Just found out that not all asbestosis is cancerus. I can't find anything on non-cancerus mesothelial hyperplasia of the lungs. All my rearches turn up malignant mesothelioma. Whats up????
Whats the treatment? Is there treatment? My MD refused to talk to me about it. I only found out by reading my lung biopsy pathology report. My specialist quit me before I could ask for treatment. Go figure? "At least do no harm"? right
Please don't tell me to ask a MD. That is like Duuuu!! Keep in mind I live in USA, not Canada, so finding a specialist in this field who is about helping vs ego & statis is VERY difficult. And I'm also working class & a person of color , so finding a specialist who will even glance my way is like finding a needle in a haystack.

The insurance industry is a giant, but even giants can be brought down.

We insure to cover loss and damage. This system works because more people insure than claim.

Insurance companies make more from our policies than they spend in claims. Simple, well no.

As we stumble through the credit crunch, increasing unemployment and the pressures of improving lifestyles, it has become obvious that a compensation culture once considered crass in the UK has suddenly achieved in the acceptability stake.

As long as the numbers  add up, risks managed and there are enough clients purchasing policies then things were fine. Slowly though, a number of issues have contributed to a major threat to the insurance companies.

Tens of millions of pounds was claimed in the UK at the time of the severe floods in 2007.

The issues with global warming and coastal erosion have created a financial headache for the insurance industry.

Thousands of people lost their homes in freak flooding storms. Many still trying to put their lives together. There was little that the insurers could do at that time, other than pay-out on terms of the policy. A major headache was born.

In 2008 an actress called Leslie Ash was awarded £5m after contracting a form of MRSA after cosmetic surgery. 

This alerted the UK public to the menace of Hospital Acquired Infections, namely MRSA and C Diff,  Despite thousands of potential claims being put forward the insurance industry is fighting hard to keep the top tightly closed on claims for negligence. This is situation however may well turn sour for the insurers shortly as lawyers acting for the injured progress through the legal system.

The ticking time-bomb that is Asbestos Exposure may well prove to be the nemesis of the insurance industry. Damage to the human body by negligent asbestos exposure may well be thought of as the most deplorable form of negligence, but is the  wriggling and writhing of the insurance companies trying to cast-off their financial responsibilities to the insured just as bad, or indeed worse.

Pleural Plaques is though of as a mild medical condition, a resultant from asbestos exposure and offers little in the way of pain and suffering to those diagnosed with the condition. This is the stance the the House of Lords made when making change to the law and taking away the 

claim of sufferers to damages in 2006. There was a great deal of lobbying by the insurance companies who said the damages for Pleural Plaques would cost the industry £300m plus and threaten the industry as a whole. Despite this sufferers of the condition focused on the fact that

their pain was the worry that the condition would turn into more serious Asbestos related diseases such as Asbestosis, Lung Cancer or the worse type, Mesothelioma.

Incidences of asbestos related illnesses are on a steady increase, this despite earlier predictions that they would be in decline. The latency period for diseases can be upwards of 50 years. The silent killer is indeed among us. Yet the insurance industry is doing it's damnedest to avoid paying damages. 

The Scottish Parliament at Holrood recently passed bill for the redress of Pleural Plaques Compensation, which should help those suffering the condition make claim for damages on 17th June. The Insurers are taking a judicial review through the courts with an announcement expected 12th June

It would be not only be against the will of the people but a disgrace of society if the giants of the insurance world  triumph at the expense of those that they were paid to protect.

Peritoneal Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the peritoneum, which is the protective lining of the abdomen. Hence, this disease is also known abdominal mesothelioma.

The peritoneum has two layers, the visceral and the parietal peritoneum. The visceral peritoneum is the inner layer that envelops the abdominal organs and forms the periphery of the intestinal tract. On the other hand, parietal peritoneum is the outer layer that covers the abdominal cavity. The purpose of these layers is to protect the internal organs and to secrete a lubricating fluid that eases the movement of internal organs in the abdominal cavity.

