mesothelioma risk

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    Diagnosing Mesothelioma With a Breath Test

    ByAlex Strauss

    Diagnosing mesothelioma may one day be as simple as taking a breath test. A team of researchers in the Netherlands have been testing the effectiveness of an electronic nose in detecting mesothelioma, a fast-growing cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.  Mesothelioma is notoriously difficult to diagnose because it often mimics other lung-related diseases.  In addition, some of the most effective methods for diagnosing mesothelioma carry a high risk of complications, especially in the elderly – the group most likely to get the disease because of its long latency. Doctors in the Department of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Amsterdam Medical Center conducted an experiment to determine whether an electronic nose called the Cyranose 320 could tell the difference between healthy people,…

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    Both Pleural and Peritoneal Mesothelioma Connected to Asbestos

    ByAlex Strauss

    Italy has one of the highest rates of mesothelioma in the world and according to two new studies, mesothelioma rates are a “suitable indicator” of asbestos exposure for both peritoneal and pleural mesothelioma. Asbestos has long been known to be the cause of mesothelioma.  Italian researchers have highlighted this association by analyzing Italian mesothelioma data from 1995-2002.  They discovered that the annual mortality rate was 1.9 per 100,000. Significant mesothelioma clusters were found in the industries often associated with asbestos exposure, including: asbestos-cement industries, shipyards, oil refineries and petrochemical industries.  The authors concluded that their study “confirms malignant pleural neoplasms mortality as a suitable indicator of asbestos exposure at geographic level.” In a related study, Italian researchers examined the relationship between…

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    Mesothelioma Deaths Still a Mystery among Minnesota Miners

    ByAlex Strauss

    More bad news for taconite workers along Minnesota’s Canadian border:  The number of taconite workers who have died of mesothelioma has risen from 63 to 82 since last year.  The increase is further evidence that, for reasons which are still unclear, these miners may be at higher risk for mesothelioma than the general population. The figures are the latest from an ongoing study on the health effects of the mineral taconite, a form of iron-ore which has been mined in the region since the 1950’s.  The $4.9 million dollar Taconite Workers Health Study began in 2008 after a number of taconite workers contracted lung cancer and mesothelioma, the asbestos caused cancer. Three years into the five-year study, the link between taconite mining…

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    Clinical Trials Offer Options for Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Mesothelioma is a devastating malignancy in the lining of the lungs and other internal organs. It affects about 2,500 Americans annually, most of them industrial workers who came in contact with the toxic mineral asbestos 20 to 50 years ago. Because the prognosis is generally poor for mesothelioma there are a number of clinical trials underway to find more effective treatments. Clinical trials are organized formal studies of a new drug or other treatment protocol in human patients. They can be an important source of hope and help for patients, especially those who may have few proven treatment options. But, in order for clinical trials to be effective, a certain number of mesothelioma patients must be willing to take the…

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    New Clues How Asbestos Causes Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    A team of Japanese researchers believe they may have found another piece of the puzzle explaining why asbestos causes malignant mesothelioma. Asbestos is a naturally occurring soil mineral, mined for decades for use in various industrial applications.  Since its use was first linked to deadly malignant mesothelioma around the middle of the century, researchers around the world have been trying to uncover exactly what makes the material so toxic. Now, a new laboratory study of several types of asbestos may have found part of the answer. Using an advanced system known as ‘matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry’, the Japanese team identified a number of cellular proteins that tend to attach themselves to the surface of asbestos molecules once those molecules…

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    Mesothelioma Risk Still Exists After 9/11

    ByAlex Strauss

    A decade after the attack on the World Trade Centers, health officials are bracing for latent health effects such as mesothelioma among the tens of thousands of people exposed to toxic dust at the scene. The collapse of the World Trade Centers in 2001 released huge clouds of dust and spread high levels of airborne pollutants across Manhattan and part of Brooklyn, New York.  Asbestos fibers, which causes mesothelioma, was one of the pollutants released.  Malignant mesothelioma is a disease in which a cancer grows on the mesothelium, the membrane that forms the lining of several body cavities. An estimated 60,000 to 70,000 responders suffered the most concentrated exposure, but thousands of other people who were just in the area at the…

  • Study Confirms Mesothelioma Danger for Home Renovators

    ByAlex Strauss

    An Australian study reconfirms that performing home renovations on homes built before the 1980’s can put a person at increased risk for mesothelioma if proper precautions are not taken. Australian workers unions that have been vocal in recent months about the risk of mesothelioma to home renovators now have a published study to back them up.  Researchers from the University of Western Australia have just published a study on the incidence of malignant mesothelioma in their region and the news is not good. Using the Western Australian Mesothelioma Register, the team reviewed all cases of malignant mesothelioma diagnosed in western Australia from 1960 to the end of 2008 and determined the primary source of asbestos exposure in each case. Of the…

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    Mesothelioma on the Rise in Aussie Women

    ByAlex Strauss

    An Australian news service is reporting a spike in the number of women contracting mesothelioma and they are blaming the growing popularity of do-it-yourself home renovation. According to The Mercury.com, the number of Tasmanian female mesothelioma patients is up sharply in recent years.  The website quotes the president of Australia’s Asbestos Diseases Foundation, Barry Robson, as saying the new state-by-state government mesothelioma statistics due out soon could prove to be “stark reading”. “But we have already seen an increase in the number of women affected by asbestos-related conditions over the past decade or so and that is increasing,” Robson told the news source. In Australia, as well as elsewhere in the world, asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma have affected far more…

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    U.K. Government Releases ‘Shocking’ Mesothelioma Stats

    ByAlex Strauss

    The British government has released some surprising and disturbing figures highlighting the size of the mesothelioma problem in the country. In a new report that Britain’s Express’ calls “shocking”, the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says more than 1.8 million people are exposed to asbestos every year in the country and one dies of the disease every four hours. As the incidence of mesothelioma continues to rise, the HSE predicts that 5,000 people will die of it each year by 2015. That figure means mesothelioma numbers may be twice as high in the U.K. (and much higher per capita) as in the U.S., where the National Cancer Institute currently estimates 2,500 deaths a year. Mesothelioma is a malignancy that…

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    Mesothelioma Verdicts Highlight the Asbestos Danger

    ByAlex Strauss

    Some large mesothelioma settlements this summer have resulted in more $25 million for victims of the disease from coast to coast. In New Orleans, former shipyard worker Leopold Granier, Jr. won his $1.5 million suit against Union Carbide, Avondale Shipyards and Cajun Insulation, alleging that the companies were negligent in allowing his exposure to cancer-causing asbestos.  Granier worked at the Avondale shipyard, which was once the largest employer in the state of Louisiana.  The jury found that the companies named in the suit produced products that were a “substantial and contributing cause” of Granier’s mesothelioma.  The shipyard is slated to close in 2013 because of reduced business from the Navy. In San Diego, a 70-year old Navy veteran won a $2.4 million…