Posts Tagged ‘mesothelioma’

The Asbestos Virginity Test?

Mesothelioma is a devastating disease with a low survival rate.

Mesothelioma is a primary cancerous tumor that arises from the mesothelium of the pleura and it is very rare.

So rare in fact that people who get this rare cancer it turns out are usually exposed to asbestos, a know carcinogen.

The almost direct cause and effect of asbestos exposure to mesothelioma even carries onto the family members of individuals who are exposed. (Asbestos is carried into the home by fibers sticking to the clothing of the worker).

This secondary exposure may cause mesothelioma to develop years later in family members of those individuals. It is estimated that all mesothelioma tumors are associated with asbestos exposure in at least
80% of the cases. Soon after this direct cause and effect relationship became widely know mesothelioma lawyers around the world are signing up patients who develop mesothelioma with the intention of getting a nice court settlement for their pain and suffering.

All the lawyers need to do is dig around the person’s past and they will eventually find asbestos exposure somewhere (in at least 80% of the cases) and presto they have a plaintiff and a defendant they can sue.

This defedant is usually a large manufacturing company with deep pockets and lots of insurance, in a nutshell a personal injury attorney’s dream.

But what about the approximately 20% of those who have the disease but no evidence of asbestos exposure?

Are some people “encouraged” to make something up so as not to miss out on the large money settlements?

The feeling is that they might be “misremembering” (as Roger Clements puts it). But how to prove this?

The sued companies have found a way to fight back, to prove who is real and who is not in a effort to stop the bleeding a “new test” was recently described in the New England Journal of Medicine.[1]

Serum osteopontin levels can be used to distinguish persons with cancer who were not exposed to asbestos, and patients with pleural mesothelioma who were exposed to asbestos. The serum osteopontin test would effectively “discourage” people with the disease from claiming exposure to asbestos if they did not have it. And by so doing limit the millions of dollars paid by the defendants.

Source
1.NEJM.October 13, 2005.Number 15.Volume 353:1564-1573.

Q:When Do The Symptoms Of Mesothelioma Appear For The First Time?

A: The first symptoms of MESOTHELIOMA rarely appear less than 10 years after exposure. [1]

What is mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma (cancer of the mesothelium) is a disease in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide without control or order. They can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Cancer cells can also metastasize (spread) from their original site to other parts of the body. Most cases of mesothelioma begin in the pleura or peritoneum.[2]

Malignant mesothelioma?

Malignant mesothelioma is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells are found in the pleura (the thin layer of tissue that lines the chest cavity and covers the lungs) or the peritoneum (the thin layer of tissue that lines the abdomen and covers most of the organs in the abdomen). This summary is about malignant mesothelioma of the pleura.

Being exposed to asbestos?

Many people with malignant mesothelioma have worked or lived in places where they inhaled or swallowed asbestos. After being exposed to asbestos, it usually takes a long time for malignant mesothelioma to occur. Other risk factors for malignant mesothelioma include the following:

* Living with a person who works near asbestos.
* Being exposed to a certain virus.[3]

Signs and symptoms of mesothelioma?

Signs and symptoms of mesothelioma vary depending on where the cancer occurs.

Pleural mesothelioma signs and symptoms may include:

* Shortness of breath
* Painful breathing
* Chest pain under the rib cage
* Unusual lumps of tissue under the skin on your chest
* Unexplained weight loss
* Dry (nonproductive) cough

Peritoneal mesothelioma signs and symptoms may include:

* Abdominal pain
* Abdominal swelling
* A change in your bowel habits, such as more frequent diarrhea or constipation
* Lumps of tissue in the abdomen
* Unexplained weight loss

Signs and symptoms of pericardial mesothelioma and mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis are unclear. These forms are so rare that not much information is available.

Mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis may be first detected as a mass on a testicle.

Pericardial mesothelioma signs and symptoms may include difficulty breathing and fever.

Signs and symptoms of mesothelioma that has spread to other parts of the body:

* Pain in the area where cancer has spread
* Difficulty swallowing
* Swelling in the neck and face. [4]

Mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain?

Mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain continue to increase annually both for males and females. Statistical modelling of male mesothelioma deaths can be used to produce an estimate of the future peak number of mesothelioma deaths to males and females. Based on this methodology, the annual total number of mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain is estimated to peak at around 1950 to 2450 deaths some time between 2011 and 2015. [5]

Bibliography:

1.Eur Respir J. 1996 Jun;9(6):1206-10. Malignant pleural mesothelioma from nonoccupational asbestos exposure in Metsovo (north-west Greece): slow end of an epidemic? Sakellariou K, et al. Dept of Pulmonary Medicine, University of Ioannina, Medical School, Greece.

2.http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/mesothelioma

3.http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/malignantmesothelioma/patient

4.http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mesothelioma/DS00779/DSECTION=2

5.http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/proj6801.pdf