MesotheliomaWeb.Org: Blogger Starts Mesothelioma Charity
MesotheliomaWeb.Org is an essential point of reference on mesothelioma. MesotheliomaWeb.Org provides reliable news and information for patients and their families who are impacted by this life-threatening disease. Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that affects the pleural mesothelium, a band of cells encircling the lungs. MesotheliomaWeb.Org supplies readers with the latest news articles on scientific research efforts, treatment methods, and fresh breakthroughs on this illness.
A marketing blogger based in Israel has established a charity geared toward helping patients with mesothelioma. In a recent entry on his blog, Samuel J. Scott related the story as to how he was inspired to help patients forced to deal with this deadly form of cancer:
In the 1994 film “With Honors”, actor Joe Pesci plays a homeless man who befriends a group of Harvard students. During the film, Pesci’s character reveals that he has asbestosis, a lung disease tied to asbestos exposure. The character had worked in a shipyard building and sailing on ships for the US Merchant Marines fleet. He was fired from the shipyard after his lungs deteriorated to the point that he could no longer work. In the years during and after World War II, many shipyard workers handled asbestos woven into insulation and fireproofing materials.
In 1998, Scott went on to work at a Boston-area newspaper dedicated to social justice causes. He would write and edit the paper while the local homeless population would sell copies on street corners. He mentioned that the people who would sell the paper reminded him of the Pesci character from the film and of the asbestos-related disease from which he suffered. He also promised to write more blog entries about the disease and report on the latest advances in research and treatments.
Over the last thirty years, scientists have discovered the link between asbestos exposure and lung disease. Unprotected workers who handle asbestos often inhale the microscopic fibers. The fibers travel through the respiratory system and become embedded into the pleural mesothelium. Several years after the initial exposure period, the asbestos fibers can cause the cells in the pleural mesothelium to change their genetic structure and become malignant. This process leads to patients developing mesothelioma and other respiratory diseases tied to asbestos exposure.
Today, in most developed countries, workers must wear protective coveralls and special breathing masks to shield them from asbestos. Still, the incidence rate of mesothelioma continues to climb. Workers who handled asbestos decades ago are now exhibiting symptoms of the disease as well as other lung disorders.
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