Mention mesothelioma to anyone who is familiar with the term and they’ll no doubt conjure up pictures of older gentlemen suffering from severe pulmonary problems due to their past work with asbestos in places like shipyards and factories. Indeed, older men are the primary victims of asbestos cancer and account for some 92 percent of all cases diagnosed in the United States each year.
The reason men outnumber women by such a large percentage when it comes to mesothelioma is simply because many more men had jobs that put them in contact with asbestos, particularly during the decades that the mineral enjoyed widespread use in America’s factories and shipyards, power plants, oil refineries, and other industries. However, some studies have shown that women are more susceptible to developing mesothelioma, especially particular types of the disease.
Environmental Exposure and Susceptibility
Several years ago, Dr. Dorsett D. Smith, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care, Department of Medicine, University of Washington at Everett, penned a study that took a look at the relative risk of women vs. men for malignant pleural mesothelioma due to environmental exposure to the amphibole type of asbestos. His study compared a previous study done in Karain Village, Turkey – where women were exposed to erionite (a form of fibrous zeolite) – to the rates of mesothelioma among women in the U.S., Europe, and Australian. Dr. Smith attempted to discern the reason for the difference in mesothelioma risk factors between the Turkish women and those living elsewhere.
An obvious difference, of course, might be due to the fact that the Turkish women engaged in practices that put them at a higher risk, such as whitewashing their homes with a substance that contained asbestos.
The reason men outnumber women by such a large percentage when it comes to mesothelioma is simply because many more men had jobs that put them in contact with asbestos, particularly during the decades that the mineral enjoyed widespread use in America’s factories and shipyards, power plants, oil refineries, and other industries. However, some studies have shown that women are more susceptible to developing mesothelioma, especially particular types of the disease.
Environmental Exposure and Susceptibility
Several years ago, Dr. Dorsett D. Smith, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care, Department of Medicine, University of Washington at Everett, penned a study that took a look at the relative risk of women vs. men for malignant pleural mesothelioma due to environmental exposure to the amphibole type of asbestos. His study compared a previous study done in Karain Village, Turkey – where women were exposed to erionite (a form of fibrous zeolite) – to the rates of mesothelioma among women in the U.S., Europe, and Australian. Dr. Smith attempted to discern the reason for the difference in mesothelioma risk factors between the Turkish women and those living elsewhere.
An obvious difference, of course, might be due to the fact that the Turkish women engaged in practices that put them at a higher risk, such as whitewashing their homes with a substance that contained asbestos.
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