The Mystery of Mesothelioma

I had been holding off talking about mesothelioma for some time now. I've seen the commercials about mesothelioma lawyers asking if you've been exposed to asbestos. I never really knew what the disease was, so I did some research on it.
Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that can be traced to asbestos. At the start of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800's and leading in the into the early 1900s, asbestos was considered an ideal material for use in the construction industry. It was known to be an excellent fire retardant. It was also thought to have high electrical resistivity. In addition, Asbestos was inexpensive and easy to use.The problem with asbestos arouse when the fibers become airborne and are inhaled. Because of the size of the fibers, the lungs cannot expel them. They are also sharp and penetrate tissues in the body.Symptoms include shortness of breath due to fluid between the lungs and the chest wall. General symptoms include weight loss or chest pain. Once diagnosed with a mesothelioma prognosis, the patient must undergo treatment that includes chemotherapy, radiation therapy or sometimes surgery.
The most common way to get the disease is by working on construction sites that contain asbestos. Those people exposed to asbestos most certainly will develop mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases such as pleural mesothelioma & lung cancer.When the World Trade Center was destroyed in 2001, it was thought that there was asbestos particles in the air, exposing many people on the ground to it. 8 years later, many of those same individuals, mostly rescue workers, are experiencing breathing problems due to prolong exposure at "Ground Zero".No doubt, with the increased diagnoses, the problem with mesothelioma will continue to be discussed for many decades to come.