Mayor Todd Strange declares Mesothelioma Awareness Day in Montgomery
21 Sep 2009 by Wendi Lewis under Events, News
Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange has officially designated Saturday, Sept. 26, as Mesothelioma Awareness Day in Montgomery, Alabama. The recognition goes hand-in-hand with a nationwide Mesothelioma Awareness Day campaign under the direction of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (Meso Foundation).
Mesothelioma is a deadly cancer that most often affects the lining of the chest and lungs, but which also may affect the lining of the abdomen or, more rarely, the heart. It is caused only by exposure to asbestos. The latency period for mesothelioma is generally long, spanning 10 to 50 years from the time of exposure to any symptoms developing, making it hard for mesothelioma sufferers to pinpoint when they were exposed. There is currently no know cure for mesothelioma.
In the past, mesothelioma was seen primarily in older men, who had worked in factories, as insulators, or in shipyards, where asbestos was commonly used. However, today, the disease is being diagnosed more frequently in younger people and more often in women. Most of these cases are the result of secondary exposure, such as family members exposed to asbestos dust on the clothes of someone who worked with the substance. It could also be the result of environmental exposure. Mesothelioma has become everybody’s problem.
Asbestos is still not completely banned in the United States.
