When you consider the meaning of the phrase “risk factors,” you might think about various types of risk, including issues that you may be able to change or eradicate entirely, as well as issues you may not be able to control. There’s also another consideration when it comes to risks that affect your health, for instance, and that is that another person’s negligence may cause your risk level to soar.
Sadly, many Pennsylvania workers, including some who worked in coal mines, steel mills or shipyards during their careers, later learned that they were at risk for mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure. More often than not, their employers had been aware of their risks but failed in their obligations to keep them safe. Regardless of what you do or did to earn a living, if you’re experiencing ill-health that may be connected to the workplace, you’ll want to read this entire post.
Facts about mesothelioma
This is an illness for which there is currently no cure. If your doctor diagnoses you with this disease, it means you are a terminally ill patient. The following list of facts provides additional information about this type of cancer:
- It can affect your lungs or abdomen.
- You contract it when you ingest or inhale microscopic asbestos fibers that then become lodged inside your body and fester over time.
- If you cough up asbestos fibers, then swallow them, it places you at risk for peritoneal mesothelioma, which is what it’s called when it forms in your abdomen.
- There is no safe amount of asbestos exposure; however, the amount of asbestos and how long and often you may have had exposure it to may, in fact, increase your risk of developing mesothelioma.
- Current data suggests that simian virus 40 may be an emerging pathogen that is placing humans at risk for mesothelioma.
The older you are, the greater your risk for asbestos injuries, including mesothelioma cancer of the lungs. Children can contract the disease, but it is rare. If you’re a man, you are at greater risk than women for this type of asbestos injury.
Coping with terminal illness
As your disease progresses, your symptoms will no doubt worsen. You hopefully have close family members and friends you can rely on for support, as needed. If you have a negligent employer in your past who may have been responsible for your injury, you may also want to rely on experienced legal support to learn more about the asbestos litigation process.