Asbestos and Mesothelioma

Recommendations for Building Workers

Asbestos being harmful to the lungs is a pretty well known fact and this is the main reason why its usage has been prohibited in many activities. But, paradoxically and disregarding this prohibition, this mineral continues to be used in several places across the world. For example, it is still used in the building industry, mainly for packaging and roof panels

Thousands of highly exposed to asbestos workers, both working in buildings’ restyling and demolition, have died over the years by some illness related to asbestos’ presence in their workplace. It has been estimated that near 10.000 people will die every year during the next 10 years due to having been exposed to asbestos in the past.

Serious health risks provoked by asbestos are completely avoidable. It is recommended for builders to take minimum precautions before start working in order to not be exposed to danger:

Before working next to materials or elements including asbestos you must receive a special training. This training could last between 2 and 5 days. In some cases, this training is repeated every year.

In places where this mineral is used, there must be an individual having the correct information about everything who can be in good conditions to teach others and to make sure all necessary precautions have been taken.

If it is necessary to remove asbestos while working, the use of a respirator is a must.( it must be at least a half face mask).

Smoking, drinking or eating in places near to asbestos is forbidden, and it would be an advisable thing to do to clean up your hands correctly before doing some of these things.

Mesothelioma Symptoms

The beginning of mesothelioma symptoms is generally slow.

The main symptoms for pleural mesothelioma include chest pain and pain in the lower back, persisten coughing and difficculty in breathing. The patient undergoes a loss of weight and can also experience fever, swelling of the pace and arms and coughing up blood.

Symptoms associated with a peritoneal mesothelioma are nausea and vomiting, swelling of feet, fever abdominal bloating and damages of the bowel function.
As these symptoms are not specific they are usually ignored or considered to be symptoms of other minor diseases. Consequently, it is vital to look into the chances the person had or has of being exposed to asbestos

The symptoms and signs are dependent on the place the mesothelioma is located, the size and the type of the mesothelioma ( malignant or bening). Benign kinds of mesothelioma are often asymptomatic.
Chest pains, shortness of breath, fever and loss of breath are other symptoms the person can experience.

Because of its lack of specificity the symptoms of mesothelioma are often ignore of mistaken. Therefore, it is important for people working in certain areas to pay special attention and monitor their health for these symptoms.

These occupations are considered to be of a high level of risk: brake mechanics, insulators, steel workers, shipfitters, pipe fitters and occupation where asbestos exposure is possible.
The chances of recovery from mesothelioma depend on different factors: age of the patient, size and location of the mesothelioma.

If mesothelioma is diagnosed in its early stages, the chances of surviving are high.

Malign Mesothelioma

What is the Mesothelioma? It is a Mesothelio’s diffuse malign tumor that comes from long exposition to asbestos. It can affect the pleura, the peritoneum and the pericardium, being the pleural localization more frequent, for the peritoneal one requires a longer exposition to this mineral.

It is true. Most Mesotheliomas come from the exposition to the asbestos, which occur in workplaces that do not even take the minimum security measures in an 80-85 %. It seems to be a dosage-response relation: a minimal dosage of exposition to asbestos is enough for producing the disease in very low levels and it can also appear in a latent way, sometimes for more than ten years.

The pleural Mesothelioma is associated with asbestosis in a 25 % is frequently joined with pleural spill, dyspnoea, thorax pain and pleural enlargement. From a radiologic point of view, it initially shows with images similar to pleural plaques. After some time, images with irregular shadows and sharp outline can appear.

The presence of hialuronic acid into the pleural liquid can confirm the diagnosis, despite the fact that it is a low sensitivity and specificity test. The etiologic diagnosis is based in the recount of fibers. In their absence, the story of the previous exposition is enough to determinate the causal relation.

Mesothelioma - Legal Action

Exposure to asbestos is the only identified cause of mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that infects the lining around organs (abdomen and lungs).

In spite of the damages they are causing, asbestos companies persist on generating their products. This has been occurring since 1920, when asbestos producers realized about the health risk associated with this substance.

People suffering from this disease can take legal action against these companies and they can receive monetary compensation. This possibility started in the late 1970s and early 80s when many individuals affected by asbestos related health problems started claming against asbestos companies.

