what are the symptoms of asbestosis ?

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I'm 62 and worked for many years on car brake systems I am now suffering with heavy chest pains and extreme shortness of breath,
See a doctor - pronto -could be lots of things, some really nasty, and I don't want to worry you.  (+ info)

do you have enlarged hilar lymph nodes with asbestosis?

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Enlarged hilar lymph nodes are possible with quite a few different malignant and several non malignant disease processes. If the nodes are over 1 cm in size then their presence is often not a good sign.  (+ info)

Asbestosis, I need knowledge and understanding.?

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Do you have knowledge of anyone who has/had asbestosis and what type of symptoms were experienced? Especially about 6-7 yrs after the onset of symptoms.
The primary symptom of asbestosis is generally the slow, insidious onset of shortness of breath on exertion. In severe, advanced cases, this may lead to respiratory failure. Coughing is not usually a typical symptom, unless the patient has other, concomitant respiratory tract diseases.

People with extensive occupational exposure to the mining, manufacturing, handling or removal of asbestos are at risk of developing asbestosis. There is also an increased risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma. Asbestosis and lung cancer require prolonged exposure to asbestos. However, cases of mesothelioma have been documented with even 1-3 months of exposure, and only indirect exposure (through air ventilation system.) Most cases of asbestosis do not present until 5-10 years after exposure to the material.

Long story short, unless you have had chronic exposure to asbestos, you probably do not have asbestosis, but you may have other respiratory problems including mesothelioma, which can occur from very little exposure.  (+ info)

Coroner says dad died of COPD? But was treated for Asbestosis for 30 years?

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How Can they say he died of copd when he was treated for the Asbestosis for such a long period! and was taking Tablets for it and was signed off work due to it?
Can anyone tell us how and what we can do as i think this is a bit of a strange event, Help?
The Coroner is now trying to get this rushed through!
Dad worked on old Naval ships Breaking down and scrapping (these had lagging made from asbestosis
COPD means Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and includes Asbestosis along with many other chronic airway obstruction. See

http://health.yahoo.com/respiratory-overview/copd-chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease/healthwise--hw32559.html  (+ info)

What are asbestosis symptoms?

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other than plural plaques in lungs what are other symptoms of asbestosis
  (+ info)

Asbestosis night sweats?

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Has anyone any suggestions? My dad has terrible drenching night sweats, probably due to asbestosis. He has also become very tired recently and I'm wondering if it is because of the sweating. Any ideas would be welcome.
Thanks Matt - no TB, just asbestosis (8 years duration). Thanks for suggestion though.
Has he been tested for TB? Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for Tubercle Bacillus) is a common and deadly infectious disease that is caused by mycobacteria, primarily Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis most commonly affects the lungs (as pulmonary TB) but can also affect the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, the genitourinary system, bones, joints and even the skin. Other mycobacteria such as Mycobacterium bovis, Mycobacterium africanum and Mycobacterium microti can also cause tuberculosis, but these species do not usually infect healthy adults.

In the patients where TB becomes an active disease, 75% of these cases affect the lungs, Symptoms include
productive
prolonged cough of more than three weeks duration
chest pain
coughing up blood
fever
chills
NIGHT SWEATS
appetite loss
weight loss and paling
easily fatigued.  (+ info)

Can you get asbestosis at 34 years of age.?

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Yes, no matter what the other people say above, the answer is eys. SOme people only eneed a little bit of exposure to actually get sick from enviromental things such as coal, asbestos, etc. I have seen a 19 year old with empysema, who only smoked 3 eyars....

if you are worried, go to the doctor, get checked...

by the way osha has made leaps in requirements, so if your workplaces isn't complyant, u need to report the workplace... they are required to give you respirators to keep exposure to a minumim  (+ info)

asbestosis lung disease? My dad is dying from this, is there anybody out there familiar with this?

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It is really tough.. And my dad never smoked or drank. When the asbestos findings were first coming out, like with men who worked in schools, hospitals.. etc, a lot of those men died because it was so new. But because my dad never smoked, he bought himself a lot of years. Anybody out there going through what I am going through now?
I'm so sorry about what you, your family and your Dad are all going thru. I'll keep you all in my prayers.

Twenty (20) years ago my Dad died from lung cancer. At least that's what the Doctors called it back then. My Dad was a Cosmetic Chemist who breathed in asbestosis fumes that were heated to 700 degrees in a machine in the building he worked in. When he was diagnosed with cancer, the company he worked for, quickly hired a company (with men dressed from head to toe in special suits) to dismantle everything so they could not be sued. My Dad was present when the men came and asked them why they were covered to dismantle everything when it was completely cold, with no temperature. My Dad was told that asbestosis, even in a completely cold stage, was still very dangerous. When my Dad said that he breathed the fumes in for over 10 years, when the machine was heated to 700 degrees, the men didn't know what to say to him. He then revealed to them that he now had lung cancer.

