The scourge of Mesothelioma is one that we've never found an answer to. Associated with asbestos exposure, the question these days is whether it is still a risk given the large amount of litigation and partial asbestos ban that have been in place since the late 1980s? The answer might surprise you.

Mesothelioma is one of the odder cancers you will find. It gets its name from the organic geography where it can be found. The internal organs in your chest area must move to function. This can cause friction, heat and trauma. To keep it from happening, the body has a material known as mesothelium. It is a two layer sheet that surrounds the organs and lines the chest and abdomen. The layers have a lubricant between them, which creates a moveable surface so the heart can beat, the lungs fill, and so on without any problems. Mesothelioma is the cancer of this lining.

There is good and bad news with Mesothelioma. The good news is it is very rare with only a few thousand cases diagnosed each year in the United States. Additionally, it can take up to 50 years for the cancer to manifest, which means many victims have lived long lives before the news comes in. This is good because the bad news is well over 90 percent of those cases end in death within five years.

The 1970s and 1980s saw the asbestos industry under exposure. The end result was a mostly effective ban on asbestos use in the late 1980s and a serious pull back by manufacturers given the host of lawsuits filed on behalf of victims. Since we are now about to enter 2010, the question in many circles is whether Mesothelioma is still a big risk today?

The answer is yes for two reasons. First, a worker in the 1970s exposed to asbestos could still be diagnosed with the disease through the 2020s. One exposed in the 1980s would still be at risk through the 2030s. This is what makes the cancer so brutal. The average lifespan of most of us is into our 70s. This means those who have worked with or around asbestos must live with the possibility of Mesothelioma for pretty much their entire life. Put another way, Mesothelioma is still as big a risk today as it ever was.



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