According to both asbestos.com and the American Cancer Society, there are quite a few key statistics that you should be aware when it comes to mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is considered a rare condition in the U.S. as there are only around 3,000 cases diagnosed each year.
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The quantity of people with mesothelioma in the U.S. rose between the ’70s and the early ’90s. However, it’s stabilized since then. The stabilization can be directly linked to asbestos as different laws came into effect to ban it or regulate it, and have reduced possible exposure.
The number of women affected by this disease is much lower than men (mostly because of exposure in predominantly male workplaces) and that number has been quite steady. The latency period for women after exposure to asbestos is also significantly higher, with women having a mean latency of 53.3 years while men have one of about 47.9 years.
In countries that do not have laws banning asbestos, the amount of people that suffer from mesothelioma is still increasing.
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Ninety-five percent of all diagnosed cases of mesothelioma in the U.S. affect Caucasians. In the remaining 5 percent, hispanics are diagnosed more often than African Americans or Asian Americans.
Mesothelioma is much more common in older people — a 60-year-old is 10 times more likely to develop the disease than a 40-year-old. In fact, the average patient’s age for some types of mesothelioma is 69.
Mesothelioma is responsible for 37,000 deaths in the U.S. between 1999 and 2013.
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