Mesothelioma Information Washington DC Blog | Parker, Dumler and Kiely LLP

Monday, June 30, 2008

How can asbestos enter my body?

Asbestos fibers do not evaporate into air or dissolve in water. They can enter the air and water when natural deposits weather and manufactured products, like brake pads, begin wearing down. The small fibers can stay suspended in the air for a while before they eventually settle, while the larger fibers fall more quickly.

Asbestos can enter your body through your lungs. If you inhale low levels of asbestos fibers floating in the air, those fibers will be deposited on the cells of your lungs. But few of these fibers will actually move through your lungs into your body. Instead, most fibers will be carried away in a layer of mucus and sent to your throat. From there, they are swallowed and collect in your stomach. This process happens within a few hours of asbestos exposure.

Fibers that have been deposited into the deeper areas of your lungs are removed at a slower pace. So some of these may remain in your lungs for years and years; others are never carried elsewhere.

Drinking asbestos fibers that have been deposited in water as a result of natural resources, or from asbestos-containing cement pipes is another way to become exposed. If you drink the fibers, they generally pass through your system, with a small number becoming stuck in your stomach or intestines.

If you or a family member has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or asbestosis, please contact the experienced mesothelioma lawyers in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. for a free initial consultation.

posted by Patti at 12:15 PM

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Compensation from the Asbestos Industry

Those who are diagnosed with mesothelioma probably worked in construction trades or at industrial sites like shipyards, power plants, paper mills, refineries and manufacturing plants.

During World War II a number of Navy sailors were exposed to asbestos while their wives back home were simultaneously exposed to the toxic mineral while taking over the jobs that their husbands left to fight the war. Women also breathed in the fibers while they were doing laundry.

Since mesothelioma takes decades to be detected, many of those who were exposed in the 50s, 60s, and 70s are only being diagnosed today.

Some are surprised to discover that they can receive compensation from the asbestos industry, but it’s true. For more than 50 years, many asbestos companies were aware of the dangers of asbestos, but did nothing about it. Many even conspired to keep this knowledge a secret.

Compensation from the asbestos industry is usually large enough to provide financial and emotional security for those dealing with this fatal disease. The mesothelioma patient can know that their families will be taken care of.

If you or a family member has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or asbestosis, please contact the experienced mesothelioma lawyers in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. for a free initial consultation.

posted by Patti at 12:13 PM

Monday, June 16, 2008

Is Mesothelioma painful?

Malignant mesothelioma is a cancer of the abdominal cavity or chest lining. The disease is seldom cured through surgery and is poorly responsive to chemotherapy. Therefore, mesothelioma treatment focuses mainly on managing the symptoms.

Studies reveal that about 60 to 90 percent of mesothelioma patients experience pain or shortness of breath as the first symptom of the illness. In the beginning, pain can be eased with over-the-counter analgesics like acetaminophen, aspirin, or ibuprofen.

As the disease progresses and destroys soft tissue and nearby nerves, discomfort usually increases. Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy seek to stop the spread of the disease and help ease pain—though the actual treatments are not painless.

There is also a significant amount of pain that is associated with the final stages of the disease. Anesthesiologists and other health care professionals who specialize in pain control are providing more relief than ever before; due to new implant devices that can deliver pain-fighting drugs directly to the central nervous system.

If you or a family member has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or asbestosis, please contact the experienced mesothelioma lawyers in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. for a free initial consultation.

posted by Patti at 12:10 PM

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

How long have people known asbestos causes cancer?

High rates of sickness among asbestos workers came to light during the last years of the 19th century and in 1924, doctors described and named the fatal disease asbestosis. The connection between asbestos and the fatal cancer mesothelioma took many years longer to emerge. In the 1930s and 40s, a number of asbestos workers became ill with lung cancer. Tobacco use, however, was on the rise in those years, and it had been linked to lung cancer in the 1920s, so it was hard to tell what type of cancer was responsible for the death unless an autopsy was performed.

Following World War II, asbestos mining in South Africa was flourishing. In 1948, the medical superintendent at the area’s first chest and infectious disease hospital began to see a notable presence of lung disease in the ward.

Another medical researcher became aware of this uncharacteristic lung disease in the 1950s. By the late 1950s, the connection between mesothelioma and asbestos was well-documented. After this connection hit a British medical journal late that decade, asbestos mines were harshly criticized. Yet, the mining industry put so much political pressure on the researchers that the mines continued to thrive for years.

Throughout the 1970s more and more reports mesothelioma were brought to light. Some asbestos companies began replacing instances of the toxic mineral with safer alternatives like fiberglass. But most insulation materials before the mid-1970s contained some degree of asbestos.

If you or a family member has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or asbestosis, please contact the experienced mesothelioma lawyers in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. for a free initial consultation.

posted by Patti at 12:02 PM