Causes of Peritoneal Mesothelioma

It is widely believed that asbestos is the main cause for peritoneal mesothelioma. According to medical opinion, there are two ways asbestos dust could reach the intestine lining, one through involuntary ingestion during working long hours and days amid asbestos, and secondly, through the lungs while breathing and via the lymph nodes to the peritoneal cavity. Either way, it is harmful to the human body, and may invariably lead to this cancerous condition if exposed to for a longer period of time.

Symptoms of Peritoneal Mesothelioma

Peritoneal mesothelioma, like the other forms of mesothelioma, shows a very long latency period and its symptoms show up 20 -30 years after asbestos exposure.

Most often by this time it will be too late to effectively treat the disease or provide any constructive medication or treatment. Also because most of the symptoms are not specific to the cancer, a diagnosis of the cancer is usually not made quickly.

For example, the common mesothelioma symptoms include anemia, fever, weight loss, abdominal pain, and bowel obstruction, and it is highly likely that the doctor initially may consider other options than contemplating cancer.

Therefore, the patient telling the doctor about any previous asbestos exposure during the first consultation visit is very crucial, and that helps the doctor to think of a possible mesothelioma threat even before considering other possibilities.

Treatments

Once the disease has been diagnosed, the doctor recommends the treatments based on several factors such as the extent of the spread of the cancer, age and medical history of the person and the general state of health of the person.

The traditional treatments for mesothelioma include surgery ,radiation therapy- external and internal radiation, and chemotherapy, which involves the use of anti cancer drugs that are given either orally or intravenously.

With the advancement in science and technology, newer treatment techniques have been introduced, and some of them look promising.

Intraoperative photodynamic therapy is one such newer method that uses special drugs and light to destroy cancer cells.

Immunotherapy which is a way of boosting the immunity of ones own body against the spread of cancer is another new form of therapy.

Also, recently, researches have found that Gene Therapy is effective in correcting the faulty genes causing mesothelioma.  These two methods are however still in the clinical trials and are yet to be implemented in the general population.

Even though a wide range of treatments are available for mesothelioma, clinical experiences reveals that none of this alone is capable of treating the disease effectively. Therefore, it is a selected combination of some of these treatments called the "multimodality approach" that is commonly followed and the different modes of treatments to be used are decided by the doctor based on the general state of health of the patient , the level of advancement of cancer and his/her age.

The dangers of exposure to asbestos dust are well documented with tens of thousands of people stricken ill with Mesothelioma, Asbestosis and related diseases.  For many years, unsuspecting homeowners and workers worked with and lived around free, friable asbestos without with no knowledge of the dangerous and often deadly harm that breathing in even relatively small amounts of asbestos dust could do.  A frequently asked question then among many that believe that they had at least some exposure to asbestos dust is just how much asbestos exposure will cause you to get sick or even worse cause cancer?

The first thing to know about asbestos exposure is that ill effects from this exposure have a long latency period.  It is not unusual for someone exposed to asbestos to not develop mesothelioma for 25-40 years after exposure.  Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that affects the Mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's protective organs.  Asbestos fibers that are breathed in become lodged in the linings of the lungs and eventually cause the cells to mutate and become cancerous.  About 70-80% of Mesothelioma cases are estimated to be caused by various degrees of asbestos exposure.

The amount of exposure that causes disease in people is up for debate.  While there are many cases of factory or other workers that have had heavy exposure to free, friable exposure for many years developing disease, there are also cases where exposure has been as short as several months or just a few weeks.  Intensity of exposure is most likely as relevant as length of time.  If you think you were exposed to asbestos dust it is a good idea to write down as much as can be remembered as to length of time, intensity, where and how you were exposed.  Frequently asbestos litigation can be pursued if you can prove you worked in an industry or work setting or lived in an environment where there was exposed friable asbestos that affected you.

