Mesothelioma is a fatal disease, almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma victims who choose to take action will often qualify for compensation, especially when they can identify exactly when and where they were exposed to asbestos. Courts have found clear legal liability on the part of companies that manufactured asbestos. Mesothelioma gives people who worked with asbestos both serious medical and legal problems.

Exposure to asbestos in the workplace is the leading cause of mesothelioma. In particular, people who worked in the heating and construction businesses were likely to have been exposed to high levels of asbestos. Millions of Americans were exposed to free floating, airborne asbestos from nearby factories, ship building yards, and asbestos mines and mills that were in operation from the 1930s through the 1970s, however. In a number of instances, spouses or others who regularly handled and washed asbestos-ridden clothing have also contracted mesothelioma.

Pleural mesothelioma, the most common form of the disease, attacks the linings of the chest wall and lungs. Pleural mesothelioma can follow asbestosis, which is the scarring of lung tissue caused by inhalation of asbestos fibers, but mesothelioma often occurs alone. These symptoms can appear shortly after or exposure, or take more time.

There are other forms of malignant mesothelioma as well, including peritoneal mesothelioma, which attacks the lining of the abdomen.

Symptoms of mesothelioma often don’t appear until 20, 30, or more years after asbestos exposure but, at some point, they appear as breathing problems or digestive problems. Breathing problems, including shortness of breath and coughing, are common symptoms of lung-based, or pleural, mesothelioma.