MESOTHELIOMA

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is caused mostly in part by exposure to asbestos.  The problem with this type of cancer is that often times the symptoms will not show up for 25-50 years.  This dreadful form of cancer is called mesothelioma because it affects the protective lining that covers most of the body’s internal organs called the mesothelium.  The three areas of the mesothelium that are affected are the pleura, the peritoneum and the pericardium. 

The Maune Raichle Law Firm will fully explain each of these parts of the body that mesothelioma can transform.  The first and most common form of mesothelioma is called pleura mesothelioma.  This affects the outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity.  Common sense will tell you that breathing in asbestos particles or having been exposed to the dust and fiber such as handling clothes of people who have worked with asbestos will cause damage to your lungs.  The next area that can be affected is called the peritoneum which can occur in the lining of the abdominal cavity and the third most common area is the pericardium which is the sac that surrounds the heart.  All forms of mesothelioma cancer are very serious and should be treated as soon as symptoms develop because as we have said previously they can take years to come to fruition. 

In the early 70’s the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulated asbestos in certain industries, public buildings and schools but it is too late for some.  There are two types of asbestos: chrysotile and amphibole.  Chrysotile exposure is said to cause more mesothelioma cases in the US but chrysotile has been used more hence both have dangerous effects.  Mesothelioma cancer is not passed from one person to another like a flu or viral infection; it is not contagious.  Exposure to asbestos that causes cancer occurs years and years before the disease appears which is one reason this disease is so despised.  If you worked in the shipyards, mines and mills, asbestos producers, heating and air conditioning industries and other trades people you were more than likely exposed to asbestos and should be tested.  The unfortunate thing about the testing is that they are not always conclusive unless there are symptoms.  Symptoms are normally so long standing that the survival rate is lowered substantially.  If you do not know if you have ever worked with asbestos let us tell you what asbestos really is.  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.  It has been widely used in many industrial products, including cement, brake linings, and roof shingles, flooring products, textiles and insulation. Asbestos has been shown to mediate the entry of foreign DNA into target cells and incorporation of this may lead to mutations and on cogenesis.  If these tiny particles are distributed in the air while they are being processed the likelihood of them being inhaled is huge and can cause serious health problems. 

From 1980 to 1990 the death rate from mesothelioma cancers increased from 2000 to 3000 and affects men four times more than women.  Finally mesothelioma consists of a single layer of flattened to cuboidal cells forming epithelial lining of the serous cavities of the body including the peritoneal, pericardial and pleural cavities.  The processes leading to the development of peritoneal mesothelioma remain unresolved, although it has been proposed that asbestos fibers from the lung are transported to the abdomen and associated via the lymphatic system.  Also, the asbestos fibers may be deposited in the affected person’s stomach after indigestion of the sputum contaminated with asbestos fibers.  This disease is described as a cancer found on a membrane surface where it originated.  If the disease is advanced the original membrane surface to other parts of your body such as the lymph nodes, lungs, and chest wall or stomach organs.  Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking.  Please allow The Maune Raichle Law Firm to assist you in getting the correct information on all forms of mesothelioma because we know now more than ever before you need us.

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