Malignant mesothelioma is a 20th century phenomenon and as we begin a new cen- tury it is timely to review the clinical, research, epidemiological and legal aspects of this disease.
As a medical student studying pathology around 1970 I can recall only minimal attention being given to mesothelioma. In fact I once reviewed my medical student lecture notes and there were only about three lines of notes on mesothelioma This was the case despite the fact that we were already beginning to see mesothelioma cases in Western Australian following widespread exposure to blue asbestos from the Wittenoom Mine. The situation has changed dramatically since then.
Now, all our medical students are aware of the disease mesothelioma the high frequency of the disease in our clinical departments means that students are exposed to many patients suffering from mesothelioma. Indeed when a patient presents with a pleural effusion and chest wall pain, mesothelioma is often assumed to be the diagnosis until proven otherwise. In addition, the community are well aware of the risks of asbestos expo- sure following many news reports describing the extent of the industrial tragedy of asbestos.
This is particularly the case in Western Australia where the widespread exposure to blue asbestos (crocidolite) from the Wittenoom mine, which operated between 1948 and 1966, has been described as an industrial tragedy of the scale of Bhopal in India. It differs from Bhopal, however, in that the duration of morbidity and mortality is spread over many decades.
After that the epidemic of mesothelioma has been seen throughout the world.
As a medical student studying pathology around 1970 I can recall only minimal attention being given to mesothelioma. In fact I once reviewed my medical student lecture notes and there were only about three lines of notes on mesothelioma This was the case despite the fact that we were already beginning to see mesothelioma cases in Western Australian following widespread exposure to blue asbestos from the Wittenoom Mine. The situation has changed dramatically since then.
Now, all our medical students are aware of the disease mesothelioma the high frequency of the disease in our clinical departments means that students are exposed to many patients suffering from mesothelioma. Indeed when a patient presents with a pleural effusion and chest wall pain, mesothelioma is often assumed to be the diagnosis until proven otherwise. In addition, the community are well aware of the risks of asbestos expo- sure following many news reports describing the extent of the industrial tragedy of asbestos.
This is particularly the case in Western Australia where the widespread exposure to blue asbestos (crocidolite) from the Wittenoom mine, which operated between 1948 and 1966, has been described as an industrial tragedy of the scale of Bhopal in India. It differs from Bhopal, however, in that the duration of morbidity and mortality is spread over many decades.
After that the epidemic of mesothelioma has been seen throughout the world.
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