What is mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma is a cancer of the cells that make up the lining around the
outside of the lungs and inside of the ribs (pleura), or around the abdominal
organs (peritoneum).
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The law limits the amount of
time after a patient incurs an injury to file suit.
The amount of time varies based on the theory
of liability and the state in which the patient files the suit.
If you or someone you love is suffering from
mesothelioma – or has died as a result of it –
contact us.
We can help you understand your rights and
options, and ensure that you have the opportunity to seek
compensation for your injuries. |
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What does asbestos have to do with mesothelioma?
The only known cause of mesothelioma in the United States is previous
exposure to asbestos fibers. Asbestos manufacturers knew about the hazards of
asbestos seventy years ago - but they kept this knowledge to themselves. The
first warnings given to workers exposed to asbestos were in the mid-1960s, and
they were terribly inadequate. Even today, workers are not always told they are
working around asbestos and are at risk for asbestos disease.
What can someone with mesothelioma do?
- Seek out the best and most up-to-date information.
- Seek out the best medical care.
- Early screening for mesothelioma diagnosis.
- Stay in close contact with your doctor.
- Consider whether or not you want to bring a lawsuit because of this
asbestos-related injury.
- Remember that resources are available to you through community and
medical support groups, asbestos victims' organizations, your place of
worship, as well as your family and friends.
How common is mesothelioma?
Although reported incidence rates have increased in the past 20 years,
mesothelioma is still a relatively rare cancer. About 2,000 new cases of
mesothelioma are diagnosed in the United States each year. Mesothelioma occurs
more often in men than in women and risk increases with age, but this disease
can appear in either men or women at any age.
What are the risk factors for mesothelioma?
Working with asbestos is the major risk factor for mesothelioma. A history of
asbestos exposure at work is reported in about 70 percent to 80 percent of all
cases. However, mesothelioma has been reported in some individuals without any
known exposure to asbestos.
Asbestos is the name of a group of minerals that occur naturally as masses of
strong, flexible fibers that can be separated into thin threads and woven.
Asbestos has been widely used in many industrial products, including cement,
brake linings, roof shingles, flooring products, textiles, and insulation. If
tiny asbestos particles float in the air, especially during the manufacturing
process, they may be inhaled or swallowed, and can cause serious health
problems. In addition to mesothelioma, exposure to asbestos increases the risk
of lung cancer, asbestosis (a noncancerous, chronic lung ailment), and other
cancers, such as those of the larynx and kidney.
Smoking does not appear to increase the risk of mesothelioma. However, the
combination of smoking and asbestos exposure significantly increases a person's
risk of developing cancer of the air passageways in the lung.
Who is at increased risk for developing mesothelioma?
Asbestos has been mined and used commercially since the late 1800s. Its use
greatly increased during World War II. Since the early 1940s, millions of
American workers have been exposed to asbestos dust. Initially, the risks
associated with asbestos exposure were not known. However, an increased risk of
developing mesothelioma was later found among shipyard workers, people who work
in asbestos mines and mills, producers of asbestos products, workers in the
heating and construction industries, and other tradespeople. Today, the U.S.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets limits for acceptable
levels of asbestos exposure in the workplace. People who work with asbestos wear
personal protective equipment to lower their risk of exposure.
The risk of asbestos-related disease increases with heavier exposure to
asbestos and longer exposure time. However, some individuals with only brief
exposures have developed mesothelioma. On the other hand, not all workers who
are heavily exposed develop asbestos-related diseases.
There is some evidence that family members and others living with asbestos
workers have an increased risk of developing mesothelioma, and possibly other
asbestos-related diseases. This risk may be the result of exposure to asbestos
dust brought home on the clothing and hair of asbestos workers. To reduce the
chance of exposing family members to asbestos fibers, asbestos workers are
usually required to shower and change their clothing before leaving the
workplace.
People considering clinical trials may be interested in the NCI booklet
Taking Part in Clinical Trials: What Cancer Patients Need To Know. This booklet
describes how research studies are carried out and explains their possible
benefits and risks. The booklet is available by calling the CIS, or from the NCI
Publications Locator Web site at
http://cancer.gov/publications on the Internet.
Mesothelioma Lawsuit is the best way to find information about
Mesothelioma resources.
This web page takes the legwork out of finding great
Mesothelioma resources. We have compiled great links to
Mesothelioma
information and pages dedicated to
Asbestos Cement Siding here. . .
