Cause for Mesothelioma and Related Risks Factors
Cause for Mesothelioma and Reasons
Mesothelioma is a cancer disease due to asbestos exposure. A protective lining that covers the body’s internal organs called Mesothelium over which malignant cells develop and cause Mesothelioma. Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and internal chest wall), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity), the heart the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart) or tunic virginals.
Mesothelioma Information
The cause for mesothelioma in nine out of ten cases is due to Asbestos. Asbestos mines are present in the world. Asbestos is made up of tiny fibers very strong as steel but can be woven like cotton and are highly resistant to heat and chemicals.
It was in 1960 the first observation that asbestos is the cause of mesothelioma was established. In the UK large quantities of asbestos were imported for construction, ship-building and in household appliances. Asbestos was very widely used in insulation materials, such as ammonites insulation board, and building materials, including asbestos cement.
In asbestos digging, it releases tiny fibers and workers inhale it to their lungs. Asbestos fibers are very fine and, when breathed in, they can make their way into the smallest airways of the lung, so they cannot be breathed or coughed out. Once the fibers are in the lungs, the body’s defense mechanism tries to break them down and remove them, which leads to inflammation in the lung tissue.
The asbestos fibers can also penetrate through the lung tissue to settle in the pleura (the membrane around the lung). It may take many years for mesothelioma or other lung diseases to develop.
Asbestos fibers can also be swallowed, and some of the fibers can stick in the digestive system. They can then move into the membrane that lines the abdomen (the peritoneum), where they are the cause of mesothelioma inflammation.
The people most likely to have been exposed to asbestos
- construction worker
- plumbers
- electricians
- boilermakers
- shipbuilders
- demolition workers
- people who worked in other places where asbestos was present
- people who lived near to asbestos factories
- Family members of people who worked with asbestos and brought the dust home on their clothes have also sometimes developed mesothelioma.
Action Taken to drive away Mesothelioma
Two types of asbestos – blue and brown that are associated with the cause of mesothelioma are banned from importing to the UK from 19980 and all asbestos ban is imposed from 1999. Even the third type of white asbestos is proved to be dangerous recently.
Estimates of over 3000 people will be diagnosed as mesothelioma patients each year as it develops slowly. As the ban imposed on imports of asbestos, the number will decrease slowly.
The mesothelioma develops over a period of 10 to 50 years after exposure. Mesothelioma develops in people who have never been exposed to asbestos. The other causes of the disease are not fully understood, but in rare cases, the development of mesothelioma has been linked to exposure to radiation.
The research did not prove that smoking increases the risk of developing mesothelioma. It is also thought that exposure to other building materials such as fiberglass does not increase the risk.
Mesothelioma is not contagious or inherited.