Mesothelioma Facts

Mesothelioma Facts

Mesothelioma facts and figures may be shocking when you look at them all together. Consider the following mesothelioma facts:
An estimated 2,000 - 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year in the U.S.
Approximately 3/4 of these cases are pleural mesothelioma, which occurs in the chest.
Most people who get mesothelioma have worked in jobs where they breathed in asbestos fibers at some point in their lives.
Mesothelioma can take 25 - 40 years to develop after the initial asbestos exposure.
Mesothelioma affects men 3 - 5 times more often than women.
Three-fourths of people with mesothelioma are over age 65.
The disease only metastasizes, or spreads outside the initial cancer area, in 5% of cases.
The average survival time after a person has been diagnosed with mesothelioma is one year.
The Environmental Workers Group (EWG) estimates that between 1979 and 2001, at least 43,000 Americans died from mesothelioma and an often-fatal non-cancer disease of the lungs called asbestosis.
The truth about asbestos has been known and mostly hidden from the American public since the early 20th Century.
Up to 8 million Americans may have been exposed to asbestos.
The use of asbestos has not been banned in the United States.
Many of these mesothelioma facts and figures may be surprising. If you or a loved one has been affected by this disease, you may wish to contact a mesothelioma lawyer today.