An Introduction to Mesothelioma

Tragically the word mesothelioma is becoming more and more well
known, the mere mention of it striking fear into all of us for
we know that it is associated with death. Asbestos is the
reaper, mesothelioma its hand maiden.

Asbestos, the wonder product of the fifties is now recognized as
an enemy of the twentieth century. A ruthless enemy which will
kill more people than the war. Men, women and children will fall
victim to its prey, innocents who have at some time in their
lives inhaled asbestos dust.

Most of us have been in contact with products containing
asbestos in our life times. We sat in asbestos class rooms,
stood beside our fathers as they cut asbestos fencing, pulled up
old linoleum with asbestos clogged to the back of it. Visited
the local tip where broken sheets of it lay open to the wind.

Records show that there are a higher number of people afflicted
with asbestosis and mesothelioma who have directly worked in
asbestos mines, ship yards and companies making products from
asbestos; however there are a large number of people afflicted,
who have never worked in these industries. Their contact with
asbestos, due to the dust brought home on their husband's
clothes or from the asbestos tailings placed around mine houses
and town perimeters. But the tragedy does not end there,
children innocently playing in their own back yards played
amongst the asbestos tailings as children elsewhere play in the
sand. They had no way of knowing that their sand was asbestos
blue. A good bath at the end of the day may have removed the
dust from the skin but the dust in the lungs remained and would
lay dormant for many years before claiming its deadly legacy.

Without warning, a healthy individual suddenly becomes short of
breath, x-rays reveal fluid on the lungs and the night mare
begins. Questions are asked and you answer, Yes, I was exposed
to asbestos dust but I was only in the town for a few short
months and that was over 40 years ago. How can this be? This is
the most perplexing thing about mesothelioma. Why is there such
a long period of time between inhalation of asbestos dust and
onset of the disease? What triggers a strong healthy body to
suddenly succumb to it? What can we do to prevent this from
happening?

Blood tests are now available to determine whether mesothelioma
is present in the body, before a person is aware of any
symptoms. This is an amazing breakthrough and perhaps the first
step towards curing the disease before it becomes terminal.
Recently mesothelioma was cured in a mouse and attempts to give
it back to the mouse were unsuccessful. This too is exciting
stuff and holds a glimmer of hope for us all.