to increase survival rates for cancer and cardiovascular disease. Exercise and a plant-based diet generally make people feel better, as well.

Massage therapy has shown impressive results in reducing pain, fatigue, nausea, stress, and depression for patients undergoing cancer treatment. Patients were asked to rate themselves on these conditions before a full-body massage, and again after the massage.

Self-ratings dropped sharply immediately after massage, and the lowered ratings persisted for over 48 hours. No medications, no invasive treatments; just a massage.

Meditation and yoga both reduced levels of pain, fatigue, insomnia, and depression. Both of these techniques showed a clear dose-response relationship: the more patients practiced them, the more symptom reduction they experienced.

If you're interested in using any of these approaches to help you live with your mesothelioma, be sure to talk with your treatment team about them.

Frederick Schenk, a California asbestos attorney for more than 25 years, understands the havoc a mesothelioma diagnosis can cause. He has spent his career pursuing justice for asbestos victims through mesothelioma lawsuits.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Frederick_Schenk