mesothelioma rates
A risk factor is something that affects the likelihood of contracting a disease like cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors. For example, display skin to sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer. Smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer, mouth, larynx (voice box), bladder, kidney and other organs. Having a known risk factor, or even several risk factors does not mean that you will get the disease. And some people who contract the disease may have had no known risk factor.
These are the well-known risk factors for the development of mesothelioma cancer:
1-Asbestos:
The main risk factor for developing mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos. In fact, the majority of mesothelioma cases have been linked to exposure to asbestos in the workplace.
Asbestos refers to a family of fibrous minerals made of silicate. It is a natural mineral found in dust and rocks in some parts United States and elsewhere. There are 2 main forms of asbestos:
1-fiber serpentine (curly) include chrysotile, the most used form of asbestos. 2-amphiboles are thin, rod-like fibers. There are 5 main types – crocidolite, amosite, anthrophylite, tremolite, and actinolyte.
Amphiboles (crocidolite in particular) are considered to be more likely to cause cancer. However, chrysotile fibers commonly used are also linked to mesothelioma.
When inhaled chrysotile fibers in the air, tend to adhere to mucus in the throat, trachea (windpipe) or bronchi (tubes breathing that much of the lungs) and then are approved by spitting or swallowing. However, the long, thin amphibole fibers are less readily cleared, and can reach to the ends of the small airways and penetrate into the pleural lining of the lung and chest wall. These fibers can damage mesothelial cells of the pleura, and eventually cause mesothelioma.
Asbestos fibers can also damage lung cells and cause asbestosis (formation of tissue scar in the lung) and / or lung cancer. Peritoneal mesothelioma, which forms in the abdomen, may result from coughing and swallowing inhaled asbestos fibers. Because of its heat and fire resistant properties, asbestos was used in many products such as insulation, floor tiles, door gaskets, soundproofing, roofing, composite patch, fireproof gloves, ironing board covers, and brake pads. The link between asbestos and mesothelioma is well known, so its use in the U.S. has fallen dramatically. Most use stopped after 1989, but still used in some products.
Persons at risk of workplace asbestos the exhibition includes some of the miners, factory workers, manufacturers and installers of insulation, railway and automobile workers, builders of boats, gas mask makers, and construction workers. Family members of people exposed to asbestos at work also have a higher risk of developing mesothelioma, because asbestos fibers can take home the clothes of workers. The incidence rate of mesothelioma in men appears to be decreasing, probably because it is much less direct exposure to asbestos in industrial workplaces.
Asbestos was used in the insulation of many homes old, as well as commercial and public buildings across the country, including some schools.
The risk of developing asbestos-related mesothelioma is what a person was exposed to how long this exposure lasted. People exposed at an early age, over a long period of time, and levels high are more likely to develop breast cancer.
Mesothelioma take a long time to develop. The time between first exposure to asbestos and diagnosis mesothelioma is usually between 20 and 50. Unfortunately, the risk of mesothelioma does not drop with time after exposure to asbestos. The risk appears to be permanent and has not declined.
2-Zeolites
Zeolites are silicate minerals that are chemically related to asbestos. An example is erionite, which is common in soil in parts of Turkey. The high rates of mesothelioma in these areas is believed to be due to asbestos exposure.
3-radiation
There have been some published reports of mesotheliomas that developed after exposure to high doses of radiation to the chest or abdomen or after injection of thorium dioxide (Thorotrast). This material was used by doctors for certain x-ray tests until the 1950s. Thorotrast was found to cause cancer, so it has not been used for many years.
4-virus SV40 Some studies have raised the possibility of infection with simian virus 40 (SV40) might increase the risk of developing mesothelioma. Some injectable polio vaccines given between 1955 and 1963 were contaminated with SV40. As many as 30 million people in the United States States may have been exposed to the virus. But so far no conclusive evidence of increased cases of mesothelioma among people who have received this vaccine contaminated.
About the Author:
Bello kamorudeen.For more information on mesothelioma, go to http://www.mesotheliomacorner.blogspot.com
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – What are the four main risk factors for mesothelioma?
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