Around ten thousand Americans die every year from asbestos-related diseases. Due to the long latency period of these diseases—of between ten and fifty years or more—experts predict that death rates will continue to grow, and won’t peak until almost 2020.

This week is Asbestos Awareness Week, and people such as Michael Harbut, M.D., of the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, are hoping to increase awareness of asbestos-related illnesses, and on the importance of early diagnosis of the diseases.

Asbestosis and mesothelioma, both caused only by exposure to asbestos, are two particularly debilitating asbestos-related diseases. They are the most common and perhaps the most well-known of the illnesses that develop only as a result of asbestos exposure.

Asbestosis generally develops after repeated exposure to inhalable asbestos. It causes pain and difficulty breathing, and symptoms continue to worsen for as long as asbestos exposure continues. However, the damage caused by the disease is not reversible, and symptoms remain even if asbestos exposure ceases.

Mesothelioma, on the other hand, can develop thirty or more years after a relatively short period of asbestos exposure. This cancer most commonly develops in the lining of the lungs, but can also develop in the lining of the abdomen, heart, or testicles. Like asbestosis, mesothelioma is incurable. These types of cancer are also notoriously aggressive and difficult to treat, and have an almost 100% mortality rate.

Over the weekend, Asbestos Awareness Week kicked off with a conference hosted by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization in collaboration with the Karmanos Cancer Institute. The event included several speakers, as well as a candlelight ceremony and brunch to remember those who have already died from asbestos-related diseases.

The tragedy of asbestos-related illnesses is that thousands of deaths could have been avoided through the provision of safety equipment to prevent exposure. Another is that the diseases are so difficult to detect early that many people are not diagnosed until they are already suffering from advanced stages of illness.

Michael Harbut of the Karmanos Institute stresses the importance of early detection of asbestos-related diseases, saying “Early detection helps people live longer and less painfully…It can take a very brief exposure to be affected. There’s no such thing as a safe level of exposure.”

Between 4,000 and 8,000 new cases of mesothelioma alone are diagnosed every year in America. Michael Harbut says that might be only the tip of the iceberg, and that mesothelioma accounts for the smallest percentage of cancers that can be attributed to asbestos exposure.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 9:28 am and is filed under Asbestosis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.