Organization (ADAO) will continue a longstanding tradition of lighting a candle in memory of those loved ones lost to mesothelioma. This is actually the first of two candlelighting ceremonies. The second will be held Monday, January 4, 2010, in honor of all the mesothelioma “warriors” still battling and conquering this devastating disease…. (more…)

LIBBY — It was six funerals in six weeks that prompted Gayla Benefield to lay down her torch a couple of years ago.

Libby’s tireless advocate for justice and health care for asbestos victims was worn out, physically and mentally. She had accomplished a lot, gotten people to listen, moved them to action.

But she’d been at it since 1974 when her father died from asbestos disease.

He and Benefield’s mother were among the more than 300 Libby residents who have succumbed to the razor-sharp asbestos fibers that slowly turn lungs useless.

“That’s when I started fighting them,” Benefield recalled about her years of going up against W.R. Grace & Co., the corporation that operated the vermiculite mine from 1963 to 1990.

Five of those six funerals two years ago were for family members, including two relatives who died on the same day…… (more…)

The country’s biggest cancer charity has expressed shock at government figures revealing huge variations in patients’ chances of surviving from one area of the UK to another. The biggest survival gap was in lung cancer, where Department of Health figures showed patients in Herefordshire were three times more likely to die within a year of diagnosis than those in Kensington and Chelsea. In the London borough, 44% of patients survived the first year after diagnosis, compared with only 15% in Herefordshire.

In bowel cancer there was also a big gap in survival – 80% in Telford and Wrekin after one year, but only 58% in Waltham Forest and Hastings and Rother. The gap was less pronounced in breast cancer, with the best rate in Torbay, where 99% survived for one year, compared with 89% in Tower Hamlets.

“There is no excuse for such a big difference between different areas,” said Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK. “It is appalling that someone with lung cancer in Herefordshire should be three times more likely to die within a year than a patient in Kensington, or that a person diagnosed with bowel cancer in Waltham Forest or Hastings should be 22% more likely to die within a year than a patient in Telford. This is the worst kind of postcode lottery.”

Very few primary care trusts (PCTs) had survival rates that were as good as other countries in Europe now or even as good as Europe was achieving 10 years ago, which Kumar called “a disgrace”.

“We’re pleased that the Department of Health have been bold enough to publish these figures,” he said. “The NHS now needs to take them very seriously.”…. (more…)

Asbestos has many appealing qualities for builders. It’s sturdy, versatile and corrosion resistant. It’s conjointly burn resistant and a smart insulator. There are not several substances with these qualities and might justify why it was thus widely used. It becomes hazardous when asbestos containing materials are disturbed or damaged. Asbestos is made up of microscopic bundles of fibers. When the materials become disturbed or damaged, these fibers separate and might become airborne. These fibers could get into the lungs and that may lead to serious and even fatal diseases. A number of these diseases embrace:

Asbestosis could be a non-cancerous lung disease. Inhaling asbestos fibers for an extended amount of time causes it. This disease takes 25 to 40 years to develop. As asbestos fibers become trapped in your lungs, the body can turn out an acid to attempt to eliminate these fibers. The continued production of the acid can eventually scar the tissues in your lungs. An excessive quantity of scarring could cause the lungs to function improperly. This could result in serious respiratory difficulties…. (more…)

AMC, acclaimed for both clinical and research achievements and experience in liver cancer treatment, was selected to serve as Asias first Continent Liver Cancer Medical Education Center. 
Physicians and staffers dealing with liver cancer treatment from the Departments of General Internal Medicine, Surgery and Radiology invited liver cancer specialists from across Asia and held PATH (Program for the Advancement of Therapy in Hepatocellular Carcinoma) to introduce AMCs advanced treatment systems and share ideas on better treatment options.
The program was carried out in 8 sessions for 3 days, bringing together 20 liver disease experts from China, India and Thailand and training them on cutting-edge liver cancer treatment plans offered by AMC….. (more…)

The American Cancer Society is the nationwide community-based, voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service. …. (more…)

Mesothelioma, the rare cancer which is nearly exclusively caused by asbestos exposure, is a significant concern for welders, due to the common use of asbestos as an insulating and fireproofing mate…

PHILADELPHIA — Children exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke have an increased risk of developing lung cancer in adulthood, even if they never smoked.

Results of this study are published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, as part of a special tobacco focus in the December issue.

This year alone, more than 219,000 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer; more than 159,000 will die from it and some of those may be people who have never smoked. Studies to date have shown that exposure to secondhand smoke in adulthood has detrimental health effects, but data are limited on one’s risk of developing lung cancer when exposed as a child.

What makes this study different from previous research is that it was conducted in two independent cohorts and included a molecular analysis of gene variants of innate immunity — the mannose binding lection-2 gene, or MBL2 gene. The MBL2 gene is known to affect susceptibility to respiratory diseases….. (more…)

Have you or someone you love been recently diagnosed with mesothelioma? If you or a loved on has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, it is critically important that you consult an attorney immediately…. (more…)

Report on neighborhood complaints about the electrical substation being built in Valdemoro a few meters from homes, schools, nursing home and the Hospital Infanta Elena.
This document was issued in the program Good Morning Madrid (Telemadrid) the 16th of November 2009…. (more…)