After struggling with mesothelioma for some time, Merlin Olsen passed away on Thursday, March 11. Olsen was a well known man, having been a football Hall of Famer with the Los Angeles Rams, an icon for community and family values, and an accomplished TV personality and sports broadcaster. He acted in two TV series, “Father Murphy” and “Little House on the Prairie”, and co-hosted the Children’s Miracle Network Telethons. Olsen was just 69 years old when he passed, and is survived by his wife and three children.
Mesothelioma is a rare, aggressive and terminal form of cancer that has been linked with exposure to asbestos fibers. The tragic disease takes some three thousand American lives each year, and its diagnoses continue to rise both in the USA and around the world. Individuals that develop mesothelioma are often exposed to asbestos fibers or products either at home or in the work place. The fibers can enter the body through inhalation or ingestion, and due to their microscopic size and peculiar needle like shape, they pass easily through the bodies defenses against foreign debris. After entering the body, asbestos fibers pass through the walls of the lung or intestines and become entangled in the mesothelium, a soft tissue that encases our vital organs. Once lodged in the mesothelium the fibers cause severe scarring which can develop over time into malignant tumors. The prognosis for mesothelioma is very grim; patients often die within eighteen months of diagnosis.
Dick Enberg, a fellow sports broadcaster and friend of Merlin Olsen’s said this about his death:
“God doesn’t create perfect men, but he came mighty close when he brought us Merlin Olsen… How privileged I was to call his games as an All Pro, Hall of Famer-to-be Los Angeles Ram, and then to work at his side in the broadcast booth for 12 years. He was meticulous and thorough in his preparation, lessons he had learned as an all A student in high school and college. He was perhaps the brightest to ever play his position in the NFL. He was just as generous as a broadcaster as he was tough as a defensive tackle. I was privileged to be his TV colleague and his friend. I seriously doubt that I shall ever meet another that will measure up to his complete character. He was every part of a gentle giant.”
The outlaw of asbestos manufacturing throughout the majority of the developed world as well as the enforcement of regulations requiring its safe handling are greatly reducing asbestos exposure throughout the US. Because of the disease’s several decade latency period, that is, the time it takes form initial exposure to tumor development, diagnoses are unlikely to decline for several more years.
