Asbestos Information

Asbestos Information
Asbestos Related Lung Cancer
It has long been known recognised that asbestos can be a contributory factor in people contracting lung cancer, and epidemiological studies (trend analysis) have shown that there is a higher incidence in contracting Asbestos Related Lung Lancer than Mesothelioma to those heavily exposed to asbestos. However, it is often very difficult to distinguish between the lung cancer which can be attributed to asbestos and that attributed to other conditions.

Mesothelioma
Mesolithioma is a rare disease and is caused by a malignant tumour or cancer of the lining around the lungs, chest, heart or stomach. The condition can take between 15 and 50 years to develop the symptoms after first exposure and sufferers can take up to two years to die after that. Mesolithioma is usually the result of low levels of asbestos exposure over long periods of time.

One of the problems with Mesothelioma is that some of the earliest symptoms of the disease can be easily mistaken for other less serious complaints, and some sufferers of Mesothelioma do not display any outward signs of the disease at all. Mesothelioma can therefore be easily misdiagnosed. Common symptoms of Mesothelioma are dyspea, pain from the pleural linings, persistent coughing, tiredness and loss of weight. The only certain method of diagnosing Mesothelioma is by further examination with a CT scan and X-ray, or MRI

Pleural Plaques
These are raised bilateral patches of hyaline fibrosis, or focal pleural calcification, producing dense bands of scar tissue. It is usually found in both lungs but an X-ray can only reveal about half of this condition. It is usually associated with an increase in risk of lung cancer, is not compensated by the DSS and will only attract reduced compensation through civil law.

Diffuse Pleural Thickening
Collagenous parietal pleural thickening is also scarring of the tissue of the lung lining and may be found in one or both lungs. The condition restricts breathing and is liable to turn into lung cancer.

Smoking and the effects of asbestos
It has long been recognised that smoking increases the risk of cancer ten fold, but when combined with inhalation of asbestos fibres the risk is increased by a further factor of five giving a combined risk of 50 times that of a non-smoker.