MESOTHELIOMA; a terminal issue

I live in that region of the world where the speed of development is on a very slow pace. A region where you can continue to enjoy the outdated invention of the world; and still think that you are the king of the entire universe. Despite the introduction of the computer that has turned the world into a global village; you can still find out that the only thing my people will read perfectly is how to play pranks on one another or how to get away with scam on the internet. It is therefore amazing to me to find out that there is a disease that is terminal in nature and most of my people may not have heard about it or for those who have heard about it chose to neglect it just as they thought that HIV and Aids where just an invention to discourage people from having sex.

I have therefore taken it upon myself to talk about this disease and try to see if something can be done to create a kind of awareness that will help in changing the outlook of my beloved people.

The terminal disease:

I only heard about this disease while doing a little research on the Internet and I became alarmed when I discovered the mode of transmission or contacting this deadly disease: asbestos. I became alarmed because asbestos is still a product that is being freely used in my country and no one is preventing it usage. There is hardly any home that you visit that you will not come in contact with one ceiling or more where asbestos have been freely used in beautifying such a home. There are also marketers of such product all around our street, sitting, sleeping under the product, eating or even sniffing the dust unknowingly. Now considering all the harmful effect of this product and the fact that it is always not easy to detect until years later then you can understand my source of worry.


What is mesothelioma?

From all I have read about the disease, it was regarded as one of the greatest health crisis that the American people might be facing but I want to say that it might be the greatest risk that a lot of people all over the world are facing without knowing. I now know that the disease is a malignant one and it does not care whether its victims are male or female (no discrimination). One thing I also know is that the usage of the product has been outlawed in the United States but this product is still being used all over the world most especially in Africa where I come from.


Victims of the Disease

The people who are now the sufferer of this disease are mostly those who are within the ages of 60s-70s and the 80 year old. This is because the symptom of the infection doesn’t usually manifest until many years later. What I am saying is that many would have died because of this disease while we may not know what the cause of death is.


Possibility of attaining an epidemic state in the future

The seriousness of the situation can not be overemphasized, this is because many doctors and various health care professionals have expressed the fear that mesothelioma may become an epidemic of a very high proportion in years to come this is because many people all around the world may have been exposed to the product known as asbestos that is primarily responsible for the disease without even knowing.

Source of worry

I really am very concerned about this disease more than others because it is a terminal disease that has a very long latency period; this is the period of incubation of the disease within the human body. Another thing that gives me cause for worry is that the disease cannot easily be detected by ordinary comprehensive medical checkup. The most alarming part is that it does not have to take a longer exposure to asbestos before one can come in contact with the disease, what is known as the domino effect can start even as soon as a single exposure to asbestos.