Many asbestos cancer experts, attorneys, and mesothelioma sufferers view asbestos as a material developed and used only in the 19th century. But in fact, asbestos was first discovered and named by the ancient Greeks. In this article, we will examine the facts of asbestos use throughout the ages. We will see what was known about the dangers of asbestos cancer, and when mesothelioma and asbestosis began to be recognized as the tragic illnesses they are known to be today.
Asbestos And Mesothelioma: From The Ancient World To The 21st Century
In ancient Rome, asbestos fibers were uses to make clothing flame retardant. In Greece, the fibers were used to make other textiles. In Persia, garments were prized for their ability to be cleaned over a fire, instead of with water. In China, Marco Polo describes similar items that were “washed” by being dropped into flames. These clothes could only have been made from asbestos. After the fall of the Roman Empire and the fade of the great empires of the east, the use of asbestos seemed to stop.
As of 1860, asbestos had appeared again across the United States and Canada, mostly used as insulation within buildings. In 1879, the first commercial asbestos mine appeared in Canada, just outside of Quebec. By the turn of the century, asbestos use was much more common: flame-resistant coatings, concrete, flooring, roofing, acid resistant materials, and lawn furniture all had asbestos components.
With the rise of asbestos use came the first recorded death as a result of mesothelioma asbestos cancer. In 1906, an asbestos miner died of asbestos cancer, but his cause of death was not established until later. However, further instances of mesothelioma — still diagnosed as an unknown lung disorder — were observed throughout the early 20th century, particularly in asbestos mining towns.
Libby, Montana is a modern example of a mining town contaminated with asbestos. The EPA has been attempting to clean up Libby for 10 years, but 200 people thus far have died from asbestos exposure, with over 1,000 sickened. The town was contaminated by a nearby vermiculite mine, its residents threatened by waste products and discarded materials from mining operations.
The town of Libby has been stricken by asbestos contamination despite modern day interventions. In the early days, before mesothelioma was recognized or asbestos poisoning considered, towns were even more dramatically impacted. Yet even now, when the dangers of asbestos, as well as its links with mesothelioma, are clear, company negligence still goes unpunished. The company responsible for the mine that contaminated Libby was recently acquitted in a trial centered around the deaths in the town. The mining company will face no penalty, despite the hundreds of asbestos poisoning deaths and thousands of asbestos-related illnesses in Libby.
The First Diagnosis Of Asbestos Cancer, Asbestosis, And Mesothelioma
In 1924, a doctor in England recognized the pattern of illness and made the first diagnosis of asbestos cancer. At the time, it was called asbestosis and the existence of mesothelioma remained unknown. Nonetheless, the initial diagnosis created a wave of laws about asbestos handling — at least in England. The United Kingdom began regulating ventilation and established asbestosis as an “excusable work related disease” in the 1930s. The United States did not take the same measures until nearly 10 years later.
Around 1930, the medical community was beginning to investigate mesothelioma, at that time a new disease with strange symptoms and little information. They could only observe the symptoms: coughing, shortness of breath, and generalized chest/lung pain. Mesothelioma was not connected to asbestos nor suggested as asbestos cancer until 1940.
What Did Companies Know About The Hazards Of Asbestos Exposure?
The basis of mesothelioma and asbestos cancer legislation is that many asbestos companies knew the material was dangerous, but did not protect workers and customers from these known dangers. Court documents have shown that companies began to learn about asbestos related health hazards as early as 1930, but despite this knowledge, they did nothing to keep workers or consumers safe. Instead, they allowed asbestos use to grow even as diagnoses of mesothelioma and asbestos cancer grew as well.
Although limited through a lawsuit, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a rule in 1989 that allows only trace amounts of asbestos to appear in modern building materials. Even though lingering asbestos contamination remains and threatens citizens, the modern world now recognizes the dangers of asbestos and no longer uses it as a primary material.
The Dangers Of Natural Asbestos
Although asbestos exposure occurs most commonly through contact with asbestos mines or products made from asbestos, there are also a shockingly large number of so-called asbestos “occurrences” throughout the U.S. These sites are not commonly monitored by the EPA, nor has much been done to clean them up or protect surrounding communities.
