Mesothelioma Treatments, Support Groups & Medical Help

Mesothelioma Treatments, Support Groups & Medical Help

By Todd Going

Mesothelioma is one of the deadliest cancers known to medical science. This cancer of the lining of sacs that contain the internal organs is caused by primarily one agent: asbestos. Asbestos is a fibrous, naturally-occurring fire-resistant mineral that was used for millennia as insulation, heat shielding, and clothing before it was discovered that it was extremely toxic and carcinogenic.

Asbestos is so versatile it was used throughout the United States in construction and industrial processes in the first half of the 20th century, but by the 1960s and 1970s people began to realize that this useful material had a dark side. Unfortunately, it was too late to help the people that worked around asbestos, as conditions such as mesothelioma take decades to develop and are irreversible after initial exposure.

As the 20th century came to a close, hundreds of thousands of people were coping with the fact that they were lied to and mislead by the asbestos industry. Mining and manufacturers that produced asbestos knew of the dangers of their products, but instead of alerting their workers and consumers of the potential consequences of using their product and risk losing their income, they chose to ignore the risks and “make hay while the sun shone,” without regard to how their choice would affect the population at large.

This meant mesothelioma, asbestosis, and asbestos-related lung cancer became the reality for hundreds of thousands of innocent people. As medical science struggled to keep pace with the treatment of this deadly disease, more and more doctors turned to radical new treatments that attempted to alleviate the suffering of the 10,000 people that die from asbestos-related each year.

The prolonged latency period between initial exposure and the appearance of symptoms, combined with the relatively few specialized medical procedures dedicated to this little known disease. New treatments, such as angiogenesis, immunotherapy, and multimodal approaches offer new hope to victims of mesothelioma.

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