Again, please accept my condolences and I'll keep all of your family in my prayers.......Bright Blessings......  (+ info)

Do you have asbestosis?

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I would like to ask someone about their condition and how it affects their life. Also what they might know about the disease. I was diagnosed about 5 yrs. ago.
the stuff is a naturally occurring mineral and has a microscopic pine needle like appearance.its been known as a health risk for a hundred years.if you had exposure to the stuff in your occupation there might be money in a court ordered settlement fund,for example an attorney in san diego,ca (gary aguirre) secured money to treat his clients for asbestosis and other ailments asbestos -caused.the case involved many thousands of dollars for each claimant ,and dates back to the 80s.search it on the internet you need a lot more info than yahoos q & a can provide  (+ info)

what are the acute effects of asbestosis?

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Asbestos primarily affects the respiratory system. The immune and cardiovascular systems, and possibly the GI system, are also affected by asbestos exposure.
The respiratory, immunologic, cardiovascular, and GI systems might be adversely affected by asbestos inhalation and by ingestion of contaminated media or subsequent to mucociliary removal from the respiratory tract. Skin nodules (corns) from handling asbestos-containing materials can also occur.

No deaths due to acute exposure to asbestos have been reported, but even brief (<1 year) high exposures increase risk for future disease. Chronic inhalation exposure can cause death due to asbestosis and cancer. The risk of developing asbestos-associated disease continues even after exposure has ceased. Fibrosis in the lung can lead to increased resistance to blood flow through the pulmonary capillary bed, resulting in pulmonary hypertension and compensatory hypertrophy of the right side of the heart.

Immunologic abnormalities, such as increased concentrations of autoantibodies and depressed lymphocyte responsiveness (Immunologic Effects section), are usually mild or absent in persons who have not developed clinical signs of asbestosis. Cardiovascular effects are secondary to pulmonary changes.


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Respiratory Effects
Asbestos exposure can result in asbestosis, mesothelioma, or carcinoma.
Inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause parenchymal (lung) asbestosis, pleural asbestosis (now termed "asbestos-related pleural abnormalities"), pleural mesothelioma, and lung carcinoma. All four syndromes can be present in a patient. Exposure to other carcinogens, dose, intensity and duration of exposure, individual susceptibility, and elapsed time since initial exposure (latency) all can play a role in disease development. Short-term high-level or chronic low-level asbestos exposure have been associated with lung cancer, mesothelioma, and pleural disorders; higher doses are more likely to produce parenchymal asbestosis. Even brief or relatively low exposures from work-related, household, and natural sources can induce pleural plaques or mesothelioma. In some circumstances, exposures in household members can approach occupational levels. One year of heavy exposure (e.g., manufacture of asbestos products, asbestos spraying, insulation work with asbestos materials, or demolition of old buildings) or 5 to 10 years of moderate exposure (e.g., construction or shipbuilding) could increase the lung cancer risk twofold or more. In some circumstances of extremely high asbestos exposure, a twofold increase of lung cancer can be achieved with exposure of <1 year (International Expert Meeting on Asbestos, Asbestosis, and Cancer 1997). Smoking and exposure to other toxicants increase the risk of asbestos-associated lung cancer.

Kamp and Weitzman (1997) report that there is general agreement that histologic or radiologic asbestosis is associated with a significant increase in the risk for lung cancer. However, disagreement exists as to whether asbestosis is simply a marker for high-dose exposure, or whether the interstitial fibrosis of asbestosis is the cancer-producing factor. It is also not necessary to have asbestosis to develop asbestos-related lung cancer.

According to Rosenberg (1997) and Kamp and Weitzman (1997), of workers certified as having asbestosis, about 20% died of pneumoconiosis, 39% died of asbestos-related lung cancer; 9% died from mesothelioma, and 32% died from other causes; 50% of the deaths occurred within 10 years after diagnosis.

Asbestosis
Asbestosis is pulmonary fibrosis of the pleura or parenchymal interstitial tissue.
Inhalation of asbestos fibers can lead to a characteristic pneumoconiosis or diffuse interstitial fibrosis, termed asbestosis. Either heavy exposure for a short time or lower level exposure over a longer period may result in asbestosis; some cases have resulted from intense 1-day exposure. The disease can affect the lung parenchyma or pleural tissue. Clinical manifestations typically appear 20 to 40 years after onset of exposure; however, radiologic changes can occur in <20 years.

