A new documentary which is to be shown on April 2 will look at cancer, where it was and where it is now. The documentary will not only look at the history of cancer but it will explore the major cancer breakthroughs which have been made in treating all type of cancer including mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a terminal cancer which is caused by exposure to asbestos and it can take decades for symptoms to develop. However unlike some other cancers there is no cure and 45,000 Americans have already died from mesothelioma with around 3,000 more being diagnosed every single year. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that way back in 1918, even though the United States government knew that there was an abnormally high risk of early death to those who worked with asbestos, they did not issue any safety guidelines until 1979.

As well as being interesting to understand the history of cancer and its treatment, the documentary will also show the major advances being made in treatment and highlight those drugs currently being researched which may make major inroads to help to find a cure from mesothelioma.

If you have been diagnosed with any an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. To find out how we can help you recover for your asbestos related claim, contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP at (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Research is ongoing as part of a $5 million study which has been prompted by high rates of a rare, deadly lung cancer called mesothelioma in iron ore miners.

The dust from the mines has long been a concern for Iron Range communities such as Keewatin, Minnesota which received $60,000 for a new street sweeper from U.S. Steel in 2008 as part of an agreement over dust coming from the company’s iron ore plant to the south.

The most significant finding of the research so far has come from health tests of miners’ spouses, who unlike the miners do not show elevated rates of lung abnormalities or disease. However the figures among the miners themselves make for sobering reading, and last week, the state Health Department released new data showing 21 additional miners stricken with mesothelioma, for a total of 101 since the cluster was first identified in 2003. Almost all have died.

University health researchers have found that iron ore workers are stricken with mesothelioma at more than double the expected rate. While the research has linked miners’ illnesses to taconite dust exposure over many years, it did not explicitly blame taconite particles. Commercial asbestos used decades ago in mining operations remains the prime suspect in the cancers.

If you have been diagnosed with any an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. To find out how we can help you recover for your asbestos related claim, contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP at (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

There is now new evidence of people developing mesothelioma having had no history of exposure to asbestos at work, but instead, they have been exposed to asbestos while repairing or renovating their homes.

Mesothelioma is a highly aggressive and currently incurable cancer caused almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos dust. Most of those who contract mesothelioma have worked in an industry such as construction or mining where they were exposed over a long period of time.

A group of researchers at Aarhus University Hospital in Slagelse, Denmark have said that they have studied mesothelioma patients who were exposed to asbestos while cutting into and drilling roof sheeting in their homes. Neither had ever worked in an industry where they were exposed to asbestos. The researchers say that it shows how important it is to take care when working with asbestos products as the dust which is a result of cutting or drilling or sanding can never be expelled from the body once inhaled and it is that which can lead to mesothelioma. And it only needs one single exposure.

Usually homes built after the 1980s contain very little asbestos because it was known that it could cause cancer, but those built earlier, may very well contain asbestos in the roof, ceiling or floor tiles or insulation.

To minimize the risk of mesothelioma, anyone planning to do home repairs who thinks there may be asbestos in the home should always contact an asbestos professional.

If you have been diagnosed with any an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. To find out how we can help you recover for your asbestos related claim, contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP at (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Mongolia has just announced it has the first case of mesothelioma in the country.

The victim is a 47 year old woman who worked in a coal burning power plant for some 28 years. As often happens, asbestos is used in the power plants in Mongolia as insulation.

Given that more than 80 percent of mesothelioma cases worldwide have a history of asbestos exposure, and the power plants in Mongolia have a large amount of asbestos, Mongolia is now preparing itself for a significant number of mesothelioma cases and other asbestos related diseases.

In the United States there are more than 50,000 power plants and they too have a been a major source of asbestos exposure due to the insulation of pipes and boilers especially. In addition sometimes the floors and ceilings were also made of asbestos to reduce the fire risk. Although the use of asbestos in the power plants was discontinued in the 1970s many of the old plants still have it and workers are now being told to wear protective gear in those areas, but that does not help those who were exposed to the asbestos in previous years who are at risk of developing mesothelioma now.

If you have been diagnosed with any an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. To find out how we can help you recover for your asbestos related claim, contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP at (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Two researchers from the Center for the Study of Environmental Cancer in Monfalcone, Italy have analyzed data from registries of cancer around the world and they concluded that in some parts of the world, mesothelioma has reached epidemic proportions.

They discovered an upward trend in the incidence of mesothelioma in Australia and New Zealand as well as several European countries. The highest number of cases in Europe was in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Malta and Belgium. Interestingly the rate was relatively low in Japan and Central Europe.

They were not surprised to discover that those countries where asbestos was widely used, usually in the building industry, had the highest rates of mesothilioma. For example, after the Second World War in the UK, the houses were built of cement which was strengthened with asbestos, and Australia had some of the largest asbestos mines in the world.

The researchers think that many countries are still ignoring the risk of the disease, and in the United States, although the rates of mesothelioma are slowly declining, there are still around 2,500 cases diagnosed each year.

If you have been diagnosed with any an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. To find out how we can help you recover for your asbestos related claim, contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP at (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

A new study has suggested that thousands of constructions workers may be at risk for pleural mesothelioma even though they have not worked in areas of asbestos exposure.

The study was conducted by researchers in the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine at Umea University, in Sweden and they used male Swedish construction workers who had had medical examinations between 1971 and 1993 as their sample.

There were 367,568 workers included in the analysis with 419 cases of mesothelioma occurring between 1972 and 2009. However, only 21% of those with mesothelioma had worked with asbestos, such as those dealing with insulation. There were even more cases of mesothelioma among concrete workers and woodworkers and also painters, electricians and foremen.

Those born between 1935 and 1945 were the most likely to be diagnosed with mesothelioma, due to the lack of protection from asbestos at that time, and the long time needed before mesothelioma becomes apparent.

The report concludes that not only those with direct exposure to asbestos in the construction industry are at risk, given the occurrence of mesothelioma in a wide range of construction workers.

In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has established guidelines designed to protect asbestos workers including risk advisories, asbestos handling training and the provision of protective gear.

If you have been diagnosed with any an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. To find out how we can help you recover for your asbestos related claim, contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP at (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Those people who were regularly exposed to asbestos are rightly concerned about the possibility of developing mesothelioma and other asbestos related health problems. However there are now more and more cases emerging of the loved ones of those who worked with asbestos also developing health issues due to asbestos. This is known as secondary exposure, for those who were not in direct contact with a dangerous environment at work, but whose family members unknowingly brought the asbestos fibers into the home.

Mesothelioma and asbestosis can take decades after exposure before symptoms appear and although it is usually associated with older people, those who grew up with parents who worked with asbestos can develop symptoms at a much earlier age.

For example, Bonham resident, Stephanie Harper, had a father who worked around asbestos and she developed a tumor linked to asbestos fibers in her lungs at the young age of 22. She suffered secondary exposure and now, aged 37, has mesothelioma and is living in pain daily.

Victims of secondhand asbestos exposure may have the right to pursue compensation and damages for the illnesses they suffered.

If you have been diagnosed with any an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. To find out how we can help you recover for your asbestos related claim, contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP at (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.