To your right you will find links to various
Mesothelioma related pages. There you will find great information about
Asbestos Cement Siding.
We've taken the time to check out each and every featured Mesothelioma website to make sure they are quality sites, with quality information.
Here you will find
some of the best resources on Asbestos Cement Siding ever compiled
and some incredible resources
for Mesothelioma.
In our "Featured Mesothelioma Article"
section, you'll find an article related to Mesothelioma.
We will be providing you with updated and new featured articles on a regular
basis.
Additional
Mesothelioma links
Asbestos Cancer
Asbestos Floor Removal Tile
Asbestos Law Ohio
Asbestos Law Related Suit
Asbestos Lawsuit Texas
Asbestos Lawyer Palm Springs
Asbestos Mesothelioma Papillary - Internet Error
Asbestos Over Siding
Asbestos Pleural Disease - Internet Error
Asbestos Poisoning Symptom
Asbestos Removal Equipment
Asbestosis Lawyer Texas
Attorney Agoura Hills Asbestos
Attorney Austin Benign Mesothelioma
Attorney Austin Mesothelioma Peritoneal
Austin Asbestos Mesothelioma Lawyer
Austin Lawyer Mesothelioma Pleural
Charlotte County Lawyer Mesothelioma
Define Mesothelioma Pleural - Internet Error
Iowa Mesothelioma Attorney
Law Firm Asbestos Woodland Hills 91365
Lawyer Fillmore Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma Attorney Los Angeles
Mesothelioma Information
Mesothelioma Lawyer California
Mesothelioma Support Law Resource
Mesothelioma Victim Lawsuit Compensation
Michigan Mesothelioma Attorney
New Mexico Mesothelioma Attorney
Pennsylvania Mesothelioma Attorney
Diagnosis for
Malignant Mesothelioma Cancer: Screening
The National Cancer Institute's
definition of screening for cancer is the examination or testing of people for
early signs of certain type of cancer even though they have no symptons - this
is the best way to achieve a diagnosis as early as possible. Early detection and
diagnosis is particularly important for people with historical exposure to
asbestos due to the latency period (up to 30 years) before which symptoms of
malignant mesothelioma cancer may become apparent.
Mesothelioma
What
are the health hazards of exposure to asbestos?
Exposure to asbestos may increase
the risk of several serious diseases:
Asbestosis-a chronic lung ailment that can produce shortness of breath and
permanent lung damage and increase the risk of dangerous lung infections; Lung
cancer; Mesothelioma - a relatively rare cancer of the thin membranes that line
the chest and abdomen; and Other cancers, such as those of the larynx and of the
gastrointestinal tract. How does smoking affect risk?
Many studies have shown that the combination of smoking and asbestos exposure is
particularly hazardous. Cigarette smokers, on the average, are 10 times as
likely to develop lung cancer as are nonsmokers. For nonsmokers who work with
asbestos, the risk is about five times greater than for those in the general
population. By contrast, smokers who also are heavily exposed to asbestos are as
much as 90 times more likely to develop lung cancer than are nonexposed
individuals who do not smoke. Smoking does not appear to increase the risk of
mesothelioma, however.
There is evidence that quitting smoking will reduce the risk of lung cancer
among asbestos-exposed workers, perhaps by as much as half or more after at
least 5 years without smoking. People who were exposed to asbestos on the job at
any time during their life or who suspect they may have been exposed should not
smoke. If they smoke, they should stop.
Mesothelioma -
Lung Cancer Link - Part 1
Yet the production process was
supposed to ensure that if any SV40 was present, it would be neutralized. When
Carbone tested the Soviet neutralization method, which relied on magnesium
chloride, he found it was only 95 per cent effective. Because of this, he
believes the Soviet vaccine could have remained contaminated until the early
1980s. In 1981, the Soviet Union switched to a polio vaccine seed provided by
the World Health Organization that was free from any SV40 contamination.
Carbone, the first to publish evidence of a link between SV40 and the deadly
lung cancer Mesothelioma (New Scientist print edition, 21 May 1994), will not
discuss his results further until they have been published. Officials from the
US Food and Drug Administration who attended the conference also declined to
comment, as the FDA is a defendant in lawsuits alleging that the
SV40-contaminated polio vaccine used in the US has caused cancer cases.