An asbestos “occurrence” is defined as a place where asbestos has been observed, but not mined or prospected for mining. These veins of asbestos can be shallow enough that asbestos dust rises into the air, making the name “occurrences” misleading – they’re more like “hazards.” There are 205 such documented occurrences throughout the eastern part of the U.S., and most of these have been discovered through anecdotal evidence rather than active surveys. The government has helped to clean up commercial asbestos use, but they have done little to control the dangers of exposure to the material in its natural state. Even when not manufactured or milled, asbestos and its fibers can cause mesothelioma, asbestos cancer, asbestos poisoning, and all the other horrific conditions that can result from the disease.
Mesothelioma and Asbestos Cancer Today
Although asbestos has been regulated for 20 years, mesothelioma lawsuits are still being filed today because of the long incubation period of the disease. The cancer frequently requires 20-50 years between exposure and the manifestation of symptoms, meaning that many workers who handled asbestos during the height of its use are only just starting to show symptoms. Sadly, the numbers of lawsuits are only expected to increase. Asbestos cancer is tragic, and has been tragic throughout history. But today we can fight back against the companies that failed to protect us, and we can know that the world is safer for our children.
Watch the video related to mesothelioma asbestos
From class action suits to small settlements, we are expert Mesothelioma solicitors in the Modesto area. If you are seeking legal counsel for an Asbestos lawsuit, call today for a no cost evaluation. Our firm has been helping victims since 1974, and our lawyers have been pioneers in Asbestos law. We accept a small number of cases per year, and dedicate all our resources to you.
Help answer the question about mesothelioma asbestos
Mesothelioma:I had rare Mesothelioma cells found?I had rare mesothelial cells found in some fluid taken out of the area around my lungs. No malignant cells were seen. I have scaring seen in X rays of my lungs. I just found out that I was most likely exposed to asbestos for several years of ceiling replacement work I did. Does anyone know if I am heading for mesothelioma? Is there anything I can do to prevent it?
Posted in 
Tags: 
The ONLY treatment I've ever seen work (and work often!) is the Immuno Augmentive Therapy (IAT) Clinic in Freeport Grand Bahamas. They are run by British and Bahamian medical doctors, and are in my opinion by far the best alternative cancer treatment center in the world.
For some reason, their treatment (small injections you take several times a day containing immune system proteins) works especially well with mesothelioma, and they are well known for treating it, and often get referrels from Stateside and British MD.s.
Visit their website at either…
Take a quarter size piece to a local lab. Place it in a ziplock bag. Cost will be $15-$25. Look in the yellow pages under asbestos lab or environmental lab.
We all know he died from an infection after being declawed.
Mesothelial cells normally line the body cavities, including the pleura, peritoneum, pericardium, and testis. Malignancies involving mesothelial cells in these body cavities are known as malignant mesothelioma, which may be localized or diffuse. Diagnosis is difficult because the results from fluid analysis of the effusion from the tumor are not usually diagnostic. Most, but not all, pleural malignant mesothelioma is associated with asbestos exposure. Of patients with pleural malignant mesothelioma, 77% have been exposed to asbestos in the past.
* Median survival for patients with malignant mesothelioma is 11 months. It is almost always fatal. Median survival based on histologic type is 9.4 months for sarcomatous, 12.5 months for epithelial, and 11 months for mixed. Approximately 15% of patients have an indolent course.
* Asbestos exposure is linked to at least 50% of patients developing malignant mesothelioma. Approximately 8 million people in the United States have been exposed to asbestos in the workplace. Family members are also exposed to asbestos embedded in the worker's clothing. The combination of tobacco and asbestos exposure greatly increases the risk of developing pleural mesotheliom
History:
* Dyspnea and nonpleuritic chest wall pains are the most common presenting symptom.
* Chest radiographs show obliteration of the diaphragm, nodular thickening of the pleura, decreased size of the involved chest, and/or radiolucent sheetlike encasement of the pleura.
