Risk Factor
In medical terms, a risk factor can be any number of issues or conditions that make one more predisposed to a particular
disease. These include genetic predisposition (family history or ethnic background), risky behaviors (smoking or unprotected sexual relations), a compromised immune system (AIDS or Type II diabetes), previous illnesses (or lack thereof), and even gender.
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Many diseases are known to be genetic in nature. Sickle-cell anemia is one example; it is almost exclusive to people of African descent (oddly, it confers an immunity to malaria - an example of how one disease may provide protection from another). Cystic fibrosis is suffered mainly by Ashkenazic Jews. The reason for this is endogamy; peoples from these groups do not often marry outside the group, therefore the disease is passed to the children. Another example of a genetic disease that is also gender-specific is hemophilia. Women carry the gene, but only men suffer from it. Queen Victoria of Great Britain (1837-1902) was such a carrier; through her son Prince Leopold, hemophilia was carried to most of the royal families of Europe, including the last tsarevich of Russia, Alexander Romanov.
Cancer, which was once a rare condition (only 3% of the population suffered from it) has increased alarmingly over the past forty years along with a similar increase in environmental toxins, loss of health care access, more engagement in risky behaviors, and an aging population.
The greatest risk factor for mesothelioma so far proven is exposure to asbestos, particularly in an industrial setting. Asbestos fibers essentially act as microscopic needles that literally burrow into the tissues of the lungs. Antibodies actually recognize these as foreign pathogens, but because these fibers are inorganic, these antibodies wind up destroying themselves trying to attack them. This may also cause elements of the antibodies to cause damage to healthy tissues, which in leads to the formation of cancerous cells.