Asbestos, Mesothelioma, and the Law

Today I decided to read something about Mesothelioma for I think it became a hot topic for bloggers and net writers, I'm just a little curious. At first what I thought about Mesothelioma is that it is a terminable disease of the brain but I learned that I'm a little bit correct; it's in deed a disease. Below is Wikipedia's definition of Mesothelioma:

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity) or the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart).

Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or they have been exposed to asbestos dust and fibre in other ways, such as by washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos. Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking. Compensation via asbestos funds or lawsuits is an important issue in mesothelioma.

The disease is also included and defined in the articles about Asbestos and the Law; worldwide, 60 countries (including those in the European Union) have banned the use of asbestos, in whole or in part.

As I've read further, I was able to know several symptoms and somewhat shocking facts about Mesothelioma and they are as follows:

The symptoms of mesothelioma include shortness of breath due to pleural effusion (fluid between the lung and the chest wall) or chest wall pain, and general symptoms such as weight loss. The diagnosis can be made with chest X-rays and a CT scan, and confirmed with a biopsy (tissue sample) and microscopic examination. A thoracoscopy (inserting a tube with a camera into the chest) can be used to take biopsies. It allows the introduction of substances such as talc to obliterate the pleural space (called pleurodesis), which prevents more fluid from accumulating and pressing on the lung.

Here are some facts:

1. Most people who get mesothelioma have worked in jobs where they breathed in asbestos fibers at some point in their lives.
2. Mesothelioma can take 25 - 40 years to develop after the initial asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma affects men 3 - 5 times more often than women.
3. Three-fourths of people with mesothelioma are over age 65.
4. The disease only metastasizes, or spreads outside the initial cancer area, in 5% of cases.
5. The average survival time after a person has been diagnosed with mesothelioma is one year.
6. The Environmental Workers Group (EWG) estimates that between 1979 and 2001, at least 43,000 Americans died from mesothelioma and an often-fatal non-cancer disease of the lungs called asbestosis.
7. The truth about asbestos has been known and mostly hidden from the American public since the early 20th Century.
8. Up to 8 million Americans may have been exposed to asbestos. The use of asbestos has not been banned in the United States.

Most of the facts above are mainly focused in the United States but I was able to gather information about asbestos related diseases, like Mesothelioma, and also lawsuits. Click here to know more.

I have to drink my coffee for it's getting cold.