There are many law firms that provide free advice to those claiming against asbestos producers. Lawyers need to identify the medical history of the plaintiff together with details regarding asbestos exposure. They will give the claimant information about the legal process and the way the situation will be approached. There are numerous similar cases that serve as testimonials and fallouts to the plaintiff. This will also help to comprehend the legal process and to have realistic expectations since resolutions in these cases differ significantly according to the type of exposure.

Another important thing to mention is the fact whether the claimant is still alive or death. If the plaintiff is not alive a family member can act as such on behalf of the deceased. In most cases, the claims where the claimant is alive are tried faster.

The law firms usually keep the 35-40% of the final settlement. But this should not deter the plaintiff in obtaining the proper legal advice.

Causes of Mesothelioma

Most of the cases of mesothelioma detected in the USA are caused by exposure to asbestos. Apart from the severity of the mesothelioma, there exist other differences between this kind of cancer and the other asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis, pleural scarring and lung cancer. These are diseases that appear in people employed in shipbuilding, construction business or factories that produce asbestos-containing products.

What characterized mesothelioma asbestos cancer is that it can result from very low amount of exposure. Even the person might not know he or she has been exposed. Another important fact is that the period between the time of exposure and the development of the disease can be 20 to 50 years.

It is surprinsing how the disease can originate in a simple and short time of exposure. There have been cases in which the person has developed the cancer after changing the brakes shoes on their car. This happens because asbestos particles enter into the lungs while breathing.

Many people that suffer from this form of cancer ignore the moment or time when they have been exposed to asbestos. Generally, the exposure is the result of working or living near a building where asbestos products are present. The problem is that, in these cases, it is more difficult to win the legal battle against the asbestos companies since it is not feasible to identify which asbestos product the person was exposed to.

Obviouly, those who have been exposed to asbestos for longer period of time are, for certain, likely to develop this kind of cancer.

Mesothelioma in Argentina

Although Julian had not been working for 15 years and he had passed that time without breathing asbestos fibers, he died due to those microscopic particles. The cause of his death was mesothelioma, a strange kind of cancer that affects the lungs.

This disease is triggered by contact with asbestos. A scientific study published in the British Journal of Cancer, predicts that mesothelioma will kill 250.000 Europeans in the next 33 years.

Fulgencio Soria, Julian’s workmate in a factory in Levante, was in contact with this mineral almost since he was born. But it was not until he was 37 years old when he realized the gravity of the situation. Soria was made redundant because of his disease and he was declared invalid for work. He was left with a pension that proved insufficient to satisfy his family needs.

In 1991, another worker called Gines Palazón, started spitting blood out of his mouth, 12 months later he died of lung cancer.

Asbestos particles are near us in everyday life. It can be found in the brakes of cars, buses and trains, in hair dryers and ironing boards, in water or gas pipes, in the roof, in the ground and in the walls.

Today, Soria is 47 years old and without doubt he affirms, “We have been killed.”

“We have been robbed of 10 years of life”, declares Francisco Martinez, another of Soria’s workmates and now President of the Asbestos Victims Association. This organization is the only one of the kind in Argentina.

Asbestosis Symptoms

Asbestosis is a disease that affects the lungs and it is caused by inhaling asbestos fibres. it is a breathing disorder produced by the accumulation of asbestos particles in your lungs which eventually can cause fibrosis of the lung tissues.

Generally, the symptons and signs related to this disease appear many years after the exposure. Once the condition is apparent, it often gets worse and can cause the death of the person.

The consequences of exposure to asbestos usually appear after 20 or 30 years from exposure. The symptoms of asbestosis develop because the damage produced by the asbestos particles causes stiffness in the lungs tissue. In this way, the lungs cannot work properly and their contraction and expansion activity is affected. This is considered a type of pulmonary fibrosis.

The signs and symptoms that characterize asbestosis are shortness of breath. At the first stages of the disease this problem appears when doing physical exercises but then it affects the person even when resting. There is a decrease in the capacity for physical activity. Other symptoms include coughing, chest pain and in some cases finger and toes clubbing. There is a general state of ill feeling and patients experience loss of apetite.

