Causes of Mesothelioma

For many, cancer may seem like a mystery illness. Often, no one knows why certain people develop it and others don't. Everyone understands, of course, that smokers have a higher chance of developing lung cancer and other cancers caused by their smoking habit. High-fat diets and other nutritional issues may also have a bearing on whether or not an individual develops cancer during their lifetime.

For mesothelioma patients, the cause has become quite clear. Up to 85% of all diagnosed cases of mesothelioma can be definitively linked to exposure to asbestos. For decades, concerned doctors and research scientists speculated about the dangers of asbestos and warned industries to discontinue its use, but a conclusive link wasn't actually made until 1999, when it was too late for the millions around the world who had already suffered prolonged exposure to the dangerous mineral.
How Does Asbestos Make You Sick?

Asbestos is a naturally-occurring mineral that possesses excellent insulating and heat-shielding properties. Because of this, it has been used for decades - even centuries - in a variety of products, including building materials like insulation, gaskets, floor and ceiling tiles, and drywall tape, as well as in automotive products such as brake pads and shoes and clutch plates.

Asbestos is not dangerous when left undisturbed. As a matter of fact, scientists estimate that asbestos occurs naturally in our air and drinking water and that everyone breathes in the mineral at some time or another. However, when asbestos is damaged and becomes "friable" - soft and weak - it is more easily airborne, and hence, inhalation can occur more easily.

Individuals who worked with asbestos that was cut, crushed, sanded, torn, or otherwise manipulated were prone to inhaling these dangerous fibers. Prior to the asbestos warnings of the 1970s, individuals who worked with asbestos were given little or no protective gear, even though it has been proven that experts have known about the dangers of asbestos for more than a century and warned industries of the risks.

Usually, those exposed to asbestos on a regular basis do not get sick immediately. As a matter of fact, asbestos diseases often do not appear for 20-50 years after exposure. However, a handful of workers who were first responders at the World Trade Center disaster in 2001 have already died of mesothelioma due to extreme exposure to the material.

Asbestos fibers that are breathed into the lungs cannot be expelled, so they remain there, embedding themselves in the lining of the lung (the mesothelium) and causing inflammation. Cancerous tumors may develop decades later.