Asbestos Diseases

Asbestos Claims

Cancer

Pleural Plaques

Pleural Thickening

Mesothelioma

• Compensation
  
• Symptoms
  
• Treatment
  
• Solicitors
  

Asbestosis

• Damages
  
• Lawyer
  

In Britain today, asbestos related disease affects over 1 in 100 men aged over 40 and many women. The majority of people who are in some way affected by this mineral have benign pleural diseases such as plaques or thickening of the lung. Exposure can cause more serious diseases including mesothelioma or lung cancer to develop. Both of these are extremely serious and often fatal. Our specialist personal injury solicitors offer legal advice to anyone that thinks they may have a case for compensation. Pleural mesothelioma is a type of cancer which causes a tumour to develop in the lining of the lung caused by fibres which become lodged there through breathing them in. A malignant mesothelioma tumour can develop as a result of even very low levels of exposure. There are two types of mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma causes a tumour to form in the lining of the lung. Peritoneal mesothelioma causes a tumour to grow in the lining of the abdomen.

Both Peritoneal and Pleural cases of asbestos related disease are further divided into three types according to what the cells look like under a microscope. These types are Epitheloid, Sarcomatoid (sometimes called fibrous) and mixed type (sometimes called Biphasic).

50-70% of cases of mesothelioma are epitheloid, 7-20% are sarcomatoid, while 20-35% are a mixture of epitheloid and sarcomatoid cells.

Mesothelioma can be an extremely difficult cancer to diagnose. One of the difficulties in diagnosis comes from the fact that many different cells are capable of developing into mesothelioma. These include clear cells, small cells, acinar cells and tubopapillary cells.

As well as being difficult to diagnose, this form of cancer is also difficult to treat. Surgery attempting to remove the tumour is a possible treatment for mesothelioma, but this is very aggressive and carries a high-risk.

Before surgery can be considered tests are carried out to find out how well the heart and lungs are functioning. The lungs of someone with pleural mesothelioma do not function well and whether or not they can have surgery may depend on how bad their lung function is.

Lung function can be reduced for a number of reasons. The patient’s exposure may have decreased the lung function generally as well as causing the tumour. Age and a history of smoking cigarettes also decrease lung function.

It is uncommon for either type of Mesothelioma to spread to other parts of the body but if it does this particular asbestos related disease is unlikely to cause any serious symptoms. There are also a number of other risks associated with exposure to asbestos. People who are exposed to asbestos are more likely to develop lung cancer than those who are never exposed. Asbestosis is a scarring of the lung caused by prolonged or heavy exposure to asbestos. As more fibres get breathed into the lungs the asbestosis gets worse. People suffering from asbestosis are at greater risk of developing a further lung disease.

We are a national network of specialist personal injury solicitors with extensive experience of industrial compensation claims using the no win no fee scheme. Damages are paid in full with no deductions and our claim service is completely risk free. For free advice just complete the contact form and a member of The Law Society panel of personal injury experts will telephone you with no obligation.