The Hidden Secrets of Mesothelioma

The Hidden Secrets of Mesothelioma
By Joe Mandove

Mesothelioma is plastered all over television screens and billboards along site roads, however, the meaning of the cancer is still unknown to most United States citizens. To get straight to the point, Mesothelioma is a cancer that has no cure. There are two forms of this cancer. The pleural form is one of the types. This form is a cancer that develops around the lungs. The other form of cancer, which is much more rare, is a cancer of the stomach. This form of cancer is called Peritoneum cancer. Both of these forms are caused by exposure to asbestos. Usually, once exposed to asbestos, it will take anywhere from twenty to forty years for Mesothelioma to form. This does not meant that if you were a little kid and walked into a shed made primarily of this cardinogen material that twenty years from that time you would develop this life ending disease. Even workers who were exposed to asbestos day after day do not and will never get cancer. On the other, hand many industrial workers who handled asbestos every day for years will develop cancer and eventually die from it. This depends on your genetics and the length of time that you were exposed to asbestos. The majority of the people who do develop cancer are in fact blue collar low income laborers who touched asbestos day in and day out without even knowing it. The way they found out was by news or actually getting the symptoms of cancer. This would be like someone working at a Windex factory sitting down to watch the Nightly Evening news and learning that the chemicals in Windex have been discovered to cause cancer. This comparison goes to show the tragedy of Mesothelioma.

Another tragedy about this disease is that it currently has no cure. The only ways to treat Mesothelioma have little or no success. Helping the victim cope by form of moral support and pain numbing medication are as of today the best ways to deal with this asbestos caused disease.

Spreading knowledge about this incurable victims is the least United States citizens can do to help fight this cause. This is one of the only ways to help, since building resources for a cure for this cancer is one of the best ways to fight it.