Reasons Why You Should Worry About Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a serious disease, and 99% of all cases are attributable to exposure to asbestos. It’s a disease that can remain dormant for as long as 20 to 50 years before it starts taking its devastating toll on a person’s health and life. Although the cancer may show up in less than 20 years in some cases, most people don’t develop any symptoms until somewhere around 35 years after exposure. Early symptoms may not ring any bells, either, because they may be as basic as general pain in the chest or back. Therefore, anyone who ever worked in an environment where there were asbestos fibers needs to be on guard for the rest of their lives.
In cases of Mesothelioma, cancer cells can develop in the lining surrounding the lungs, inside the ribcage, and around the organs in the abdomen. It’s possible that even limited exposure to asbestos, like in the home, could result in Mesothelioma, but usually people who were exposed for longer periods of time are more susceptible. You may not even realize that you were exposed. A lot of employers back then withheld the information about asbestos exposure from their employees. For example, if you worked in construction one summer, you might have been exposed. It’s also very common for people who were in the Navy prior to the mid 70s to develop Mesothelioma.
Maybe you’re wondering what materials you may have been exposed to contain asbestos. After all, it was a pretty common material up until the 1970s when people started realizing the health implications it could have. Prior to that time, most insulation materials contained asbestos, including insulations for pipes, fire-proofing, and boilers. In addition, plasters, joint compounds, and cements that came in powdered form and were intended for insulation purposes also contained asbestos. These are particularly lethal in that using them meant breathing in a lot of dust.
People who worked in the following occupations prior to the mid 1970s need to be alert for the symptoms of Mesothelioma: * Paper mills * Brake and clutch shoe manufacture * Boilermakers * Electrical and carpentry workers or bricklayers * Insulation - manufacture or installation * Steel refineries and other steel industries * Shipyard workers * Maintenance workers
Even if you did work in any of these occupations, that’s not a sure sign you’re going to come down with Mesothelioma. However, it does put you at a higher risk, and you should let your physician know that you were exposed. He may recommend that you take some tests in order to determine if the asbestos is having any effect on you. He may want to do a complete physical, have x-rays taken of your chest and abdomen, and ask you to take pulmonary function tests. In some cases CT scans or MRIs are advisable. All of this testing may well find no evidence of Mesothelioma, but at least you’ll know for sure which can be a relief.
If in the future you are diagnosed with Mesothelioma, you’re going to want to hire a lawyer who specializes in the handling of lawsuits related to the disease. You may be able to get some monetary compensation to help make up for lost wages and medical expenses if your lawyer can prove that your employer’s negligence in not providing you with adequate information or safety equipment caused you to contract the disease.
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