Archive for the tag 'building materials'

Study Finds Increased Mesothelioma Death Rates In A Group Of Shipyard Workers

by Sam Gurgis

A recent study conducted on workers in a US Coast Guard shipyard has found a significantly greater mortality rate associated with lung cancer and mesothelioma compared to the general population. The study also found an increased general mortality rate.

The study followed 4702 (4413 men and 289 women) civilian workers who were employed at the shipyard between January 1950 and December 1964. The study then measured the number of deaths and their causes through 31 December 2001.

The study was conducted by S Krstev, P Stewart, J Rusiecki, A Blair and was published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The original study publication is available at http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/64/10/651.

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is usually associated with exposure to asbestos. The majority of individuals who are diagnosed with mesothelioma have a history of exposure to asbestos particles at work or home. Family members of workers have also been affected. Renovators of homes containing asbestos cement material are accounting for an increasing number of diagnosed sufferers. Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear for decades after the exposure to asbestos. Symptoms include abdominal pain and weight loss. Diagnosis of mesothelioma can be difficult due to the fact that the symptoms are similar to other respiratory diseases.

Since mesothelioma is primarily caused by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma can be best be prevented by avoiding or limiting exposure to asbestos in homes, public buildings, and at work. Workers that may be at risk include miners, factory workers, insulation manufacturers, railroad workers, ship builders, contractors and construction workers, particularly those involved with insulation. If there is a possibility of exposure (such as when renovating old buildings) protective equipment should be used and safety procedures should be applied. Asbestos was commonly used in building materials due to its durability and fire-resistant properties. In addition to buildings, asbestos was used in the manufacture of cars and ships and many other products.

About the Author
Sam Gurgis is a scientific writer and the webmaster at mesotheliomawise.org and sam-gurgis.com

Mesothelioma Cancer Treatment and Prevention

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer. It caused by previous exposure to asbestos. An exposure of as little as one or two months can result in mesothelioma 30 or 40 years later. Simian virus 40 (SV40) may act as a cofactor in the development of mesothelioma. Malignant mesothelioma is the most serious of all asbestos-related diseases. The two major types of malignant mesothelioma are pleural mesothelioma, which concerns the mesothelium membrane that surrounds the lungs, and peritoneal mesothelioma which concerns the mesothelium layer that covers the organs in the abdominal cavity. The people most at risk from being carriers of this cancer are those have worked with asbestos over the past thirty to fifty years. Because of this, the disease is most common in men between the ages of sixty and seventy as this is the group that commonly worked with asbestos during those years. Because of the lack of protection and regulations in those days, these workers were constantly exposed to the dust and fibres from the asbestos, which caused the cells of the mesothelium to become abnormal. Many building materials used in both public and domestic premises prior to the banning of asbestos may contain asbestos. Those performing renovation works or diy activities may expose themselves to asbestos dust.

Mesothelium helps protect the organs by producing a special lubricating fluid that allows organs to move around. Mesothelioma is an extremely malignant and incurable cancer that infects the membrane that surrounds most of the internal organs. Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 20 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos. Shortness of breath, cough, and pain in the chest due to an accumulation of fluid in the pleural space are often symptoms of pleural mesothelioma. Affecting the mesothelial cells that make up the mesothelium – the outer lining that protects the body’s major organs such as the heart, stomach and lungs. Pleural mesothelioma represents 75% of mesothelioma cases - but it is far from the only type of this deadly cancer. Peritoneal mesothelioma affects the lining around the stomach and intestines, and is just as dangerous and deadly. Treatment of MM using conventional therapies has not proved successful and patients have a median survival time of 6 - 12 months after presentation. The clinical behaviour of the malignancy is affected by several factors including the continuous mesothelial surface of the pleural cavity

Mesothelioma Cancer Treatment and Prevention Tips

1. Health-care workers who specialize in part control are employing state-of-the art techniques to successfully fight pain.

2. During the initial stages of mesothelioma, pain can be relieved with over-the-counter analgesics, such as aspirin, Tylenol or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin).

3. Drug therapy is the primary method for treating mesothelioma pain.

4. Non-Opoids are pain-relieving medicines such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) and NSAIDs, such as ibuprofin, which can be purchases over-the-counter and taken orally.

5. Opoids are the strongest medicines available to treat pain. Opoids, such as codeine, morphine, oxcodone, fentany, and hydromorphone, are very effective in relieving mesothelioma pain.

