September 26, 2012 is National Mesothelioma Awareness Day

Today marks the fifth annual National Mesothelioma Awareness Day, an effort to increase public awareness and encourage U.S citizens to come together, help raise funds and fight this deadly cancer.

The first National Mesothelioma Awareness Day was held when a group of volunteers combined their efforts and urged their fellow Americans to spread the word and fight against this horrible disease.  Since then, mesothelioma advocates have been urging their state and local officials to proclaim the 26th of September as National Mesothelioma Awareness Day.

On November 29, 2010, Congress finally passed a bill recognizing National Mesothelioma Awareness Day.  The bill’s passage established national recognition of the dangers of asbestos and affirmed the need to find more effective treatments for the disease.  This was a major victory for countless asbestos and mesothelioma patients across the nation.

Pleural mesothelioma is a cancer that affects the lining of the lungs and is caused by exposure to asbestos fibers.  An average of 3,000 Americans die each year from mesothelioma.  Countless others die or suffer complications from asbestos-related lung cancer and other diseases.

Most people don’t know that they have been exposed to asbestos until they are diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease.  Exposure typically resulted from a patient’s occupation, and until the 1970s, countless types of workers were unknowingly exposed to the fibers while the asbestos companies were blatantly aware of the product’s harmful side effects.

Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer that is one of the most difficult cancers to treat.  This is, in part, due to the medical field’s limited ability to detect the disease in the early stages.

After years of pounding the pavement, fundraising and educating the public on the devastating effects of mesothelioma, mesothelioma advocates are starting to see some amazing results.

Recent medical breakthroughs in the fields of immunotherapy and genomics along with progress in more traditional approaches to treatment such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery are sparking new hope within the mesothelioma community.  New detection methods that are able to identify mesothelioma in the very early stages are currently in the second and third stages of clinical trials.

Baron and Budd has been involved in the fight against mesothelioma for the past 35 years, and remains committed to supporting those affected by asbestos-related diseases.  To learn more about how you can get involved in the fight against mesothelioma, visit here.