Mesothelioma is a rare and always fatal form of cancer that is only diagnosed in about 3,500 people each year. The very fact that it is so extremely rare is one of the things that works against people being able to catch the disease early and therefore have the best treatment. Because nobody knows about it it’s often misdiagnosed.

Much of the frustration that mesothelioma professionals face is the fact that people present with symptoms that they have spent months ignoring, thinking that it was just a cold or a virus. It is also frustrating that even general physicians are not familiar with the disease’s symptoms and often attempt to treat the wrong illness. A mesothelioma lawyer may also be involved in the case as a result of negligence.

Making People Aware of their Risk

A big part of the reason why it takes so long for mesothelioma to be diagnosed, even after its symptoms begin to arise, is the fact that the disease is so rarely seen by the medical community outside of cancer specialists or those who treat veterans. With only 3,500 diagnosed per year, it averages out to only sixty or so cases per state.

Another problem is that the people who are most at risk for being diagnosed are generally unaware of their own risk. With information about the risks involved with working with asbestos kept quiet for so long by the industry, many of those who worked with the toxic material may still be unaware that they were ever in danger.

At-Risk Age Group

Finally, because mesothelioma isn’t likely to start showing symptoms until fifty to sixty years after a patient has been exposed to asbestos, in many cases the person who’s experiencing symptoms may not even be aware that they were ever exposed to the carcinogen, or may have forgotten about the fact that they worked with it.

When an internist or family physician has no idea that their patient is at risk for mesothelioma because the patient never told them that they were exposed, it adds to the time that it takes for it to be properly identified and for appropriate specialized mesothelioma treatment to be made available to the patient.

Helping Physicians and Patients

For those who are at risk, it is essential that you make certain that your physician is aware of your work history and any asbestos exposure you may have had when you were younger, no matter how insignificant you may think that it was.