One of the reasons it is so important to document as much as possible how much asbestos exposure you might have had is because the disease of Mesothelioma is notoriously hard to detect and quite often is mistaken for other cancers.  It is important to detect the initial signs of asbestos disease both to receive early treatment as well as to clearly identify the cause for possible litigation later. The two primary types of Mesothelioma are Pleural (chest) and Peritoneal (abdominal).  In Pleural a lung's membrane will thicken a fluid will collect.  Both of these cause difficulty in the contractions of the lungs and make breathing difficult.  In Peritoneal similar symptoms appear but around the abdominal region  leading to fluid accumulation and pain in the area.

It is unknown how many people have died from Mesothelioma that might have been mis-diagnosed with another type of cancer.  Therefore it is important to educate youself on the differences and causes of each. One place to get great information on Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure is www.AsbestosLA.com.  There you can read lots of articles and get great links for further information.

There are five main asbestos diseases including asbestos cancer that can develop following exposure to asbestos fibres. These are malignant asbestos mesothelioma cancer, asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis, asbestos pleural thickening and asbestos pleural plaques, however, doctors who do not regularly diagnose asbestos disease can misdiagnose (or be slow to give a diagnosis) what the condition is. This can lead to sufferers of asbestos disease wrongly concluding they do not have a right to make an asbestos compensation claim. It is therefore extremely important for sufferers of lung disease who have been exposed to asbestos fibres to immediately contact a specialist asbestos lawyer or asbestos attorney for advice and assistance in obtaining an accurate diagnosis if there is any doubt.

There are five main asbestos diseases including asbestos cancers that can develop following exposure to asbestos fibres These are malignant asbestos mesothelioma cancer, asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis, asbestos pleural thickening and asbestos pleural plaques, however,

Doctors who do not regularly diagnose asbestos disease can misdiagnose (or be slow to give a diagnosis) what the condition is because:-

A history of asbestos exposure may not be volunteered to the doctor at an early stage as it may have occurred 30, 40, 50 or even more years prior to seeing the doctor and may have been forgotten about. A striking feature of asbestos disease is this long latency period between exposure and onset of symptoms, the fibres laying dormant for many years before causing asbestos disease or symptoms for which medical advice is sought.

Some asbestos diseases require exposure to only very few asbestos fibres to cause illness, especially mesothelioma which can be caused by just one fibre being inhaled into the lungs! This adds to the above mentioned difficulty of no, or only poor, recollection of exposure to asbestos fibres and accurate diagnosis.

As chest physicians become more aware of asbestos disease, due to its increasing incidence, and the need to ask patients at an early stage if they have ever been exposed to asbestos fibres, these difficulties become less and less of an issue, however, in addition to early history taking the following further difficulties regularly arise.

The radiological evidence (shown on x-ray films) is often misunderstood. This can often lead to a incorrect diagnosis being made in asbestos disease cases of pleural plaques and pleural thickening. This is usually due to inexperience and the fact that radiological evidence of asbestos pleural plaques is similar, to the inexperienced eye, to asbestos pleural thickening and vice versa.

This is important in the context of asbestos UK disease litigation as asbestos pleural plaques is currently not considered to be an "injury" by the UK courts for which compensation can be awarded! This is in spite of the fact that pleural plaques sufferers were routinely awarded compensation for twenty years prior to a Court of Appeal ruling in 2006.

Accurate diagnosis in cases of asbestos pleural thickening can be difficult due to the fact that apart from the potential for it to be radiologically confused with pleural plaques, it can also be confused with other non-asbestos related injuries or illnesses. For example, as part of the careful history taking in cases of suspected pleural thickening, it is important to ask the patient if they have ever had a fractured rib or ribs. The healing process of a fractured rib can leave behind radiological evidence that shows up on x-rays as pleural thickening. Other prior lung complications and conditions can also leave behind such evidence.

Difficulties can also arise when trying to arrive at an accurate diagnosis in cases of asbestosis. Asbestosis is the scarring of lung tissue caused by asbestos fibres in the lungs. The difficulty here is that scarring of lung tissue can be caused by other factors or foreign bodies entering the lungs and not just asbestos fibres. Lung scarring or fibrosis appears the same on x-ray films regardless of what has caused it. It is therefore crucial, perhaps more so than with any other asbestos disease, to ensure an early and very detailed history of significant exposure to asbestos fibres is taken and recorded as lung fibrosis can only be diagnosed as asbestosis if the patient has suffered significant and heavy exposure to asbestos fibres in the past.

