Insulators And Other Workers May Be At Risk For Developing Asbestos Cancers
It has been reported on www.maacenter.org that a couple in West Virginia has filed an asbestos lawsuit against 48 defendants. The lawsuit arises from the husband’s allegedly asbestos-related lung cancer. The husband was diagnosed with lung cancer on August 19, 2009. The lawsuit asserts that the husband was exposed to asbestos while employed at Union Carbide as an insulator for over 30 years beginning in 1959 and ending in 1991.
Many retired workers are at risk of developing asbestos cancers such as mesothelioma and lung cancer because they worked with asbestos containing products and in the process, were exposed to lethal asbestos fibers. Asbestos is a mineral that is flexible and is resistant to heat. Therefore, it was primitive in a wide range of products that require these characteristics. Some asbestos containing products include brakes, tiles and roofing shingles. When asbestos containing products are disturbed, they can release asbestos fibers. These fibers are generally not visible to the human peek and can remain suspended in the environment for long periods. This raises the risk of inhalation of asbestos fibers. Disturbance of asbestos containing products can occur through activities such as cutting and hammering. Many workers who worked with asbestos containing products regularly slit, hammered or otherwise disturbed those products so as to trigger the release of cancer causing asbestos fibers.
Malignant mesothelioma is the most serious type of asbestos cancer. Mesothelioma has no cure and patients typically have a life expectancy of less than two years from the time of diagnosis. Mesothelioma cancer frequently develops in the chest cavity and in the lining of the lungs. This type of mesothelioma is known as pleural mesothelioma (or lung mesothelioma). The cancer can also manufacture in the lining of the abdomen (known as peritoneal mesothelioma). The mesothelioma symptoms exhibited by a patient largely depend on the type of mesothelioma a person has. People with peritoneal mesothelioma often experience abdominal swelling and problems with digestion. People with pleural mesothelioma often experience danger with breathing, shortness of breath and coughing of blood.
Currently, there is no cure for mesothelioma. However, there are treatment approaches that have proven to be effective for some patients. These treatment approaches tend to be most successful during the early stages of mesothelioma. Experts generally agree that there are four stages of mesothelioma. The stages indicate the extent to which mesothelioma cancer has spread in the body. In the earlier stages, the cancer is usually local to the point of origin in the body. In the latter stages, the cancer has usually spread to areas of the body that are farther away from the cancer’s point of origin.
Surgery is a treatment come for mesothelioma. It involves removing parts of the body that have been affected by mesothelioma cancer. Surgery is a viable treatment option only when the cancer is in the early stages. Chemotherapy attempts to treat mesothelioma with the use of a drug regimen. Side effects of chemotherapy include anemia, diarrhea, fatigue and hair loss. The mesothelioma treatment PDT (photodynamic therapy) uses light of a specific wavelength to kill cancer cells.
Those who have been diagnosed with an asbestos cancer such as lung cancer and mesothelioma, should know that they may have just rights. This is because asbestos cancers are caused by asbestos exposure that can often be traced to the negligence of companies in the asbestos industry. Thus, it is important for asbestos cancer patients to consult an experienced mesothelioma attorney in addition to consulting a medical professional.
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Filed under Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma by on Nov 23rd, 2010. 