Search Results for: right to try

Plumbers Still at High Risk of Mesothelioma According to Study
|

Plumbers Still at High Risk of Mesothelioma According to Study

ByAlex Strauss

Plumbers are among the industrial workers most at risk for deadly mesothelioma cancer.  That’s the finding of an insurance industry study recently done in the UK. The report, prepared for Claims National, found that current or former plumbers and pipe fitters, as well as electricians, builders and auto mechanics, have a much higher incidence of the asbestos-related cancer than people working in other industries.  It’s a finding supported by CDC researchers in the U.S. who found the number of mesothelioma deaths among plumbers and pipe fitters ‘proportionately significant’ and predict the numbers could keep rising for another 40 years. Asbestos is an insulating material that was widely used in industry around the world until the 1980’s.  It was particularly prized in plumbing…

Outdoor Recreation Could Pose Mesothelioma Risk in California
| |

Outdoor Recreation Could Pose Mesothelioma Risk in California

ByAlex Strauss

Outdoor enthusiasts are being warned to steer clear of the trails around abandoned gold mines in California’s Sierra Nevada foothills, or risk mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases. A study by The Sierra Fund (TSF) says mountain bikers, hikers and horseback riders in these areas could be in danger of serious health hazards including mesothelioma because of high levels of toxic minerals in the soil around the old mines.  The study, called The Gold Country Recreational Trails and Abandoned Mines Assessment, found many of these public lands to be contaminated with lead, arsenic and asbestos. According to Elizabeth Martin, CEO of The Sierra Fund, “More than 100 years after the end of the Gold Rush era, the environmental, cultural and health impacts of that…

Experts Predict Mesothelioma Epidemic in India

Experts Predict Mesothelioma Epidemic in India

ByAlex Strauss

Once prized as an insulator and building material, the mineral asbestos is now recognized by health experts around the world, including the World Health Organization (WHO), as a potent carcinogen that can cause mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases.  While many industrialized nations now ban or seriously restrict its use, India continues to import and use asbestos at a rate that is alarming the world medical community. A recent article published in the British medical journal, The Lancet, predicts that with “India’s surging consumption of asbestos, the industry’s hefty political and economic clout, and the country’s poor record of worker protection….a sizeable burden of asbestos-related disease is inevitable” leading to health consequences that “will be felt into the next century.”  These health…

Buildings, Industries and Soil Pose Mesothelioma Risk in New Jersey
|

Buildings, Industries and Soil Pose Mesothelioma Risk in New Jersey

ByAlex Strauss

Removal of mesothelioma-causing asbestos is taking much longer than expected at an historic New Jersey library building where employees and patrons may have come in contact with the substance for years. Nearly a month after it was scheduled to reopen, the East Orange Public Library remains closed.  The 1914-vintage building was closed after a state health department inspection found exposed asbestos throughout the building, which could put employees and patrons at risk for deadly mesothelioma cancer.  The library was ordered to hire a professional abatement contractor to safety remove the dangerous material, but months after the job was started, there is no indication when the building will reopen. As a state with many old and historic neighborhoods, New Jersey has many…

Does Preventive Radiation After Mesothelioma Surgery Help?
| |

Does Preventive Radiation After Mesothelioma Surgery Help?

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma patients in the United Kingdom commonly receive radiation to prevent the cancer from spreading after open chest surgical procedures, even though the benefit of this practice has not yet been confirmed. Many doctors would like to have a more comprehensive clinical study performed on the use of preventive radiation, according to a review published in the July issue of the journal, Lung Cancer. Patients with mesothelioma often have fluid build-up in the space around the lungs (pleural effusion). To remove this fluid, doctors must open up the chest and drain it. However, during this and other invasive procedures such as biopsies and thoracoscopies (examination of the inside of the chest), the cancer can spread along the tracts made by…

Mesothelioma Patients Benefit From CT-PET Scan
| |

Mesothelioma Patients Benefit From CT-PET Scan

ByAlex Strauss

A combination computed tomography-positron emission tomography (CT-PET) scan is more accurate than either CT scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at staging mesothelioma, preventing many patients with late-stage cancer from having to undergo invasive surgery, according to a recent study in Clinical Lung Cancer. A common mesothelioma treatment for earlier stage disease combines chemotherapy, radiation, and extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP)—a surgery that removes the entire lung, heart lining (pericardium), and diaphragm. Though it is effective at removing cancer cells, EPP is major surgery. Approximately 5% of patients die from the surgery, and many more develop serious complications such as bleeding, respiratory failure, and blood clots. Because of these risks, it is important to determine which patients are the most appropriate candidates before…

139 Ways to Avoid Cancer
|

139 Ways to Avoid Cancer

ByAlex Strauss

Here are 139 ways to help avoid getting cancer from a well documented carcinogen – asbestos.  Asbestos causes mesothelioma, other cancers and asbestosis.  Most of these asbestos caused diseases are considered incurable by mainstream doctors. What is Asbestos? Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral.  Because of its heat resistance and tensile strength it has been used in thousands of products.  As early as the 1930’s and 1940’s manufacturers of asbestos containing products discovered that this mineral could cause diseases including cancer.  Unfortunately, even armed with this knowledge, they did little to protect workers and consumers for the next several decades. No Asbestos Ban in the United States On July 12, 1989, after conducting a ten year study, spending millions of dollars,…

Asbestos Workers Face Increased Risk of Cancer Death
|

Asbestos Workers Face Increased Risk of Cancer Death

ByAlex Strauss

Workers who have been exposed to asbestos on the job are more likely to die from lung cancers,mesothelioma, and asbestosis, as well as from stomach cancer and stroke, according to one of the longest-running studies of British asbestos workers, published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine. On the positive side, more stringent asbestos regulations appear to be reducing the risk of asbestos-related diseases among younger workers. Since the early part of the 20th century, asbestos-related diseases have been the leading cause of job-related deaths in Great Britain, and the number of deaths has been on the rise. Although Britain has enacted stricter laws governing the use of industrial asbestos, exposed workers will likely continue to develop deadly cancers in the years…

Mesothelioma and Early Lung Cancer Identified by Screening
| |

Mesothelioma and Early Lung Cancer Identified by Screening

ByAlex Strauss

Using computed tomography scans to screen former asbestos workers can detect both early and late-stage lung cancer and late-stage mesothelioma, according to a study in the May Journal of Thoracic Oncology. However, it’s still not clear whether screening for these cancers might improve patients’ prognoses. Exposure to asbestos fibers is a known risk factor for lung cancer and the cause of mesothelioma. Although asbestos is still not completely banned in the U.S., it was phased out of American industry to a large degree beginning in the 1970s.  However because asbestos-related diseases can take 20 to 40 years to emerge after people have been exposed, former asbestos workers and those exposed to products containing this carcinogen continue to be diagnosed with asbestos…

Mesothelioma Risk in U.K.
| |

Mesothelioma Risk in U.K.

ByAlex Strauss

British people who’ve worked in high-risk jobs like carpentry and plumbing, especially before age 30, are at greatest risk of developing the deadly lung cancer,mesothelioma, according to a recent study in the British Journal of Cancer. Mesothelioma is caused by asbestos exposure. Although regulations have reduced the amount of asbestos in both British and American buildings since the 1970s, the mesothelioma death rate in Britain has continued to climb among people over age 60. For the first time, researchers there decided to examine the connection between lifetime asbestos exposure in the workplace and home, and mesothelioma risk. This study included 622 mesothelioma patients in England, Wales, and Scotland who were born after 1925, as well as a group of 1,420…