Knowing the exact extent of each patient's asbestosis is necessary so to plan the appropriate management strategy.

Although a histopathologic examination of lung tissue is not necessary in diagnosing asbestosis, this serves a great role in determining the extent of the patient's disease. The American College of Pathologists have put out a grading scheme for these histopathological abnormalities, which runs from Grade 1 through 4. Grade 1 embodies fibrotic changes that are confined to the walls of the respiratory bronchiole without affecting the distal alveoli. Both Grades 2 and 3 label changes that identify a more advanced stage of asbestosis. Finally, Grade 4 represent fibrosis in the alveoli and septum. Honeycombing is also evident in the Grade 4 level of changes.

Asbestos bodies or ferruginous bodies can also be seen in histopathological specimens of lung tissues afflicted with Asbestosis. Ferruginous bodies are simply asbestos fibers that have come to develop a coat. This coating is made up of protein and ferritin (storage form of iron). These asbestos bodies have a characteristic appearance of long beads. Asbestos or ferruginous bodies however are not pathognomonic for asbestosis. Incidental findings of these are found in people who have no history of exposure to asbestos.

Management of asbestosis mainly revolves around the prompt cessation of exposure to asbestos once a diagnosis is reached, and a proper treatment and follow-up plan. Continued exposure to asbestos will enhance the progression of the disease. Although even when cessation of exposure has been established, asbestosis will still progress albeit at a much slower phase. Controlling asbestos exposure in places of work still remains as the most effective prevention. The wearing of respiratory protective gear as mandated by federal law should be done.

Physicians should advise patients who are smokers to quit smoking. These patients should also be referred to smoking cessation clinic to facilitate their quitting the habit. Careful search for any concurrent respiratory infections should be done. Prompt and proper anti-microbial treatment should be given if any are detected. Immunizations against seasonal Influenza virus and Pneumococcal bacteria should also be given. Particular attention must be paid to each individual patient's oxygenation status, both at rest and during exercise. If hypoxemia is detected, supplemental oxygen should be prescribed.

Treatments and follow-up plans should be tailored to each individual patient according to the severity of each patient's asbestosis and the level of functional impairments documented. The frequency of clinic visits, as well as the frequency of imaging studies and pulmonary function tests to be done should also complement the prepared treatment plan. This goes to show that an accurate and precise assessment of each individual patient's disease severity as well as level of functioning must be accomplished.

Provisions for hospice referral and palliative care should also be given appropriately once the disease reaches its terminal stages.

Medical therapy with corticosteroids and immunosuppressant drugs has not been found to alter the course of asbestosis. Although such is the case, these drugs may still be use for symptomatic relief from aggravating symptoms brought about by the various inflammatory, vasculitic and fibrosing processes that are at play.

Treatment of asbestosis revolves around basic symptomatic relief methods and a sound referral plan. Prompt recognition and diagnosis still is absolutely necessary for the apt execution of these plans.

My next door neighbor is replacing the asbestos roofing tiles on her 45 year old back house. The men doing the work are wearing gas masks. The dust and particles from the removal are flying over my six foot fence which sits about three feet from the structure. My two year old twin daughters were playing in the driveway adjacent to the work area. Is it safe and customary to remove asbestos tiles without some kind of tenting to prevent the dust from blowing into adjacent living areas? If we have been exposed to carcinogens what are the risks? Is it possible my children will contract asbestosis?

The connection between asbestos and respiratory diseases is known but is there a connection to other diseases? My dad worked in a shipyard for forty years. His company violated OSHA guidelines for decades. Daddy developed asbestosis and emphysema. Wives of shipyard workers have above average rates of cancer. Mom had cervical cancer and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Is there a connection?