Risk population for getting Asbestosis

 Risk group for mesothelioma

 

The Asbestos is a very dangerous inorganic dust particle in the air. Most commonly it is seen in the building & construction sector in the air of their working place. Therefore those people who get expose to asbestos in the long term basis will face the asbestosis and associated conditions like Mesothelioma lung Cancers even after 2, 3 decades after the exposure of the asbestos dust. Therefore people who are involved in the construction sector and other areas where the asbestos concentration is very high in the air should use safety precautions and also the employers should ensure the safety of the workers.

Risk group in getting asbestos dust

Before late 70’s when the government established the rules and regulation on the reduction and removal of asbestos and ensure the safety by means of reducing the risk of lung cancers and other associated disorders, following set of people were in the risk of having asbestosis.

1.       Asbestos Miners

2.       Building and Construction workers

3.       Aircraft and Auto-mechanics

4.       Electricians

5.       Cleaners in the building sector who removing the dust

6.       Shipyard workers

7.       Railroad workers

8.       Boiler operators

As these people are in the risk of getting lung problems, they should regularly screen for lung cancers and the other respiratory problems like Lung fibrosis. 

Safety During the work place

As the government wants to ensure the safety of the workers, the employers should work on to reduce the risk of exposure by producing the adequately safe covering materials, good guidance on prevention of them, frequent health care and etc.

Workers role in reducing Asbestosis

As the workers are the people who are in the risk, they should identify the risk before anything else. Therefore they need to get proper training, use protective measures provided by the employers, and ensure the good health status. If you get any kinds of warning symptoms, consult your doctor on that.

Normally the symptoms of the asbestosis are progressive cough, breathlessness, clubbing and etc.

Non Malignant Mesothelioma

Difference of Benign Mesothelioma and Malignant mesothelioma

According to the cancer classification mesothelioma is a rare form of malignant lung cancer present due to the exposure of the Asbestos which may later cause the malignant changes of the pleura and the other body cavities. Most of the time, the prognosis of the disease is very bad. However, according to the early classification of lung tumors, there was a type of lung tumor called benign mesothelioma.

The benign mesothelioma or Fibroma of the pleura is a condition which may mimic the malignant mesothelioma of the pleura. As name indicates, it is benign and will not cause any tissue destruction or spreading to the adjacent lung parenchymal tissue or any other thoracic organ or structure.

Asbestos exposure and the mesothelioma

According to the history of mesothelioma, there were large numbers of workers who got the malignant mesothelioma due to the Asbestos exposure during the working period. Although this is not always happen large percentage of workers of US has got the problem. Chronic exposure may cause the problem to occur even after 20- 25 years of exposure.   Therefore doctors have seen a significant association between to malignant mesothelioma and the Asbestos exposure.

However, according to the current knowledge about benign mesothelioma of the lung it is not a very significant and life threatening condition. Also it has not been shown any relationship with the Asbestos exposure. In addition to that, there is no any associated factor has found so far.

Physical symptoms of mesothelioma

As the fibroma of the lung may not cause the life threatening symptoms, it is often missed. However, they are seen in the chest X ray as an incidental finding. In addition to the X ray findings, there may be similar physical symptoms to the Malignant mesothelioma as they cause the pressure on the pleural cavity.
There may be symptoms like chest pain, tightness, palpitation. But you would not get symptoms like bleeding with the cough, voice changes like features present in malignant form.

Radiological features of the Mesothelioma

The X ray features of benign mesothelioma are very important to differentiate it from the malignant mesothelioma. Most of the time as it will not show malignant changes, the margins are sharp and well define. It will not erode the adjacent lung. Therefore, the metastatic foci are not seen.

Prognosis and the management of Mesothelioma

The benign mesothelioma is well responded to the treatment. As it is not extending to the adjacent tissue structures, it can be removed easily.
However, there is a very small preposition of fibroma can differentiated into the malignant ones.

Mesothelioma law in the benign mesothelioma

As benign mesothelioma is not caused by the Asbestos exposure, it will not harm any worker. So, there is a huge different in the law regarding each condition.

