Merlin Olsen Dies from Mesothelioma: How to fight the lung disease

As we reported yesterday, former NFL star and “Little House on the Prairie” actor Merlin Olsen sadly passed away from mesothelioma – a rare form of cancer – recently. Olsen was diagnosed with the lung disease in 2009, and had undergone three sessions of chemotherapy.

And now it appears that since then, a doctor has given tips on how to fight the lung disease that sadly took the U.S.U. football star’s life. According to abc4.com, the following medical advice comes from Dr. Michael Conners – chief thoracic surgeon at the LDS Hospital.

When a tumor invades, the lungs become unable to absorb any fluid into the chest cavity. The fluid build-up then causes pressure in the chest and compresses the lungs. If that happens, the patient will show a shortness of breath. That Conners says is the first sign of the cancer.

Dr. Conners then went on to say that the patient will then go to the doctors with the complaint, and a chest x-ray is then taken. But according to Dr. Conners – who says the average life expectancy after diagnosis is between 4 and 18 months – it is usually too late by then.

However, Conners says that both chemo and radiation can increase the patients’ life around five years. According to Dr. Conners, most cases that end in the loss of life are caused by the exposure to asbestos, which is a substance that went unregulated until a few decades ago.