Asbestosis is a type of lung disease caused by inhaling asbestos fibers. Asbestos is a flame retardant material developed for a variety of purposes and is mainly used in the construction industry as well as any other business that the exposure potential fire hazard.Asbestos is a fibrous material and physical degradation over time that it makes, fragment into microscopic fibers. Inhalation of asbestos fibers causes the particles lodge in the lungs that causes the disease known as asbestosis.
The main problems arising from asbestosis are the development of scar tissue in the lungs and, worse, developing a form of lung cancer known as mesothelioma. In the first case, the presence of asbestos fibers cause scratches in the lung sacs that can result in internal bleeding and scarring, making breathing difficult and lungs susceptible to other diseases. In the second case, the fibers cause tumors in the lungs and they in turn become cancerous tumors that cause excessive accumulation of fluid in the lungs and the lining of the chest cavity. In both cases you can, if untreated, death.
Symptoms:
Common symptoms of asbestos mesothelioma or asbestosis are difficulty breathing when the airflow feels rough and hard. The efficiency of the lungs is also compromised by asbestos particles, leading to a severe decrease of resistance. These symptoms can be easily mistake for any number of less dangerous diseases, such as simply being out of shape or aging. X-ray, however, will be sufficient to reveal if asbestos fibers have lodged in the lungs.
The symptoms of mesothelioma, however, are similar to the above but also include severe chest pain or numbness in the area of the chest, difficulty breathing and also includes a feeling of "liquid" or "phlegm" caused by accumulation of excess fluid in the lungs and lining. Again, X-ray and be able to reveal the presence of cancerous tumors in the lungs caused by asbestos fibers.
Effects:
The effects of both asbestosis and mesothelioma are fatal if not treated. Asbestosis will lead eventually to an obstruction of the lung sacs from the accumulation of scar tissue, and worst will cause pulmonary embolism, development of blood clots in the lungs. These have been known to spread through the blood to the heart, causing cardiac arrest.
Mesothelioma, by contrast, is a cancer, and of itself is deadly because it causes cell degradation in the areas of lung and heart. Internal hemorrhaging is one of the known results of untreated mesothelioma, and another is the blockage of the cardiovascular system of the general accumulation of fluid in the thoracic cavity and the lining caused by the failed attempts of the body to fight tumors.
Treatment :
Treating asbestosis or asbestos mesothelioma is still a fairly simple procedure compared to mesothelioma. Since the problem with asbestosis is primarily due to the fibers of scar tissue and asbestos, the surgery can still treat this problem. However, if the lung condition has worsened to mesothelioma, chemotherapy is necessary to alleviate the problem. Simple surgery for mesothelioma has succeeded, and often the patients only have a life expectancy five years after the operation.
The most effective treatment to date for mesothelioma involves a combination of laser surgery and chemotherapy. The heat of a laser instead of a regular scalpel helps to burn the tumors without causing any damage to surrounding tissues, and the heat also causes the targeted areas more receptive to chemotherapy drugs used today. This particular combination has shown the highest rate of successful treatment for mesothelioma.
Avoidance / Safety Tips:
The best way to prevent, asbestosis and mesothelioma, should be avoided in areas with high concentrations of asbestos. This affects not only people who are in the industrial environment, but other people vulnerable to that, if you're in or near a building that used asbestos extensively to live on the building materials. Some old houses and establishments, in which use asbestos as part of their bases in an effort to add an element of fire protection.
When asbestos exposure cannot be avoided, it is advisable that people wear masks to keep filtration fibers when in the vicinity of asbestos. In addition, asbestos fibers in the skin and clothes, bathing and washing clothes thoroughly after the exposure as a way to avoid contracting asbestosis and mesothelioma recommended cling.
For more information: http://mesoblog.org/blog/
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