Trouble in Anatolia

Our plain-English summary of Trouble in Anatolia, by N.R. Anthonisen (Canadian Respiratory Journal, 2004).

The study

• Author: N.R. Anthonisen
• Journal: Canadian Respiratory Journal
• Published: 2004;11(4):273-4
• Type of article: Comment
• Language: French
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This short editorial was not a research study and presented no new data. It commented on a paper by Gulmez and colleagues, in the same journal issue, about malignant mesothelioma in central Anatolia, Turkey. Citing that paper, the author noted that the disease presented much as it does in Canada. In Anatolia, though, it was very common, affected men and women about equally, and often occurred in relatively young people. The author attributed this to environmental rather than occupational exposure. Asbestos lies on or near the surface there and is used in construction, in painting and as insulation, and in some areas people build homes in and on erionite-bearing rocks. The author described erionite as apparently worse than asbestos in its ability to cause cancer and noted that areas with erionite have even higher mesothelioma rates. The author called mesothelioma there endemic rather than epidemic. The author wrote that educational efforts should be made if they had not been, while saying the author did not know whether any had been made. The author also suggested that the Turkish government should probably not be criticized for not outlawing asbestos use and housing near erionite.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Editorial (editor's page) commenting on another paper in the same issue; no original data
• Who was studied: No study population of its own; the editorial discusses malignant mesothelioma in central Anatolia, Turkey, as described in a separate paper by Gulmez et al (pages 287-290 of the same issue)
• Exposure: Environmental, not occupational, exposure to asbestos used in construction, painting and insulation, and to erionite from rocks in and on which homes are built
• Main results:
  • Citing Gulmez et al, the author wrote that mesothelioma in Anatolia is very common, with an approximately equal sex distribution, and frequently occurs in relatively young people
  • The author wrote that the disease presents with chest pain, dyspnea and pleural effusion, as malignant mesothelioma does in Canada
  • The author stated that areas with erionite have an even higher incidence of mesothelioma
  • The author described mesothelioma in central Anatolia as endemic at high levels, not epidemic, and noted that a 350-page book on mesothelioma has no chapter on Turkey's experience
  • The author's view was that the Turkish government should probably not be criticized for not outlawing asbestos use and housing near erionite
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that if educational efforts to change asbestos use in central Anatolia had not been made, they should be
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author stated not knowing whether educational efforts had been made in central Anatolia

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Related studies

• Environmental malignant mesothelioma in southern Anatolia: a study of fifty cases — E.H. Zeren, D. Gümürdülü, et al. (2000)
• Evaluation of malignant mesothelioma in central Anatolia: a study of 67 cases — I. Gulmez, L. Kart, et al. (2004)
• Lung cancer and mesothelioma in towns with environmental exposure to asbestos in Eastern Anatolia — H.C. Hasanoglu, Z. Yildirim, et al. (2006)
• Asbestos knowledge and awareness level in central part of Anatolia — S. Metintas, G. Ak, et al. (2017)
• An outbreak of pleural mesothelioma and chronic fibrosing pleurisy in the village of Karain/Urgüp in Anatolia — Y.I. Baris, A.A. Sahin, et al. (1978)
• The incidence of mesothelioma has not decreased for the last twenty years in Southeast region of Anatolia — A.I. Carkanat, A. Abdurrahman, et al. (2011)

Browse more research in Canadian Respiratory Journal, or return to medical research.