Here are some
Additional
Mesothelioma Resources
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Asbestos-cement products were developed in an era of ingenuity for creating easy ... products that replicate asbestos-cement roofing and siding shingles, flat sheets, ... |
Asbestos siding and roofing care or removal ... ASBESTOS-CEMENT SIDING ... You are allowed to side over asbestos-cement siding, it does not have to be removed. ... |
your cement asbestos-board siding in any way. ... Because cement asbestos-board siding has sharp or pointed edges that can ... |
( Cement siding is still widely used, but no longer contains asbestos.) Marketers of this asbestos-containing cement siding promoted the product as ... |
... most of the asbestos-containing cement siding is older and may ... Cement-asbestos siding was never on a 16 inch nailing pattern, so 3/8 inch thick ... |
Today's News Related To
Mesothelioma
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Featured
Mesothelioma Articles |
Mesothelioma
How
is asbestos used?
Asbestos has been mined and used
commercially in North America since the late 1800s, but its use increased
greatly during World War II. Since then, it has been used in many industries.
For example, the building and construction industry uses it for strengthening
cement and plastics as well as for insulation, fireproofing, and sound
absorption. The shipbuilding industry has used asbestos to insulate boilers,
steampipes, hot water pipes, and nuclear reactors in ships. The automotive
industry uses asbestos in vehicle brakeshoes and clutch pads. More than 5,000
products contain or have contained asbestos, some of which are listed below:
Asbestos cement sheet and pipe products used for water supply and sewage piping,
roofing and siding, casings for electrical wires, fire protection material,
chemical tanks, electrical switchboards and components, and residential and
industrial building materials; Friction products, such as clutch facings; brake
linings for automobiles, railroad cars, and airplanes; and industrial friction
materials; Products containing asbestos paper, such as table pads and
heat-protective mats, heat and electrical wire insulation, industrial filters
for beverages, small appliance components, and underlying material for sheet
flooring; Asbestos textile products, such as packing components, roofing
materials, heat- and fire-resistant clothing, and fireproof draperies; and Other
products, including ceiling and floor tile; gaskets and packings; paints,
coatings, and sealants; caulking and patching tape; and plastics. In the late
1970s, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use of asbestos in
wallboard patching compounds and gas fireplaces because these products released
excessive amounts of asbestos fibers into the environment. In addition, asbestos
was voluntarily withdrawn by manufacturers of electric hair dryers. These and
other regulatory actions, coupled with widespread public concern about the
hazards of asbestos, have resulted in a significant annual decline in U.S. use
of asbestos: Domestic use of asbestos amounted to about 560,000 metric tons in
1979, but it had dropped to about 55,000 metric tons by 1989.
Mesothelioma -
Cancer of the Lung Lining - Part 2
The Mesothelioma is referred to
by different names, depending on what part of the body it is found in. In the
abdomen, it is called the peritoneum, in the lungs, the pleura, and in the
heart, the pericardium. These correspond to peritoneum Mesothelioma (cancer of
the abdomen/stomach), pleural Mesothelioma (cancer of the lung lining) and
pericardium Mesothelioma.
Years to Develop Mesothelioma is characterized by having a long latency period,
which means that symptoms do not develop until 20-50 years after exposure to
what caused it. The average age at which symptoms usually begin to appear is
around 60 years old. It is estimated that about 3,000 to 4,000 cases of
Mesothelioma are diagnosed each years in the US. The number of cases reported
each year is increasing.
Diagnosis for
Malignant Mesothelioma Cancer: Screening
Explore the National Cancer
Institute's PDQ
The National Cancer Institute
provides a computer service called PDQ to give up-to-date information on cancer
issues for patients, their families, doctors, and other healthcare
professionals. Detailed information on detection, diagnosis, treatment, support
groups, clinical trials and treatments is reviewed and updated each month by
oncology experts. Each topic is discussed in two tracks, one for patients and
one for healthcare professionals.
You might want to visit the information written for patients first, in order to
get a clear understanding of the issues discussed in layman's terms. For more
detailed information, you can then explore the physician's track.
By going to NCI's CancerNet, you can research the PDQ informational summaries
for malignant mesothelioma; these summaries are written for both patient or
professional readers. You will also find a useful overview on researching,
treating, and coping with malignant mesothelioma.
You will find links to other treatment specific PDQ pages throughout this
website.
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