* A loculated effusion is present in more than 50% of patients, and a major portion of the pleura is opacified by the effusion.
* Chest discomfort, pleuritic pain, easy fatigability, fever, sweats, and weight loss are the other common accompanying symptoms. Patients may also be asymptomatic, with evidence of a pleural effusion noted incidentally on physical examination or by chest radiograph. Metastatic disease is uncommon at presentation and contralateral pleural abnormalities are usually secondary to asbestos-related pleural disease rather than metastatic disease.
* Approximately 60-90% of patients may have symptoms of chest pain or dyspnea.
Physical:
* Physical findings of pleural effusion are usually noted upon percussion and auscultation.
* In rare cases, malignant mesothelioma manifests as cord compression, brachial plexopathy, Horner syndrome, or superior vena cava syndrome. Death is usually due to infection or respiratory failure from the progression of mesothelioma.
* Primary sites include the pleura (87%), the peritoneum (5.1%), the pericardium (0.4%), and the right side of the thorax (more so than the left side, by a ratio of 1.6:1)
Causes:
* A substantial proportion of patients were exposed to asbestos in asbestos mills, shipping yards, mines, or their homes.
* The crocidolite in asbestos is associated with mesothelioma in miners, manufacturers (using asbestos), and heating and construction workers. The rod-shaped amphiboles are more carcinogenic than the chrysotile.
* Malignant mesothelioma has also been linked to therapeutic radiation using thorium dioxide and zeolite, a silicate in the soil.
* An etiological role for simian virus 40 in malignant mesothelioma has also been suggested. Asbestos exposure alone was associated with malignant mesothelioma, but SV 40 alone was not. Thus giving some epidemiological evidence that SV 40 is a possible cocarcinogen. Its direct role at this point is still controversial.
* Interleukin 8 has direct growth-potentiating activity in mesothelial cell lines.
Medical Care: Treatment options for the management of malignant mesothelioma include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and multimodality treatment.
* Chemotherapy
o Currently, cisplatin as a single drug had been used as the standard drug for phase III clinical trials. None of the standard treatment options has improved survival. The most active agents are anthracycline, platinum, and alkylating agents; each produces a response rate of 10-20%.
o Vogelzang et al presented the results of a phase III study of pemetrexed in combination with cisplatin versus cisplatin alone. Pemetrexed (500 mg/m2/d) and cisplatin (75 mg/m2/d) or cisplatin (75 mg/m2/d) was given on day 1. Both arms were given every 21 days. The median time to survival in the cisplatin/pemetrexed arm was 12.1 months versus 9.3 months for cisplatin alone. The response rate was 41.3% for the cisplatin/pemetrexed arm and 16.7% for the cisplatin arm. Folic acid and vitamin B-12 were given routinely to prevent the adverse effects of pemetrexed. This trial established the regimen as the standard choice for this disease.
o A 1999 phase II study by Byrne et al using cisplatin (100 mg/m2) on day 1 and gemcitabine (1000 mg/m2) administered intravenously on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle for 6 cycles showed response rates of 47.6% (complete and partial response), 42.8% (stable disease), and 9.5% (progressive disease). The median response duration was 25 weeks, progression-free survival was 25 weeks, and the overall survival was 41 weeks. Toxicity was mainly gastroenterologic and hematologic in nature.
o Several other combinations have been found to be active, including cisplatin/doxorubicin (Adriamycin)/mitomycin C, bleomycin/intrapleural hyaluronidase, cisplatin/doxorubicin (Adriamycin), carboplatin/gemcitabine, and cisplatin/vinblastine/mitomycin C. The cisplatin/gemcitabine combination has yielded the best results.
o With the isolation of mesothelial cell lines, several chemotherapeutic agents are being tested actively to assess their efficacy. One explanation for the poor response to chemotherapy is the low apoptotic rate, as evidenced by low BCL2 and BAX expression. These data suggest that apoptosis is not a key phenomenon in mesothelioma development and histologic differentiation.
o Numerous trials of chemotherapeutic agents have been performed; however, until recently, the studies were small, the staging systems used were different, and the measurements of disease were inaccurate.
