You do not always get what you want, but this will not prevent us from trying to get closer to finding a cure for cancer mesothelioma in 2014 and to end all sorrow and grief caused by this terrible disease.
It never hurts to make a wish or two or three or four or five wishes. How wonderful it would be if all the toxic asbestos in the world suddenly disappeared, and mesothelioma became a thing of the past -. But neither should happen soon
In the meantime, Asbestos.com will continue to increase awareness, work for patients and families, and provide the support and resources they need
start with our Top Five Wish List for 2014 :.
1. Legislation Banning All asbestos products
Would not it be great to have a world without asbestos? More than 50 countries have already banned all asbestos products - the only known cause of mesothelioma cancer - although the United States is surprisingly not one of those. It is still indebted to the entry of big business which prevented the necessary legislation.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pushed through the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in 1989 that banned virtually all products containing asbestos, but the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1991 reversed the decision.
the US Senate in 07 passed the Bill Murray, which would have prohibited the importation, manufacture, processing and distribution of all products containing asbestos, but the US House failed green light measurement, killing him.
Nothing has come close since.
the use of asbestos in America has fallen dramatically from a peak of 803,000 tons in 1973 to a low of 1,180 tonnes in 2011, but its continued use dead letter today. According to the EPA, it can still be found in the production of hundreds of products, including roofing felt, vinyl floor tiles, corrugated cement sheets, cement pipes, joints, disc brake pads, components automatic transmission and millboard.
Although medical experts believe that no amount of asbestos is considered safe around humans, the sordid history of its use in this country will continue until the product is banned the legislation if necessary.
2. Better care for our veterans with mesothelioma
No group in America has been hit hardest by diseases related to asbestos that US veterans. Nearly a third of the 3,000 people diagnosed with mesothelioma every year in America have served in the military.
The widespread use of asbestos for critical uses such as fireproofing, building insulation and more all that the military built led to excessive amounts of veterans diagnosed long after leaving the service .
Yet the US government has done little to help those it hurts so bad to exposure to asbestos. The VA health system, then better than it has ever been, has not designated specialized mesothelioma center. Instead, veterans are left to flounder in their local VA facilities, which are generally not equipped to handle this rare cancer, but aggressive.
renowned thoracic surgeons and specialists Mesothelioma Abraham Lebenthal, Boston, and Robert Cameron, in Los Angeles, have stepped forward and
offered their services to all veterans, but the word has been slow to spread. VA few doctors across the country have provided the necessary references to the patients need.
There is no infrastructure of the entire system that funnel mesothelioma patients with mesothelioma specialists. This must change.
The Medical Center West Los Angeles VA, where Cameron is director of thoracic surgery, is lobbying to become the first research program and mesothelioma treatment funded by the federal government, but it needs funding government to make it happen.
3. More funding for Much-Needed research mesothelioma
There was definitely a step in the wrong direction when the National Institute Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has eliminated the annual source of funding for national Virtual tissue bank mesothelioma in 2013.
it was a fatal blow to the tissue bank, housed at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and mesothelioma researchers everywhere who have used it. While other research programs of cancer saw their funding reduced in 2013, the mesothelioma tissue bank was one of the few who saw his $ 1 million funding streams disappear completely.
The research of mesothelioma has traditionally been cheated by the public and private sectors because it is a rare cancer that receives little publicity. For example, the
National Cancer Institute has provided $ 631 million for research on breast cancer in 2010, but only $ 6 million for mesothelioma.
The slow progress in the development of better therapies for mesothelioma is directly related to the lack of money for research and research. The Meso Pacific Center
in Los Angeles, for example, has slowed several research projects in his lab awaiting funding to proceed. It's the same in other labs across the country.
While those mesothelioma study are often passionate about their work, some do because there is no money to feed their work.
"Billions of dollars are changing hands [in mesothelioma lawsuits] but very little goes towards research," said Cameron. "If more went [for research], we might have a cure now."
4. Therapies improved for mesothelioma patients
steady progress has been made in many different areas, but the sad reality is that the majority of people diagnosed with mesothelioma today fail survival two-year mark.
the most common treatment today remains a systemic chemotherapy regime that is far from all the healing promises. Surgeries improving, but the majority of those diagnosed are not candidates surgery for a number of reasons.
Unless a better combination chemotherapy drug is found, the future will likely treatment with immunotherapy or gene therapy, two options developed slowly, but now available in clinical trials. Both can avoid the often debilitating side effects of toxic chemotherapy.
Immunotherapy involves manipulating the immune system of the body to fight against cancer growth. It can be done by developing methods to supercharge the system
immunity and ward off cancer, or manipulating the cells so that they can more easily recognize the cancer as foreign and destroy them.
Gene therapy involves manipulating a patient's genes by repairing flaws that allowed the cancer to take hold. Treatments can replace defective genes with new ones that will either cure the disease or improve its results. It is often accomplished with the help of a modified virus such as measles or even smallpox in a clinical trial
To access better therapies now -. And develop for the future - patients should participate in clinical trials conducted on various medical sites in the United States most recent, reduce advanced therapies have yet to be approved by the FDA, but will remain a better option for many patients.
5. Increase awareness even more
The awareness of the toxicity of asbestos and mesothelioma devastation could be the key to progress on all fronts.
Regarding the banning of asbestos, there is no better way than to shout louder and rattle the cages of public officials. If no one realizes that the problem exists, nothing will be done. The majority of Americans believe that asbestos has been removed, but he did not. It is part of everyday life.
Awareness is essential to raise more money for research leading to a cure for the disease. Awareness of the situation of veterans may be the only way they will have access to specialized centers deserve.
Although the use of asbestos has declined significantly in recent decades, there are still in dangerous quantities in both residential and commercial building built before the early 1980s. awareness is the only way these dangers are known and mesothelioma incidence rates will go down.
The renovation of homes and businesses often becomes a dangerous prospect today because the people who make these projects are not aware of the dangers. Awareness will encourage public officials to ensure that asbestos removal is done safely in schools, churches and everywhere else there.
Awareness of the situation of persons who have a disease related to asbestos is the best way to convince politicians to reject bills on tort reform as asbestos Promotion Claims Act (FACT) transparency, which could make it harder for the victims to receive compensation from companies responsible for asbestos that killed so many people.
awareness is a good thing in many regards.
