Mesothelioma Lawyers

Posts Tagged ‘Lungs’

We can infer that mesothelioma has been around for hundreds or possibly thousands of years, but it is really only in the past one hundred or so years that mesothelioma has affected large amounts of people.  To understand the history of mesothelioma, one must also understand the history of asbestos.  Asbestos is a mix of six naturally occurring silicate materials.  Asbestos must be refined using whatever process is necessary for the use that one desires from asbestos.  Asbestos has been used for a myriad of purposes including clothing, insulation, sound proofing, and even brake pads.  Since asbestos is arguably the only known cause of mesothelioma, as manufacturing and use of asbestos during the industrial revolution, cases of mesothelioma sky rocketed.  During the early nineteen hundreds plants that manufactured and processed asbestos started to see a high rate of lung diseases.  After thousands of workers in similar industries became affected with mesothelioma and other lung related cancers, people began to look for the cause.  Study after study pointed to the presence of asbestos as being the culprit in each case of mesothelioma.  As health sciences and medical technology advanced they were finally able to scientifically explain how the asbestos fibers became trapped in the lungs and organ linings around the lungs, thus clearly defining the link between asbestos and mesothelioma.  Now, some 100,000 people a year in the United States are affected with this deadly disease due to asbestos exposure.

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There are seven different types of mesothelioma.  These seven types are: abdominal, chyrostile peritoneal, malignant, pericardial, pleural, epithelial malignant, and cystic mesothelioma.  Abdominal mesothelioma is also known as peritoneal mesothelioma.  This type of mesothelioma affects the tissue in the abdominal cavity.  Chryostile peritoneal mesothelioma is a form of mesothelioma caused by the inhalation and subsequent lodging of asbestos fibers within the abdominal cavity.  Malignant mesothelioma occurs as a tumor in the lining of the lungs and chest cavity and the tumors can spread quickly to other areas in the body.  Pericardial mesothelioma affects the tissue layers surrounding the heart and, as with most variations of mesothelioma, is quite rare.  Pleural mesothelioma affects the tissue surrounding the lungs.  Epithelial malignant mesothelioma is a form of mesothelioma that affects the tissue membrane surrounding the organs.  Epithelial malignant mesothelioma is the most common form of mesothelioma there is.  Cystic mesothelioma is a rare form of mesothelioma that occurs by cysts being lined with a layer of mesothelial cells.  Cystic mesothelioma is benign and one who is diagnosed with this, generally young females, can usually have a normal life expectancy.  Treatment of each form of mesothelioma varies due to the variance in affected areas.  For most forms there is usually not a long life expectancy after diagnosis.  Generally life expexctancy can range from 6 to 18 months depending on the severity of the condition at diagnosis.  Surgery is not always necessary as a treatment.  Treatment can range from chemotherapy to surgery, to a cocktail of medicines.

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It’s a crying shame that so many health professionals and companies knew that asbestos were a major health threat for so long before they did anything about it. There are accounts dating as far back as 1^st Century A.D. from Romans who made the connection between asbestos and health problems. In 1900 a physician in London actually found asbestos fibers in the lungs of a factory employee who died of lung disease. Despite the fact that asbestos had been linked to major health problems, factory heads did nothing to protect their employees and physicians did not speak about the health risks until it became clear that it was a problem that could no longer be swept under the rug. Around 1950, the number of asbestos-related deaths began to rise, but it wasn’t until 2003 and hundreds of lawsuits later that the use of asbestos of any kind was actually banned. This is just ludicrous considering the mesothelioma was actually connected to asbestos exposure in 1960. Mesothelioma is a very painful and deadly form of lung cancer that could have been avoided in thousands of workers if they had not been forced to be exposed to asbestos by working tough jobs in order to support their families. I only with that something had been done sooner to protect these poor people from this disease, instead of having them unknowingly exposed to just a dangerous substance. The least that sufferers of mesothelioma deserve is to be compensated for their medical bills and lost wages due to the disease.

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