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Men are more likely to be diagnosed with asbestos-related illnesses than women. That makes sense when you learn that most of those illnesses, such as asbestosis and mesothelioma, come from working with asbestos in male-dominated fields. However, while men are more likely to be diagnosed, that doesn’t mean that women can’t be affected by asbestos illnesses. Learn more about how an asbestos-related form of cancer affects women below:
What Are Asbestos Illnesses?
Asbestos-related illnesses are conditions where exposure to asbestos is the leading or only cause. There are both cancerous and non-cancerous illnesses, with the cancerous type being three forms of mesothelioma:
- Malignant pleural mesothelioma
- Peritoneal mesothelioma
- Pericardial mesothelioma
Asbestos exposure can also cause lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and laryngeal cancer. People can also be diagnosed with non-malignant illnesses, like asbestosis, pleural plaques, pleural effusion, and pleural thickening. These illnesses all affect the lungs and chest wall, often making it hard to breathe.
How Do Women Get Mesothelioma?
In the same way that men can be diagnosed with mesothelioma from occupational exposure, so can women. If women worked in the same fields as men, including factory work, firefighting, and shipbuilding, they would be just as at risk.
However, most women diagnosed with these forms of cancer weren’t involved in any asbestos-related work. Instead, their diagnosis came from secondary exposure. This often happened when a loved one returned home from an asbestos-related job with asbestos fibers on their clothing and belongings.
Is Mesothelioma Different in Women?
While women have the same symptoms as men when diagnosed with mesothelioma, there are some differences between genders. Women are more likely to be diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma than pleural mesothelioma. In contrast, men are more likely to be diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma.
What’s more, the median survival time for women is longer than men. Two years after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, 22% of women are still alive compared to 16% of men. By the four-year mark, 3% to 4% of women are still living with the illness compared to 15 to 2% of men. It’s believed that women have the potential to live longer for many reasons:
- Younger than men at the time of diagnosis
- Diagnosed with less aggressive mesothelioma subtypes
- More likely to undergo combination or multimodal therapy
What Are the Symptoms of Mesothelioma?
Symptoms can vary based on the type of mesothelioma you have, where the tumors are, and the stage of the disease. In the early stages of the illness, many people don’t experience symptoms at all. As the illness progresses, many women with pleural mesothelioma can experience:
- Body aches
- Cough
- Chest pains
- Night sweats
- Difficulty swallowing
- Coughing up blood
- Loss of appetite
- Fever
- Unexplained weight loss
- Shortness of breath
- Pleural effusion
- Pleural plaques
- Bloody clotting disorders
Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma can include:
- Abdominal pain
- Pelvic pain
- Fever
- Neck pain
- Weight loss
- Vomiting
- Lymph node swelling
- Abdominal bloating and swelling
- Bowel obstruction
- Fatigue
- Diarrhea
- Fluid in the abdominal cavity
Women may not have worked with asbestos as much as men, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t affected by the same illnesses as them. If you experience any of the symptoms above, consult a healthcare professional as soon as possible.
