Mesothelioma News

Since the mid-1960s, it has been known that exposure to asbestos can cause a range of serious illnesses, including asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma, a rare cancer. Typically, the symptoms of these diseases do not appear until decades after initial exposure.

This was the case for a man from Chester, UK, who reportedly died more than five decades after he was originally exposed to the carcinogenic substance, an inquest heard recently.

According to the Chester Chronicle, George Guest died at the age of 68 in July 2010. Guest reportedly worked for a construction company for four years, during which time he was tasked with building asbestos-containing railway carriages, the inquest was told.

Guest reportedly began working for the construction company after he left school as a teenager in 1957. The inquest heard that the man was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2009.

"My dad was ill for a year with the disease but he never complained," Guest's daughter Dawn told the inquest. "He was so brave."

Asbestos-related illnesses kill approximately 107,000 people across the globe each year, according to the World Health Organization.