6. Adjuvant analgesics are medicines intended for purposes other than pain relief. A number of these are used to alleviate pain associated with mesothelioma, such as antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and steroids.

7. Emotional Support to Help Relieve Pain.As with all aspects of mesothelioma, emotional support from family or professional counseling can play a key role in pain management

8. For patients with localized disease, and who can tolerate a radical surgery, radiation is often given post-operatively as a consolidative treatment.

9. Chrysotile has been used more frequently, hence many mesotheliomas are caused by chrysotile.

10. Removal is taking place in schools and other public buildings throughout the U.S. The hope is that these measures will greatly reduce the occurrence of this cancer.
Author: Juliet Cohen


Juliet Cohen writes articles for http://www.healthatoz.info/ and http://www.health-disease.org/


Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_185414_17.html

Mesothelioma - Cause and Effect of Mesothelioma

Almost all Mesothelioma cancer cases are due to asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma affects the protective lining of the body’s internal organs known as the Mesothelium. When you inhale air containing asbestos particles, the air directly affects the Mesothelium lining of the body. In most cases, the lungs and abdomen are affected the most.

Asbestos fibers are very fine and tiny and when they come into contact with the lungs of anyone who is exposed, it causes inflammation and the formation of scar tissue. This may then lead to Mesothelioma. The fibers become imbedded into the lungs and works through the membrane around it causing this type of cancer.

Asbestos is made of minerals with long thin fibrous crystals and it is flexible, strong and highly durable. Asbestos as also widely used in insulation because of its resistance to heat, electricity and chemical damage. Because it had so many good properties and was cheap to produce, it was used virtually everywhere and was in almost all buildings and houses. It was only until the 1960s that the link between Asbestos and Mesothelioma was discovered.

Abdominal Mesothelioma is caused when the fine Asbestos fibers find their way into the digestive system when swallowed. Again, this will affect the protective lining of the abdominal passage and may cause this type of cancer. Besides that, exposure to Asbestos may also cause person to suffer from chronic lung disease and respiratory problems.

People who are exposed to Asbestos on a daily basis like construction workers, factory workers or even those who live near asbestos factories are most likely to develop Mesothelioma. Since the link between this deadly cancer and asbestos was discovered, this material is no longer widely used. However, Mesothelioma may not surface for as long as 60 years after exposure. Therefore, anyone who came into contact with this material should be regularly checked for this cancer.

In some very rare cases, Mesothelioma does develop even if a person is not exposed to asbestos. The exact cause for this is still unknown and it may be due to genetics or family history. Since the link between asbestos and this cancer was discovered, home and buildings that used this material for insulation and building materials were removed. As there is a proven direct linkage between this material and Mesothelioma, we should all take extra precaution if were to come into contact with this deadly material. It is best to avoid being exposed to this harmful material at all cost.


Find out more on Malignant Mesothelioma by visiting http://raysinfo.info, a popular information website that specializes in offering the latest information on health, wealth, wisdom and also about pleural mesothelioma

Guide by asbestos and the issues of health

Unless you have been completely out of touch, then you probably noise about the dangers of asbestos. So, what’s the problem?

Guide by asbestos and the issues of health

Asbestos is a material fibers, which are very resistant to fire. It has a long history. If, for the first time on a large scale at the turn of the twentieth century, there is already much longer. Indeed, the ancient Egyptians are known for the use of burial clothes.

Modern Common applications for building materials, products for the automotive and pads, which is a constant series with the element fire. Asbestos is today, but on a very small scale. The reason has to do its utmost to see to the health. Asbestos itself is not dangerous to humans. What is bad, however, the asbestos dust.

Dust from asbestos is a perverse thing. Based on the chemical composition of matter, the dust is a bit like a cloud of fine particles of glass. Although it does not affect the skin, they make a lot of damage to lungs. Do the things that asbestos dust is so fine that it is easy to asbestos as a building material panels from the ceiling and walls. Once in the air, that is all but invisible. A longer exposure, such as when you are in or on a building with asbestos materials, large quantities of toxic dust, in the lungs.

Once asbestos dust in your lungs, then you can not deport by coughing. This does not mean that the body does not try. The asbestosis is the healing of the lungs, the acid caused by the body, in an effort to asbestos dust. If this process is entitled, in the coming 10 to 20 years, the lungs can no longer work because the excess of scars. If this is not good, it escalates. The asbestos dust can lead to a terminal cancer in the form of mesothelioma. [What is the mesothelioma?]

