Article DetailsThe Signature Disease for Asbestos Exposure is Mesothelioma |
| Date Added: February 17, 2010 05:42:25 AM |
| Author: Monty James Wrobleski |
| Category: Business & Economy: Law |
| Did you know that over 27 million people in the United States were exposed to asbestos between 1940 and 1980? How could this happen? Asbestos is a class of minerals that are found in sedimentary deposits around the world. When it is damaged, tiny asbestos fibers can break off and float into the air. When this asbestos dust is inhaled it settles into the lungs. Asbestos was popular and widely used during this time period because of its fire retardant capabilities. Once you take in mind the heavy industrialization of our economy during that period, you begin to understand how many people have been exposed and why. The signature disease for asbestos exposure is called mesothelioma, a cancer of the membrane that surrounds the internal organs. Mesothelioma is most often found in the lungs, but the disease can also affect the heart, abdomen and testicles. Moreoever, asbestos exposure can also cause lung cancer and asbestosis, a pulmonary disease that impacts lung capacity and breathing. Several thousand people each year are diagnosed with mesothelioma, and this is expected to continue for decades. There has been a great deal of scholarship and research done in the area of asbestos exposure and cancer. One important study is called, “Lung asbestos content in chrysotile workers with mesothelioma.” By Churg A, Wiggs B, Depaoli L, Kampe B, Stevens B. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1984 Dec;130(6):1042-5. Here is an excerpt: “The role of chrysotile asbestos in the genesis of mesotheliomas in humans is disputed. We analyzed the asbestos content of the lung in 6 long-term chrysotile miners and millers who had pleural mesotheliomas. In five patients, only chrysotile ore components (chrysotile and tremolite/actinolite/anthophyllite types of amphibole asbestos) were found, while the sixth patient presented both chrysotile ore components and amosite, a type of asbestos that is not derived from the mining process. The mean number of fibers/g dry lung for the 5 patients with mesothelioma containing only chrysotile ore components was higher (chrysotile 64 X 10(6) and tremolite group 540 X 10(6] than in a group of long-term chrysotile miner control subjects who had no asbestos-related disease (chrysotile 23 X 10(6), tremolite group 58 X 10(6], but some patients with mesothelioma had fiber burdens near the mean of the control range. Fiber sizes and aspect ratios in the mesothelioma group were approximately the same as those in the control subjects, and analysis of fiber distribution failed to show any preferential localization in the periphery of the lung. However, the concentration ratio of tremolite in the lungs of the mesothelioma cases compared to the control cases was 9.3, while the ratio of chrysotile was only 2.8. Our findings provide strong evidence that chrysotile mine dust (chrysotile and amphibole components) can produce mesotheliomas in humans; the greater relative amounts of tremolite group amphiboles present in the patients with mesothelioma raise the possibility that these fibers may be important in the pathogenesis of the tumors.” For additional information, please read the work in its entirety. We all owe a debt of gratitude to the people who have dedicated so much time and effort to the study of this horrible disease. Monty James Wrobleski is the author of this article on Asbestos Attorney. Find more information about Mesothelioma Attorneys here. |
