Asbestos and Mesothelioma: Five Tips for Avoiding Both
Aside from causing the largest running civil tort (string of lawsuits) in the history of the country, asbestos has also established itself as one of the public health disasters of the twentieth century and one that lingers into the new millennium. Asbestos was ubiquitous in industrial products and construction materials through about 1975 in the United States. Exposure to asbestos products, especially repeated exposure, can result in a person inadvertently inhaling microscopic asbestos fibers that the body finds itself unable to excrete through natural methods. As a result they remain in the body and years, even decades later can result in the onset of asbestosis or mesothelioma cancer, two diseases for which the only known cause is asbestos. The average latency period for mesothelioma is over twenty years.
Today there are still about 3,000 cases of mesothelioma diagnosed annually in the U.S. even though asbestos usage was reduced to near zero by the end of the 1970s. Part of the reason for the continuing development of asbestos related diseases is the extraordinarily long latency period: retired workers who were exposed during factory or construction jobs in the 1950s and 1960s are just now getting sick. Part of the issue is the exposure military veterans suffered on Navy ships, in shipyards and in military facilities through the Vietnam War. And part of the reason for future asbestos illnesses is going to be exposure for construction workers and homeowners on remodeling jobs.
If you live in or have purchased a home built prior to about 1975 there’s a good chance it contains materials laced with asbestos. Those materials could be home siding, cement in the foundation or yard, roofing, ceiling tiles, floor tiles, spackling, insulation, joint compound used for wall board, textured paint, and insulation for the ceiling, walls and pipes or ducts for the heating system. During demolition and remodeling jobs this material, if improperly handled, can lead to unnecessary and dangerous exposure to asbestos.
Taking up old floor tiles, taking down old wall surfaces, taking off old roofs or house siding generates dust. Lots of dust. And that’s where young homeowners today can run into a lethal toxic material. Asbestos was used in most adhesives used for flooring, so removing those old tiles or linoleum is going to mean scraping old adhesive that contains asbestos. Cutting down old wallboard or removing old insulation can lead to exposure. The dust may seem harmless, but you don’t know what you’re inhaling. So here are five tips for avoiding asbestos exposure if you’re launching do-it-yourself projects at home.
1. Learn what’s in those old floor tiles, plaster and textured walls. Contact your county or state health agency and find out how to get products like this tested.
2. Use breathing protection. It makes sense anyway when you’re sanding, scraping or cutting crumbly products and it’s an important health protection when asbestos is involved.
3. Clean up the site every day. Get the dust off the floors, out of the rafters and off every surface where it’s collected. Even if you’re working in a stripped down shell, getting the dust up daily is a sensible health habit with or without the presence of asbestos products,
4. Recognize that some jobs may require a professional. IF you have asbestos insulation in the walls you may want a professional, licensed asbestos removal firm to tackle it. The same applies to asbestos roofing materials or siding.
5. Undisturbed asbestos materials are not health threats. Millions of homeowners have left asbestos insulation in place, because it’s buried in the walls and does the job. Many people cover over old floor tiles with a new surface.
Asbestos is a benign threat for people who live around it if they are aware of its presence and how to either manage its removal or seal it off – and to be aware of its presence in future architectural changes such as a new heating system. But there’s no escaping the fact that tens of millions of American homes contain significant amounts of asbestos products; if yours is one of them learning about construction materials is an excellent health maintenance activity.
Guest Post By:
Ben Stillwater is a freelance writer for Asbestos News, an online resource for asbestos and mesothelioma cancer information.
Periodontal Disease Treatment
Periodontal disease occurs when an infection is allowed to ravage the gums. It will come from plaque. Once you know how to live a healthy dental life, you will have less problems in other areas also. Read here on periodontal disease treatment.
The connections between dental health the health of the rest of the body are unmistakable. If you have a problem somewhere in your body, your teeth or gums probably will also. In light of this you will need to know what is good periodontal disease treatment. Your gums are the focus of all things periodontal. How healthy are yours ?
Periodontal disease can be limited with your own toothbrush and your own toothpaste. There is probably no reason to use a stiff-bristled toothbrush. Do not use toothpaste with flouride in it. Flouride is a known poison and is never supposed to be in the human body. How it got into the water is a long story. If you want to have a safe toothpaste, use baking soda and real ( sea ) salt. Mix the toothpaste with one part of the salt to six parts of the baking soda. It is important to get the flouride out of your body. Look for more information online about European countries that are banning the use of flouride supplements.
If a dentist is going to be working on your teeth for a periodontal problem, you will want to use a dentist that is using modern technology. If he or she is going to be giving you a X-Rays, it should be with digital X-ray equipment. If they do not have this, find one that does. You may already know this one, but do not allow the dentist to use mercury in your teeth. It is not to be used for filling cavities or any other reason inside your body, including the mouth. If your periodontal disease involves you getting a root canal, there are specific things to know. The “ferrule effect” is a term a dentist and you should know. This is a dental rule that covers a root canal. It specifies that if there is not enough of the tooth above the gum line, you may want to get the tooth removed or to have it replaced instead of getting a rooth canal.
This treatment can involve such problem as having receding gums, bleeding gums and the like. Smokers are going to have more of a problem with this than non-smokers. If you are a smoker and can possible quit, do so as soon as possible. If you have a “pink toothbrush” consider a quick trip to a modernized, biological dentist that does not use flouride or mercury.
Do I Need An Eye Exam ?
If you have eyes that do not seem to do what you want them to do, you may have that nagging question in the back of your mind; “Do I need an Eye Exam ?”. Read on to find out some facts about that important part of your body, your eyes.
The eyes are the windows of the soul. You are the soul they are behind. Keeping those “windows” in good shape so you can enjoy the beauty of the world should a be a top priority for you. Do you feel like your eyes are weaker than they use to be ? When you try to focus on far away objects, do you find it harder than usual ? Take note of these events as they are indicators that a problem, albeit temporary could be taking place.
Pain is the normal event that takes place when there are problems in the body, except for the eyes. They do not always have that tell-tale signal of pain when a negative situation is happening. For this reason, you need to be more sensitive to what is going on with your eyes. They change gradually as you get older. Glaucoma, cataracts, and other problems happen gradually. They are nevertheless dangerous diseases that do not announce they have arrived with any amount of pain.
This makes an eye exam a necessary part of life. An optometrist is an highly qualified individual who can help you know what is going on with your eyes. But you can do some of what the optometrist does. You know those eye charts that you do not like ? You can get one for yourself. The correct space to put between yourself and the eye chart is twenty feet or 6.1 meters. When you are doing the exam you will need sufficient light for the eye chart. If you use another person to help you while you are reading the chart it will cut down on the time you need to finish your exam. If you can find a snellen eye chart, it is the format used for most eye exams. The second line from the bottom is the correct line to try and read from 6.1 meters. If you can read it, great ! You have normal vision.
If your family has had a history of eye problems or disease, then that question; “Do I Need An Eye Exam ?”, may have a deeper significance for you than for the average person. In your case, a simple eye exam with the eye chart may not be enough. For you, a trip to the optometrist to examine the inside of your eyes will be a good idea. For children, it is important to discover eye problems before they develop into bigger ones. The optometrist can check for binocular problems, myopia ( can only see well up close ), hyperopia ( can only see well for distant objects ), and other abnormalities. For the older crowd, he or she will check for cataracts, degenerated retina and glaucoma.
If you consider the value of your eyes, and how you use them practically every waking moment of your life, you are probably already getting regular eye exams. If not, losing another day with a problem in your eyes should be giving you strong thoughts of this question.
Check out other medical tests at women tests
