UK district of Bradford continues to raise concern in relation to past work hazards. Three recent asbestos related deaths add to more than one hundred from the area. Chairman of Bradford Asbestos Victim Support Group, Carol Deurden, says in the Telegraph and Argus news, “We are getting more and more inquiries about mesothelioma. The national figure is rising every year and is expected to keep on rising.”
Mesothelioma cases are rising. According to World Health Organization they are rising quickly. Caused by toxic chemical asbestos, mesothelioma cases are expected to grow in number until asbestos use is discontinued worldwide. Even then, a peak would be expected to follow decades later. This is due to mesothelioma’s characteristic latency period, ranging from twenty to fifty years.
Currently about twenty thousand reported cases of malignant mesothelioma happen each year. However, thousands are suspected to go unrecognized or unreported. Three thousand cases are in America annually, while UK suffers about two thousand mesothelioma cases each year. In a world of advancing science and medicine, and in a case where the cause is known, these numbers seem just too high to accept.
Postmortems were done on two of the recent Bradford victims, both having been employed in the area in past. Asbestos-caused plaque was found in one, while asbestos fibers were found in the other. The third individual had been advised by his doctors that symptoms he was experiencing were those of mesothelioma.
Asbestos was used heavily through the last century in industrial markets of US, UK, Australia, Japan and other countries. Although asbestos regulations entered most workplaces a few decades ago, the long latency period specific to mesothelioma caused cases to show up as many as fifty or sixty years after original asbestos exposure.
Once asbestos fibers are inhaled they can begin a mutative process in otherwise healthy tissues. This begins development of malignant mesothelioma tumors, which spread through surrounding areas in irregular patterns. Mesothelioma is most often found in protective lung lining, although it does affect other abdominal cavities. Symptoms do not show until decades later, leaving most patients entirely in the dark about their condition.
Mesothelioma treatments exist and include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. These are often administered in combination as palliative care in an effort to extend life expectancy and raise quality of life. Mesothelioma patient life expectancy following diagnosis averages eighteen months and is very painful. There is no known cure for mesothelioma.