Parenchymal asbestosis is characterized as a lung disease involving a restrictive pattern, with obstructive features due to small airway disease, as well as gas exchange abnormalities. It is usually associated with higher exposure levels and radiograph changes, but mild fibrosis can occur at lower exposure levels, and pulmonary function changes can occur even without radiographic changes. Mossman and Churg (1998) feel that the development of asbestosis requires heavy exposure, possibly even involving a minimum threshold of about 25 to 100 fibers/mL/year. Latency is inversely proportional to exposure, and is now about 12.6 to 20.2 years; at lower doses, a longer latency would be expected. Smoking can worsen the result of asbestos exposure, possibly because of the increased particle retention (leading to decreased lung defenses) that takes place in smokers.

Asbestosis patients typically have elevated levels of antinuclear antibody and rheumatoid factors and a progressive decrease in total lymphocyte count with advancing fibrosis. Self-perpetuating host responses might affect the progression of fibrosis, even after exposure ceases. Fibroinflammatory patterns other than conventional asbestosis have also been described for workers with occupational exposure to asbestos. Differentiation of treatable diseases from asbestosis is very important. The differential diagnosis might include the collagen vascular diseases, radiation fibrosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Pleural plaques have not been shown to be premalignant.
Pleural effects can occur even in the absence of parenchymal asbestosis. The incidence of pleural abnormalities in persons employed in asbestos-related occupations can be high (20% to 60%). Asbestos-related pleural abnormalities are found as pleural plaques, mainly involving the parietal pleura, sometimes with calcification; and diffuse pleural thickening, which is a collective name for pleural reactions involving mainly the visceral pleura. These abnormalities include benign asbestos-related pleural effusions, blunted costophrenic angle, crow's feet or pleuroparenchymal fibrous strands, and rounded atelectasis (International Expert Meeting on Asbestos, Asbestosis, and Cancer 1997). Pleural plaques are oval areas of acellular collagen deposits, usually located bilaterally on the inferior and posterior surfaces of the pleura; they are usually asymptomatic and without clinically important findings (International Expert Meeting on Asbestos, Asbestosis, and Cancer 1997). Pleural plaques are not lung cancer precursors, although persons with pleural plaques have an increased incidence of lung cancer. Migration of inhaled asbestos to the pleura is the most likely cause of plaques. In regions where plaques are not endemic, 80% to 90% of the plaques that are radiologically well defined are attributable to occupational asbestos exposures (International Expert Meeting on Asbestos, Asbestosis, and Cancer 1997).

Diffuse pleural fibrosis refers to noncircumscribed fibrous thickening of variable cellularity, usually found in the parietal, but mainly the visceral, layers. In occupational asbestos exposures, such diffuse fibrosis is probably a result of benign asbestos pleuritis with effusion; it might or might not be associated with rounded atelectasis. Diffuse pleural thickening, which is observed radiologically, can be associated with mild or, rarely moderate to severe restrictive pulmonary function deficits such as decreased ventilatory capacity (International Expert Meeting on Asbestos, Asbestosis, and Cancer 1997).

Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a signal tumor for asbestos exposure and can appear after relatively low-level exposures.
Mesotheliomas are tumors arising from the thin serosal membranes that surround internal organs. The majority of mesotheliomas are due to asbestos exposure, although the National Cancer Institute (NCI) states that up to 30% have unknown causes. Pleural and peritoneal mesotheliomas are uncommon in the general, unexposed population. Although all asbestos types can cause mesothelioma, several studies have suggested that in humans the amphibole mineral form might be more likely to induce mesothelioma than the serpentine form. Evidence shows that peritoneal mesotheliomas are associated with higher levels of asbestos exposure than pleural mesotheliomas. Unlike asbestos-related bronchogenic cancer, mesothelioma risk does not appear to be influenced by smoking.

Mesothelioma can occur with low asbestos exposure; however, very low background environmental exposures carry only an extremely low risk. The dose necessary for effect appears to be lower for asbestos-induced mesothelioma than for pulmonary asbestosis or lung cancer. However, an extremely short exposure period might be sufficient to cause this rare tumor. A long latency period is typical-a minimum of 10 years from the first exposure is required to attribute the mesothelioma to asbestos exposure. Latency periods have been up to 57 years, although more intense exposures can result in latencies as short as 20 to 30 years. In most cases the latency interval is 30 to 40 years (International Expert Meeting on Asbestos, Asbestosis, and Cancer 1997). Some studies indicate that risk of mesothelioma from a given level of asbestos exposure depends primarily on elapsed time since exposure, with risk increasing dramatically after a lag period of about 10 years.

