Mesothelioma is type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Asbestos was being used in the construction industry for a long time due to its fire resistant characteristic and cheap cost. A major problem started arising when the asbestos particles inhaled by people started to threaten their lives. Mesothelioma is a killer disease caused mostly by exposure to asbestos. A number of people have succumbed to mesothelioma since the early 1800s, because back then, no one knew it was caused by asbestos exposure. Shortness of breath due to pleural effusion is a very common symptom of mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is the development of malignant cells in the mesothelium which is a protective covering that covers all the internal organs. Mesothelioma usually affects the pleura of the lungs but can also occur in the peritoneum and the pericardium. Diagnosing a person with mesothelioma is a bit tricky although CT scans and X-rays of the chest would come in handy. Mesothelioma was quiet common in miners and factory workers who were working in asbestos mines and mills. But dust from asbestos could even enter a person’s wind pipe who wasn’t working in asbestos mines and mills and do its deed.
It was back in 1929 that the first ever law suit was filed against an asbestos manufacturer and the claim was settled. But the attorneys who dealt the case agreed not to deal with more of such cases and stuck to their part of the bargain. Law suits have been in court houses in every part of the United States for ages now and billions of dollars have been awarded as compensation to those unlucky few who contradicted the killer disease. Treatment of mesothelioma hasn’t been proved to be a cure even though it has extended the survival time of those doomed souls.
The United Kingdom banned the use of brown and blue asbestos back in 1985 and the use of chrysotile asbestos was banned in 1999. Mostly all the developed countries have banned the use of asbestos because it has posed such a big threat to the health of the human race. People who get affected with mesothelioma get a pretty good chance of suing those responsible for making them exposed to the deadly asbestos dust. This asbestos dust is common in junk yards, old ship yards and construction material manufacturing units. Even inhaling asbestos dust is more than enough to ruin a person’s health and life.
Between 1940 and 1979 an astounding 27.5 million people were exposed to asbestos which is the main cause of them living their nightmare with mesothelioma. Those millions of people have been filing cases against those responsible for their exposure to the killer asbestos dust and have been receiving handsome settlement sums from the companies responsible for their ailments and deaths of their loved ones. Even the Kent brand of cigarettes used asbestos in their filters way back in the 1950s, which added to the death toll of mesothelioma patients who lost their lives, which also resulted in millions of dollars in legal settlements.