Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer primarily caused by asbestos exposure. There is a higher incidence of mesothelioma among U.S. Navy personnel, shipyard workers, etc. due to asbestos exposure on Navy ships. In addition, family members and others closely associated to those exposed to asbestos may also be at risk (for example the wife who washed her husband's work clothes). The cancer typically has a latency period of 20 to 50 years.

The mesothelium is a membrane that covers and protects most of the internal organs of the body. It is composed of two layers of cells: One layer immediately surrounds the organ; the other forms a sac around it. The mesothelium produces a lubricating fluid that is released between these layers, allowing moving organs (such as the beating heart and the expanding and contracting lungs) to glide easily against adjacent structures.

The mesothelium has different names, depending on its location in the body. The peritoneum is the mesothelial tissue that covers most of the organs in the abdominal cavity. The pleura is the membrane that surrounds the lungs and lines the wall of the chest cavity. The pericardium covers and protects the heart. The mesothelial tissue surrounding the male internal reproductive organs is called the tunica vaginalis testis. The tunica serosa uteri covers the internal reproductive organs in women.

Will let this stand as good info but if the second post is an ad, it will be removed.

We can all do a cut and paste.. http://help.com/post/219825-mesothelioma-is-a-rare-form-of-canc Not to put a fine point on it.

I am a specialist in fibre counting and fibre monitoring maybe you can post me something new? Which types of asbestos do you think are worse?

Maybe you should of posted in another forum?

This is a very insidious form of cancer. Once diagnosed you have only six months to a year to live and the only medical response is to make the patient as comfortable as possible. My father died from this in 2002. He said the pain was really unbearable even though he was on the most powerful pain killers available. He was so doped up he just didn't care about the pain or anything else for that matter.

There are a couple of things one needs to immediately do if you or a friend or loved one is diagnosed with mesothelioma. You must get your affairs in order (will, estate planning, etc.) and you must contact an attorney. If you wait too long the person with the illness will not be capable of taking part in any kind of meaningful decision making. He will just be too medicated. I also think there is a one year period in which one can file a law suit once diagnosed. (in U.S.)

Symptoms from mesothelioma may not occur for decades after having breathed asbestos fibers. This is why there is a surge in diagnoses right now. Many of the current victims contracted or came into contact with asbestos in their early years when asbestos was used for so many different things. An investigator for my father's law suit told me that Kent cigarettes used asbestos in the filters for a few years in the 1950's. Hard to imagine isn't it, but that was his response when I asked him why he wanted to know if Dad had ever smoked Kents.

Mesothelioma is easily diagnosed with biopsy because of the unique tissue damage it causes, which makes legal cases against companies who used or manufactured asbestos relatively easy. There is no confusing mesothelioma with lung cancer from cigarettes for example.

Anyway, just wanted to put my two cents worth in. There are a lot of expats in LOS that are of the age group where mesothelioma starts to show up. Just be aware of prolonged sharp pains in the torso that could be viewd as perhaps a strained muscle or something. There are lots of sources of info about this if one is interested. I've only said a few things based on my experiences.

I would hate to contract this problem in Thailand.They are very difficult to get pain relief drugs from.No real hospice care here that I know of!

I have a question when was this discovered ? and why was it not made public ? I remember back in 1969
when they were building the WTC I was working in the building and they were spraying steel I.beams
with if for fire proofing they had the rooms close off with plastic tarps while they sprayed it I know the crap went all over the building and we all inhaled it in some form or another. just another problem those people in N.Y.C. was exposed to when those buildings came down and the dust cover the city for days
I am 100 % sure that was asbestos in the air along with all sorts of debris that was inhaled by the Firemen
Policemen EMS and any other service people looking for they brothers & sisters who were murdered that horrible day

The reports of the British Chief Inspector of Factories reported in 1898 that asbestos had 'easily demonstrated' health risks.

Lewis Brown,The president of Johns-Manville in 1943 said that the managers of another asbestos company were "a bunch of fools for notifying employees who had asbestosis." When one of the managers asked, "do you mean to tell me you would let them work until they dropped dead?" the response is reported to have been, "Yes. We save a lot of money that way."

Some asbestos fibres can remain airbourne for 72hrs If you want anymore info I am in Udon over the Christmas period