Lung Cancer Advice

If you have mesothelioma, it could have been avoided.

For over two-thousand years asbestos has been used. It was named by the Ancient Greeks, its name means "inextinguishable". Even the Greeks were aware of the harmful affects asbestos had on the body. It is said that a Greek geographer and Roman naturalist noticed what they called the “sickness of the lungs” in many of the slaves who wove asbestos into cloth. But they chose to disregard the symptoms. Probably because of the fascinating strength and fire resistant properties of the material.

Asbestos was used some since then, but did not become really big until the late 1800's.

It was in the 1890's that asbestos became a raw material for large manufacturing industries which exposed many workers to asbestos dust for the first time. From previous articles we know that disease from asbestos usually develops decades after a person is first exposed. Therefore, it was not until the early 1900s that large numbers of workers developed symptoms.

Since the 1920's many of the companies which produced and made large profits from selling products that contain asbestos actually had been aware of it’s hazards. But because asbestos made a good filler and binder, it was relatively cheap and readily available the corporations made their decision. The decision they made was to continue to place workers at risk without advising them of the dangers of being exposed to asbestos.

Despite discussions of asbestos danger in major medical journals as early as 1940 and other documentation from studies declaring the dangers of exposure to asbestos the government did not place a ban on major use of the mineral until about 1970.

Clearly there is still a risk of contracting mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos. Though not as many as in the early 1900's, a large number of workers are still exposed to asbestos dangers.

Expert opinions are widespread about whether or not mesothelioma cases are on the rise, but two thing are for certain - people will be diagnosed with mesothelioma for years to come. And the only cause of mesothelioma is asbestos exposure.