The symptoms and signs are not specific but they develop differently. It is important to remember that asbestosis is a chronic disease and once the symptons appear they get worse. On the other hand, as asbestosis does not advance quickly , once it is diagnosed the doctor has time to treat it.

Asbestos-Related Diseases

There are many diseases associated with asbestos exposure and they can be classified in many ways. Some of these diseases are malignant or cancerous, for example, mesothelioma and lung cancer. There are other health conditions that are bening, that is to say, they are not cancerous, for instance, diffuse pleural fibrosis, asbestosis, pleural plaques and pleural efusions.

Most of these diseases have severe consequences for health. Some of them often cause the patient death (mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer) and the others, though less dissabling, affects the proper functioning of the organism in different ways.

Most of them are directly attributed to asbestos exposure (asbestosis and mesothelioma). Others, for example, cancers affecting the gastro-intestinal tract, are thought to be connected with asbestos exposure but there is no absolute certainty.

However, there many diseases directly associated with exposure to asbestos. For instance, mesothelioma, asbestosis, pleural plaques, pleural effusion, and many lung cancers.

On the other hand, kidney, gastro-intestinal tract and overy cancer are diseases which, up to now, have not been accepted to be caused by asbestos exposure.

All asbestos-related diseases can only be detected by the use of medical examinations and tests. If a person has been exposed to asbestos, this does not imply that he or she will suffer from an asbestos-related disease.

However, it is important to be precautious about your health. In this way, any person who has been in contact with asbesto should have regular check-ups and examinations and above all inform the doctor about the asbestos exposure.

Asbestos: Cause of Cancer

It has been determined by the Department of Health and Human Services and the World Health Organization that asbestos is a human carcinogen. Breathing asbesto strongly increase the potential of cancer in human beings. There are two forms of cancer derived from asbesto exposure: mesothelioma and lung cancer.

Mesothelioma is an strange form of cancer of the lining that surrounds the lungs (pleural membrane) or the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum). This kind of cancer does not develop immediately, on the contrary, its symptoms appear after some years. Not only does this disease affect the lungs, but it also can cause cancer in other parts of the body, for example, stomach, pancreas, kidneys intestines and esophagus. The individual’s survival and quality of life depends on the early diagnostic and treatment of the disease.

Asbestos together with cigarette smoke increase the odds of suffering from lung cancer. If a person has been exposed to asbestos, it is vital to stop smoking. This action completely depends on the individual and it is the most important action to be taken.

There are medical test to detect asbestos in the organism. It is possible to meassure low levels of asbestos in urine, mucus, feces or lungs of the populace. But high levels of asbestos can represent exposure, though it cannot confirm whether or not the person will develop health problems. However, to assess the existence of asbestos-realated diseases, thorough physical tests are compulsory. One of the most effective tools is x-ray since it can detect changes in the lungs caused by asbestos exposure.

Asbestos: Chemical Composition, Properties, and Effects on Health.

The word “asbestos” comes from Latin and means “non-combustible”. This is the way a group of six fibrous minerals is called, which exists in the environment in a natural form. The asbestos’ minerals have long and strong separable and quite flexible fibers, which are crisscrossed and hot proof.

Due to these characteristics the asbestos has been utilized for a wide range of manufactured products, mainly for construction materials (tiling for flooring and roofs, paper products and asbestos’ cement), friction products (car’s clutches brake and transmission pieces), and hot proof cloths.

The exposition to asbestos generally occur breathing contaminated air in work places that produce or use it. The asbestos is present also in buildings whose walls are being repaired.

Diseases provoked by the asbestos can appear even after some years of stop being exposed to it. The asbestos penetrates into the organism through the respiratory system. When the asbestos’ powder is inhaled, the fibers can reach the lungs remaining there and becoming later into a constant irritation that ends in the alteration and destruction of the pulmonary tissue. The interaction between the asbestos and tobacco is remarkable for it increases the probabilities of getting lung cancer.

There are some individual genetic factors, not yet identified, which determinate that some exposed to asbestos workers get ill and some do not. Therefore, prevention is a must!