An estimated 1,500 cases of mesothelioma per year occur in the United States (compared with an average of 130,000 cases of lung cancer per year, mostly due to smoking). Data on death rates from pleural or peritoneal mesotheliomas over the past 10 to 20 years indicate that mesotheliomas are increasing in males over 65 years of age who have histories of occupational exposure to asbestos. Rom (1998) states that the incidence of mesothelioma in the United States is increasing; the incidence of mesothelioma is peaking in their exposure-related mesothelioma incidence from 1940 to 1970. In the United Kingdom, where imports of asbestos peaked in the 1960s and 1970s, a peak in mesothelioma deaths is expected in 2020.

Lung Cancer
Latency for lung cancer is 10 to 30 years or more.
There is little doubt that all types of asbestos can cause lung cancer. A latency period of 10 to 30 years or more exists between the onset of asbestos exposure and occurrence of the tumor. Whether asbestos exposure will lead to lung cancer depends not only on cumulative exposure, but also on other underlying lung cancer risks. The incidence of lung cancer from all causes is high in the general population, so asbestos as a causative factor is difficult to prove in an individual patient. The presence of asbestosis is an indicator of high exposure, but lung cancer can occur in its absence as well. Pleural plaques occur at lower levels of asbestos exposure, and diffuse pleural thickening occurs at moderate to high levels of exposure.

It is unclear whether a threshold asbestos dose exists for lung cancer.
All four major histologic types of lung cancer (squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, large-cell carcinoma, and small-cell carcinoma) are associated with asbestos exposure. Although asbestos-associated lung cancer tends to occur in the lower lung fields, histologic type and anatomic location are of no help in determining whether the tumor is due to asbestos. As stated previously, even 1 year of heavy exposure or 5 to 10 years of moderate exposure can increase lung cancer risk twofold or more. The relative risk of lung cancer is estimated to increase 0.5% to 4% for each fiber per cubic centimeter per year (fiber-years) of cumulative exposure (International Expert Meeting on Asbestos, Asbestosis, and Cancer 1997). At very low levels of asbestos exposure, the risk of lung cancer appears to be undetectably low (International Expert Meeting on Asbestos, Asbestosis, and Cancer 1997).


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Other Carcinogenic Effects
Increased incidence of GI cancers has been reported among asbestos workers.
Some mortality studies of asbestos workers have revealed small increases in the incidence of death from cancer at one or more extrathoracic sites, including the larynx, the kidneys and the GI system-notably the esophagus, stomach, colon, and rectum. Presumably, these cancers (other than the larynx) are due to swallowing asbestos fibers.

The consequences of ingesting asbestos fibers are a subject of controversy.
In contrast, other epidemiologic studies have not detected statistically significant associations between asbestos ingestion and extrathoracic cancers. Various researchers and regulatory groups have reviewed the weight of evidence and have not been able to reach a consensus on the effects of ingested asbestos fibers. Whether GI neoplasms can be induced by ingesting asbestos-contaminated drinking water (or other ingestion sources) remains controversial. In humans, asbestos bodies have been identified in extrapulmonary tissues including tonsils, thoracic and abdominal lymph nodes, pleura, peritoneum, liver, spleen, kidneys, adrenals, small intestine, pancreas, and bone marrow, as well as the lungs. In any case, oral exposure to asbestos should be avoided.


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Cardiovascular Effects
Cardiovascular effects are secondary to pulmonary fibrosis.
Fibrosis of the lung can lead to increased resistance to blood flow through the capillary bed, resulting in cor pulmonale. This condition can also occur with less severe fibrotic disease, especially if chronic obstructive lung disease is simultaneously present, as commonly seen in cigarette-smoking asbestos workers. Pulmonary hypertension can occur before decreased respiratory function is clinically detectable. Limited data from case reports suggest that constrictive pericarditis due to fibrous thickening can also result from asbestos exposure (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 2001).


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Immunologic Effects
Immunologic abnormalities have been noted in persons with asbestosis.
Immunologic abnormalities have been observed in asbestos workers with clinical signs of asbestosis and have also been reported in environmentally exposed persons. Despite some variability, most studies indicate that cell-mediated immunity can be depressed in workers who have radiologic evidence of asbestosis. Autoantibodies (rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibodies) are typically present in these workers. Caplan syndrome (the coexistence of pneumoconiosis with rheumatoid changes) also has been noted in asbestos workers, although it is more common in coal miners and workers with other pneumoconiosis. The implications of these immunologic changes are difficult to assess, but they are of special concern because depressed immune function might be a factor in the etiology of asbestos-induced cancer.  (+ info)

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