Of all the different medical disciplines available for people interested in medical science to practice, epidemiology has to be one of the most challenging in existence. The reason for this is that epidemiology is not similar to most of the other medical science disciplines. If a person were to become a general practitioner for example, their patient base would mostly be people with cold and flu symptoms.

An epidemiologist’s job is much less straightforward. Their work requires a combination of medical knowledge and logical skills of deduction and detection. The epidemiologist is responsible for figuring out the origin diseases, and because of that their work methodology is quite different from that of any other doctor. In the specific case of mesothelioma, while there might be over a dozen doctors that discuss a specific case, there will only be one not directly involved with patient care; the epidemiologist.

However, in reference to mesothelioma, the epidemiologist’s job becomes easier. There are a few different causes for mesothelioma, but usually there is only one cause that the illness is traced back to in any given situation.

Asbestos and mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is so frequently traced back to harmful asbestos exposure that in many ways the epidemiologist might not even have to do any extra research in order to confirm it. Harmful asbestos exposure is the cause of mesothelioma more than 90 percent of the time. Asbestos exposure can occur anywhere, but most of the time it is the result of exposure in the workplace.

Asbestos is not a single substance but rather is a name given to a wide variety of minerals and substances. Blue asbestos is the most dangerous kind of asbestos and along with brown asbestos and white asbestos form the large bulk of asbestos exposure cases. There are a lot of regulations for these three types of asbestos nowadays, but white asbestos is still frequently used in the construction of many textiles. For that reason, many different workers have the chance to come across it at some point during their careers.

Other causes of mesothelioma

We have already established that mesothelioma is usually caused by asbestos. Asbestos is a very fibrous mineral. There are a few other fibrous minerals that are similar enough to asbestos that they have also been known to cause mesothelioma but it is important to note that less than 1% of reported mesothelioma cases have ultimately been traced back to a different mineral than asbestos. One such mineral, however, is the mineral Erionite. Mesothelioma has also in rare cases been traced back to harmful radiation exposure.

If you are currently the victim of mesothelioma, then it is important that you contact a lawyer immediately, especially if you believe that your exposure was the result of asbestos exposure in the workplace. Remember that lawsuits have been filed against irresponsible companies and have gone on to result in large settlements for the afflicted people.