Yes. A very important characteristic of asbestos-related diseases is the long delay, or latency period, between asbestos exposure and the onset of disease. It is usually at least 15 years, and sometimes as long as 40 or 50 years, after the initial exposure before an asbestos-related disease develops. Because of this latency period, people exposed to asbestos many years ago are still at risk of developing an asbestos-related disease.

The most common asbestos-related diseases are asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Asbestos can also cause esophageal, pharyngeal, and laryngeal cancers, as well as stomach cancer and colon cancer.

BASIC FACTS ABOUT ASBESTOSIS, LUNG CANCER, AND MESOTHELIOMA

MESOTHELIOMA

For mesothelioma, the latency period between the person's first asbestos exposure and the start of this disease is at least 20 years and sometimes 50 years.

Early symptoms include shortness of breath, or wheezing upon exertion, i.e., dyspnea, and chest pain. A dry cough, malaise, and weight loss may also occur.

LUNG CANCER

Due to the latency period for lung cancer, this disease is usually diagnosed 25 to 40 years following the person's first exposure to asbestos.

The early symptoms of lung cancer are progressive weakness, weight loss, fatigue, and coughing or spitting of blood, i.e., hemoptysis.

The more asbestos dust inhaled by a person in the past, the greater the risk of that person developing lung cancer at some time in the future.

ASBESTOSIS

Asbestosis has a latency period of at least 15 years, and there may be no physical symptoms of this disease until 20 to 40 years after initial exposure to asbestos.

Early symptoms include shortness of breath, or wheezing.

Visit me at Asbestos-Mesothelioma.com for more information.

Attorney Tom Lamb represents plaintiffs in cases involving injuries incurred from exposure to asbestos. These articles were posted originally on his blog, Asbestos HUB, which can be found at http://asbestoshub.com/. For more asbestos and mesothelioma, as well as information about the Law Offices of Thomas J. Lamb, P.A., visit their web site at http://www.Asbestos-Mesothelioma.com.

UK Woman Gets Mesothelioma From Washing Husband’s Clothes January 21, 2009

Sylvia Coster, 73, from Totton, in the UK had eight times the normal amount of asbestos particles in her lungs when she died. The cause? Washing her husband’s asbestos covered clothes and visiting her father at work.

Sylvia’s husband Dennis had brought home his overalls for washing when he worked at Pirelli in Eastleigh during the 1960s.

It is the latest in a series of deaths by industrial disease that face Hampshire women who came into contact with the material decades ago as they greeted their husbands home and did the weekly wash.

Mrs. Coster came into contact with asbestos while shaking asbestos particles off her husband’s clothes. She said that her husband came into so much contact with asbestos that it would gather in the turn-ups of his trousers.

Read the full article at Asbestos HUB...

About the W.R. Grace Asbestos Criminal Trial… January 20, 2009

Not much, just a quick update.

Lawyers are scheduled to hold pretrial arguments in January 2008 on what evidence can be presented during the federal criminal trial against W.R. Grace & Co.

The case involves public exposure to asbestos in the Libby area, where Grace used to operate a vermiculite mine. The government alleges W.R. Grace’s former managers conspired to hide health risks associated with the asbestos mine. Grace has denied any criminal wrongdoing.

The trial before U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy is scheduled to start Feb. 19 and last about three months.

Read the full article at Asbestos HUB...

Vermont Asbestos Meeting Shows Residents Concerned About Property Values. And Perhaps Health. January 19, 2009

Hundreds of people crowded a meeting with Vermont state health and environmental officials after conflicting results of a recent study of asbestos disease in the area in January 2009.

The state Health Department study found an elevated incidence of deaths and hospitalization for asbestosis, a lung disease, among residents within a 10 mile radius of the now-closed Vermont Asbestos Group mine in Eden and Lowell.

The actual number of cases between 1994 and 2006 was three deaths and 14 hospitalizations, a small number but statistically significant for a small area, and the study did not attempt to determine how the patients had been exposed to asbestos. Um, the mine maybe?

Read the full article at Asbestos HUB...

Asbestos Still a Problem In Schools January 15, 2009

Crestwood Middle School in Chesapeake, Maryland, closed in early January 2009 after tests found elevated levels of asbestos in the air.

Students were evacuated after one of six air-quality tests performed at the school came back too high, said school spokesman Tom Cupitt. They didn't say how high but even one fiber is too many.

The school's 600+ students were taken to another school a few miles away.

The division is waiting for the results of more tests to determine when students will be allowed back in the school or what measures need to be taken.

Read the full article at Asbestos HUB...

Vermont Plagued by Old Asbestos Mine January 13, 2009

The results of a November 2008 report that analyzed hospital and death records for residents of 13 towns around the now-closed asbestos mine on Belvidere Mountain near Eden, Vermont, strongly suggest an increased risk of asbestos diseases and death among those who live near the mine. Asbestos was mined in Vermont for almost 100 years.

Health officials are going to Eden and Lowell in early January 2009 to discuss a report linking lung disease to people who lived in the towns closest to the mine. Some residents are angry; others dismiss the idea that there is a health risk.

Read the full article at Asbestos HUB...

Scientists Study How Asbestos Fibers Trigger Cancer in Human Cells January 8, 2009

An Ohio State University study, supported by the National Science Foundation is optimistic that they are the first in the world to study cancer by probing individual bonds between an asbestos fiber and human cells.

Though any clinical application would be years away, the researchers hope their findings could aid in drug development efforts targeting illnesses caused by excessive exposure to asbestos, including the deadly cancer called mesothelioma.

Read the full article at Asbestos HUB...

Asbestos a Problem For Younger Workers January 7, 2009

Yeah that’s right. You thought asbestos was gone with 80’s hair? Nope.

MedPage Today reported in December 2008 that despite increased regulation and efforts to minimize occupational exposure to asbestos fibers, younger workers are still getting sick, according to the CDC.

Read the full article at Asbestos HUB...

I recently came across a blog post by Justinian Lane entitled, Dear President-elect Obama...about this asbestos crap.... Justinian argues that it is disturbing that more action has not been taken to rid our schools of asbestos. We neglect our children's health by allowing asbestos to remain in the buildings they inhabit on a daily basis for several years of their lives.

Something needs to be done.

Justinian suggests that one way of doing this is to put people to work removing the asbestos from our schools. Not only will this provide numerous jobs, but will address a serious health issue. As I've already commented on his blog, A very good idea, indeed. In an interview on NPR the morning of January 7, 2009, it was said that for the federal jobs program to start immediately it would have to begin with the most obvious needs, and the NPR guest used road work as an example. Wouldn't ridding our school children of this serious and unnecessary danger be an obvious need?

Tell us what you think, and make sure to check out the blog by Justinian.