* Radiation
o Results with radiation therapy are also disappointing.
o Radiation has no effect on survival, but it has caused significant palliation in 50% of patients treated for chest pain and chest wall metastasis.
* Trimodality therapy
o This involves a combination of all 3 standard strategies (ie, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation).
o One trimodality approach involved extrapleural pneumonectomy followed by combination chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Overall survival rates were 45% at 2 years and 22% at 5 years.
o Lymph node involvement was a significant negative prognostic factor. The epithelial type had a better survival rate compared with the sarcomatous or mixed type (65% vs 20% at 2 y and 27% vs 0% at 5 y).
o Survival based on the Brigham staging system was 22 months for stage I, 17 months for stage II, and 11 months for stage III.
o Overall median survival was 17 months, yielding a 2-year survival rate of 36% and a 5-year survival rate of 14%. Epithelial cell type survival was better, with a 2-year survival rate of 68% and 5-year survival rate of 46%.
o Different chemotherapeutic regimens found to be useful in the trimodality treatment include cyclophosphamide/doxorubicin (Adriamycin)/cisplatin, carboplatin/paclitaxel, and cisplatin/methotrexate/vinblastine. External beam radiotherapy is delivered in a standard fractionation over 5.5-6 weeks.
Surgical Care: Surgical resection has been relied upon because radiation and chemotherapy have been ineffective primary treatments. The 2 surgical procedures used are pleurectomy with decortication and extrapleural pneumonectomy.
* Pleurectomy with decortication is a more limited procedure and requires less cardiorespiratory reserve. It involves dissection of the parietal pleura, incision of the parietal pleura, and decortication of the visceral pleura followed by reconstruction. It has a morbidity rate of 25% and a mortality rate of 2%. It is a difficult procedure because the tumor encases the whole pleura; the local recurrence rate is high.
* Extrapleural pneumonectomy is a more extensive procedure and has a higher mortality rate. Recently, the mortality rate has been lowered to 3.8%. It involves dissection of the parietal pleura; division of the pulmonary vessels; and en bloc resection of the lung, pleura, pericardium, and diaphragm followed by reconstruction. It provides the best local control because it removes the entire pleural sac along with the lung parenchyma.
* With surgery alone, the recurrence rate is very high and most patients die after a few months. At least half the patients who have local control with surgery have distant metastasis upon autopsy.
Consultations:
* If an infection is suggested initially, consultation with a pulmonary specialist is essential if the infection does not resolve within 2 weeks with adequate antibiotic treatment.
* Chest radiographs are mandatory for follow-up if the infection has resolved. If the patient has diffuse calcification of the pleura and a history of weight loss with chronic cough, a full evaluation by a pulmonary specialist and oncologist is necessary.
* A referral for thoracoscopy is warranted if the diagnosis is considered and the initial workup is not diagnostic.
* Occupational history is important, and family members with exposure to asbestos should also be evaluated.
Diet:
* Patients are usually cachetic after surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Good supportive care and a regular nutritional status assessment are warranted. Patients should be referred to a nutritionist.
Activity:
* Beginning physical activity as soon as possible is important to prevent postoperative complications.
* Pulmonary physiotherapy is very helpful because of the extensive lung resection in such patients.
Try the links in http://www.hot8sites.com/lawyer/mesothelioma-lawyers-helping-the-mesothelioma-v.html
Lawsuits like that take years to even get to court. The companies have big time lawyers, much more than the average person can afford. I see commercials on tv all the time about a class action lawsuit against the manufacturer, so that hasn't even come to fruition yet. Like I said, years.
Do you really think makers of deep fryers would put asbestos in an exhaust tube? do you really think people are that stupid, to just ask for a lawsuit?
DO YOU?
REALLY? DO YOU??????
Yes. Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that attacks the thin membranes which line your chest and abdomen. Although rare, mesothelioma is the most common form of cancer associated with asbestos exposure.