Mesothelioma Lung Diseases

Signs, Symptoms and Management of Mesothelioma

By definition mesothelioma is a malignant type of tumor occurring in the lining tissue of the any part of the body cavities including peritoneal cavity, pericardial cavity, or in the pleural cavity. The most important thing regarding these tumors is the excessive aggressive behavior of them. Most of the time, they spread fast and cause death.

Type of mesothelioma & classification of mesothelioma

There are two main type of mesothelioma according to the presentation. One is the mesothelioma associated with lung and other type is the mesothelioma associated with the abdomen. So, they can be classified according to the site of presentation as pulmonary or abdominal mesothelioma.
However, for the management purposes, we have to use TNM classification of tumors. That measures the severity of the cancer.  If you have highly malignant tumor, you will see a high score in TNM classification.

Signs and Symptoms of mesothelioma in the lung

Mesothelioma in lung is pleural in origin is the commonest type of mesothelioma. It can grow faster and spread in to whole lung soon.

Mesothelioma in the lung is a very important type of tumor which should be differentiated by the other type of both benign and malignant forms of the tumors. Because the management plan is vary according to the condition you have.

The mesothelioma in the lung is presented with the several symptoms
1. Unexplained weight loss
2. Painful cough
3. Pain in the rib cage
4. Shortness of the breath
5. Skin nodules

If you have above symptoms and signs you we have to suspect the mesothelioma. But, this is not only the symptom basis, but also it is totally depends on the history of exposure to the carcinogenic substances like Asbestos. Also there may be number of causes in addition to the Asbestos exposure. But this is the most common cause of mesothelioma world wide.

As there are number of conditions associated with lung like Tuberculosis, Hypersensitive pneumonitis, we have to move on to the throw investigation including blood analyzing test, X ray and other imaging techniques, and all other relevant investigation to come to a confirmatory diagnosis.

Associated factors for mesothelioma

As mentioned above, this shows a high prevalence with the past exposure to the Asbestos. Therefore people works in industrial field which involves in construction and other types of asbestos exposure will be in high risk.In addition to that, not as other types of lung cancers, this will not show a association with the smoking unbelievably.

Other types of tumors in the lung

In addition to the mesothelioma there are number of benign and malignant lung tumors. There may be purely in lung origin or originated in somewhere else. However, it is very important to differentiate them from mesothelioma.

Diagnosis of mesothelioma

Diagnosis of mesothelioma is done by the help of several important steps by the doctors. There the most important component of the procedure of the diagnosis of mesothelioma is the history. If the history suggest a frequent exposure to the Asbestos it may be helpful in differentiating the mesothelioma from other Cancers of the lung and the benign conditions.

In additions to the history examination is also play a main role. Your doctor will do relevant respiratory system examination. In addition to that, there is an important role in doing the other system examination. It may be helpful to exclude mesothelioma. This is because; the primary tumor in any other site may indicate that it is originated from somewhere away from the lung.

 Role of the investigations for the mesothelioma is also important. The mostly using test here is the chest X ray (CXR). It will show the appearance of the problem. Also it will help to identify the X-ray patterns on mesothelioma.

Cytology is done to get the histological details of the condition.

There for History, Physical examination, CXR investigations and Cytology are important in diagnosing the mesothelioma.

Radiological features of mesothelioma

Chest X ray is the basic and fundamental investigation in mesothelioma. But the CT will give more information regarding the problem.  Therefore, it is necessary to do a CT in addition to the CXR.
The CXR may show one sided thickening of the pleura of the lung. Pleural effusion is common. You can see several lesions on the pleura which are nodular. There may be extension of the condition to the pericardium.

Law regarding the Mesothelioma

In the legal sector there are number of problems occurred due to the Mesothelioma and the Asbestos exposure. Lawyers give large attention on mesothelioma related problems. According to the history there are number of cases which have compensated with millions of money.

If you have a problem related to mesothelioma or Asbestos related adverse effects, please contact a mesothelioma lawyer.