Beware of Occupational Asbestosis – Why?

There thousands of cases in American courts centered on workers with asbestosis and silicosis. Several major corporations have been put out of business by these lawsuits. Now, the Justice Department is examining possible fraud by those involved in the some of these cases around the country.

Asbestos is an inert fibrous like mineral used in mining, building and construction industry. Asbestos is used as insulation because it resists corrosion and fire. However, those who work with the material and have high exposure over the long term can develop lung problems such as shortness of breath at rest or on movement and fibrosis. We know that over a million worked in the building industry were exposed and worldwide, 27 million or more may have had exposure.

The symptoms and end point is like emphysema that occurs with smoking. The asbestos fiber becomes localized in the lung air sac. Fibrosis occurs: the lung’s reaction to a foreign material. It is scarring. The air sacs of the lung are destroyed by a chronic inflammatory reaction by the lung to the fibers. Restrictive lung disease develops with most damage observed in the lower lobes of the lungs. The normal lung tissue is destroyed and the air sacs cannot do the job: get oxygen to the blood. The person suffers a lack of apetite, weight loss, shortness of breath, and clubbing of the fingernails. Fluid can collect around the lungs or other organs involved. Those exposed are also at risk for developing lung cancer and mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a relatively rare cancer that occurs in the lung and other tissues upon chronic exposure to asbestos. The body has a protective tissue lining covering its organs. This is the mesothelium and it is made up of an inner and an outer layer of single cell thickness. The covering over the lungs is called the pleura. Somehow, asbestos fibers are transferred to the mesolthelium that surrounds the lung. It can form elsewhere as well like abdomen, and heart which are also surrounded by similar tissue.

The malignancy is staged and treated accordingly. Overall, it has a poor long term prognosis. Decortications or removal of the pleura is most common for localized disease. These patients tend to do well over 5 years. If the malignancy is stage I or II, then the combination of surgery and chemotherapy with radiation has given satisfactory results and is now recommended. However, local spread is common. Recently, immunotherapy has given hopeful signs of being effective. More studies are going on.