DETROIT, Michigan – On Sunday March 29, world renowned experts on mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases will meet for the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization’s 4th Annual Asbestos Awareness Day Conference. The conference, held at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, Michigan, is part of the ADAO’s continuing effort to educate the general public about the dangers of asbestos and encourage research to improve treatment options for victims.

ADAO is a non-profit international organization that is run completely by volunteers. It was begun by family members of those suffering from asbestos-related diseases and the victims themselves, and its mission is to enhance awareness of the dangers of asbestos and stop production and commercial distribution of the deadly carcinogen. Executive director and co-founder, Linda Reinstein lost her husband to mesothelioma in 2006.

The conference is sponsored by a collaborative partnership of ADAO, the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat. It marks the official beginning of Asbestos Awareness Week.

Alan Reinstein, husband of the current executive director, was the former ADAO president. He was diagnosed with asbestos at 63 years of age and died three years later in 2006. He was exposed to asbestos nearly 50 years earlier through occupational exposure and home repairs. His wife calls him “an inspiration to all those impacted by asbestos-related diseases”.
ADAO was instrumental last winter in identifying asbestos in a popular Christmas toy and having it removed from toy shelves across the nation.

Mesothelioma results when a person inhales of swallows asbestos fibers, which permanently penetrate the lung and other tissues. Most asbestos related diseases have long latency periods, ranging from ten to fifty years. Even after the victim realizes that something is wrong, the conditions are often diagnosed. Exposure to asbestos is the only known cause of pleural mesothelioma, a virulent, aggressive cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs. It is also a cause of lung cancer, and doubles the risk of colon cancer.
Asbestos expert Dr. Michael R. Harbut states bluntly that there is no such thing as a safe level of asbestos exposure.
“Each and every fiber causes an increased risk of unnecessary suffering and unnecessary death,” says Harbut.

Dr. Harbut is co-director of the National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos-Related Cancers.
Each year, there are 4,000 to 8,000 new cases of mesothelioma diagnosed in the United States, and mesothelioma is the rarest of asbestos-related cancers. Tens of thousands more people will be diagnosed with other cancers caused by asbestos exposure each year. Those cancers include lung cancer, colon cancer, stomach cancer and cancer of the esophagus.

ADAO’s mission is to educate the public about the dangers of asbestos, as well as the importance of early asbestos screening for appropriate health care. While there is no known cure for asbestosis or for mesothelioma, early diagnosis can increase the options for treatment.

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