Asbestos is an excellent material for the fire, which saves us during the incineration of the assassination of us in a much slower. Since 1989, he was banned in the United States, except in some areas.

Mesothelioma - early to prevent big trouble

The Mesothelioma is a relatively rare form of cancer, where the cancer cells grow in the mésothélium - a bag protection, the majority of the organs of the body. As with most cancers, early detection of Mesothelioms increases the chances for the disease to beat.

But early detection is difficult, with mesothelioma because it is a long period of rest of 30 or 40 years ago, in which the cancer is relatively inactive and barely caused symptoms. If the disease is in its active phase, it can rapidly in the inner organs such as the lung, heart and abdominal organs. In its active phase, it is very difficult to deal with success, because it is growing and so fast.

The causes of Mesothelioms

Mesothelioma was hardly in the public eye, until a few years ago. She has a very accurate - the asbestos exposure. And the dangers of asbestos exposure can not do much in the years 1970 and 80, when the severe impact on health no longer be ignored.

How often this happens in cases where commercial products with harmful side effects, there was great resistance to the recognition of its dangers. In the case of asbestos, it is a product that is very important properties that are an ideal tool for applications in isolation.

In the first half of the last century until the middle of 1970, asbestos was used as standard material to delays in the transfer of heat in buildings, machinery and heavy equipment, and a wide range of commercial applications. There was abundant and cheap to my, asbestos was often used in building materials such as the House of insulation, flooring, ceilings and tiles. He was also often used in commercial products such as brake linings and insulation of pipes.

This meant that millions of people have been in contact with asbestos on a daily basis. And because the effects of exposure to asbestos fibers often not shown for 30 or 40 years after a long, it often seems there is not the immediate threat to health.

It was particularly important for the workers who are out of the treaty and asbestos. Although the workers regularly sick and had often premature, painful death, the long period of calm mesothelioma, it was difficult to connect with asbestos.

Even short-term, the exposure to asbestos causes mesothelioma

In general, the probability of developing this type of cancer is directly related to the length of time that the asbestos. The danger for the health also increases with the intensity of exposure to asbestos.

However, an exhibition of only one or two months, a mesothelioma 30 or 40 years later. At the age of 48 years, a member of the Canadian Parliament, Chuck Beam, recently received a diagnosis of mesothelioma and up to the tracks back in the development of the pad on the hardware forestry companies after his Secondary. Ray, the case is a good example that the mesothelioma has a latency period of 20 to 50 years. Like thousands of others, he has the disease of time after exposure to asbestos.

The symptoms of Mesothelioms

Because of its long dormancy, the mesothelioma is often not detected until it from his active aggressive. Mesothelioma pleural mesothelioma - cancer in the mucosal pulmonary - because of chronic cough or breathlessness. Unfortunately, these symptoms can easily be confused with a cold or allergies.

Indeed pleural mesothelioma is often discovered by chance, when the patients who believe that more than one of these diseases. The other symptoms of pleural mesothelioma can be pain in the chest, chronic cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, shortness of breath, hoarseness, weight loss, or blood in the lungs of cough with phlegm.

Mesothelioma peritoneal influenced the wall to the stomach and intestinal complaints, and is usually just as dangerous. Mesothelioma peritoneal symptoms of pain or swelling in the abdomen, weight loss, bowel obstruction, anemia and fever.

Treatment of Mesothelioms

Unfortunately, at the moment, where most of those infected are aware that mesothelioma, he no longer sleep and is very aggressive. Once it is no longer sleeping in this type of cancer can quickly move, and it is almost impossible to stop.

Although there are treatments that are available for the convenience of patients, there is currently no solution for mesothelioma, and not less than 75% of those who lose their lives disease in a year. The rest can be up to six months.

Among the treatments that are used to reduce the effects of the disease are oxygen, drainage and analgesics. A wide range of approaches to treatment are being tested for the attempt to strengthen the body of the natural immune system in gene therapy, which attempts to address the problem at the level of DNA. Homeopathy, acupuncture and herbs are also used. But it was still a very effective when the disease reaches the stage, aggressive.

Given the poor prognosis for people who do not like it, the disease in time, early detection is the best defence against mesothelioma. If you worked in an industry such as construction or suspect that you could have been, the asbestos to be vigilant and the symptoms, contact your doctor. Like all other forms of cancer, mesothelioma detect as early as possible, it increases your chances to survive.