Saturday, March 20, 2010

Mesothelioma Lawsuit: The Proper Way Of Looking For Justice

By Heidi Wingrain

Lung mesothelioma is a lethal medical situation arising from the infection of mesothelium by asbestos fibers. It is a rare form of cancer that affects people who had been in continuous contact with asbestos, either at homes or workplace. Medical science describes the disease as a rare cancerous growth affecting the mesothelial tissues that surrounds our vital organs as a protective cover. Three different types of this cancer, the pleural, peritoneal and pericardial, have been identified and named according to the areas they inhabit.

Mesothelium is the lining of our vital organs that only protects them, but also aids their proper functioning in an indirect way. Asbestos particles can cause serious abnormality in the functioning of the mesothelium cells. The disease is unique in that it takes years and years for the disease to come out and this factor alone is a limiting aspect in timely diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Some people may confuse lung cancer and lung mesothelioma, but the two are definitely different from one another. While the former affects the lung walls from inside, the latter destroys the protective lining. The prognosis of the disease is not too happy. It has been observed that most of the patients diagnosed with this cancer never complete two more years. The cancer is usually classified into four stages depending on the state of the infection. Even though timely detection has been instrumental in many patients living to tell their tale, most patients die within a handful of years because the habit of the cancer to attack at the most inopportune moment.

Invariably, the villain of the entire episode is the so-called wonder material, asbestos. This is a silicate mineral which has several positive qualities like resistance to heat and electric shocks, aptitude to endure chemical reactions etc and as such, was used for wide ranging industrial purposes. But the workers who labored around the material became unwitting prey to the harmful effects of the material, which came to fore only in recent years.

Therefore, efforts are on presently to adopt enough precautionary measures to prevent future infection and also to provide succor to the already affected persons by way of mesothelioma compensation. Additionally, scientists are laboring hard to find more effective cures to lung mesothelioma, which could not be provided by the existing therapies so far.

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