Asbestosis

Asbestosis is a problem related to the chronic lungs and can let the patient choking his breath. This is one condition, which does not have a cure and treatment is available to help manage the problem in a better way. The problem is quite specific in nature and caused to the people, due to prolonged exposure to the asbestos. The estimation of people who may be affected is tough but then it becomes even tougher with people not being able to gauge it and not reporting it in time.

Symptoms

The symptoms take lot of time to surface, in fact almost 15-20 years after the initial exposure to the material known as asbestos. The symptoms are gradual and get clear with time as the problem grows exponentially. The common symptoms of asbestos are cough, chest pain and shortness of breath which initially starts during physical activity, but later starts to bother during resting time also. There are few lesser known symptoms like swelling and reddening of the finger tips.

Causes

The main reason is Asbestos fibers. The fiber is too tough and unable to be broken down while reaching the lungs and starts to damage the air sacs in the lungs. The air sacs are known as alveoli which let you to transfer oxygen from lungs to blood. The exposure to asbestos starts to damage the alveoli and starts getting scars. The scarring ultimately with time takes a toll and creates inability of inhaling enough oxygen and starts affecting adversely. The condition is related to the occupations like boilermakers, shipbuilders, plasters, chemical technicians or air-conditioning mechanics etc. The industries related to all these professions would have lot of involvement of asbestos risking the people working, with this condition.

Diagnosis

The doctor needs to confirm with reading the symptoms of the condition. The lungs are also listened to with the stethoscope. The crackling noise coming out the lungs would confirm the presence of asbestos. The doctor also would need to go through the history of your work, and finding out the exposure to asbestos, if so, then the time duration of it and go down to even finding out if there was a mask provided during that work regime. There are some more tests available which can confirm the asbestosis after the doctor has a suspicion, like Spirometer, X-rays and CT scans.

Treatment

There are few ways to treat the condition where the first thing to be done is quitting to smoke. The combination of smoking makes the condition even worse and does not help in getting over the problem. There are also some vaccinations available which should be able to shield for the dangerous lung conditions. There are few medicines available which would calm the patient by letting them breathe easier, since they make it more comfortable. Also there is equipment available in market, known as oxygen cylinders which would also supply a fresh dosage of oxygen and lets the process to be simple.

Prevention

The usage of licensed asbestos should not make any problems and please find out about the material you are working on and the risks it might pose. Knowledge is the best prevention in this condition.