Asbestos Lung Cancer

A CAMPAIGN is being launched in Plymouth today to highlight the growing number of asbestos victims and the “scandalous” treatment they face.

Led by city law firm Bond Pearce, the campaign aims to raise awareness of the deadly asbestos-related lung cancer mesothelioma.

It will push for improvements in research and treatment of the “silent epidemic” as well as changes in the law, which denies patients and families compensation.

Plymouth has been highlighted as a hotspot for the disease, which often affects former dockyard workers as well as other tradesmen.

Local MPs, consultants, nurses, patients and their families met to consider how to tackle problems and inequalities.

Bond Pearce’s campaign is the latest to highlight the ...

Smoking is a main risk aspect for disease. When coupled with asbestos exposure, smoking can greatly increase the risk of developing some asbestos–related diseases. It is not a risk factor for mesothelioma.

Smoking weakens the lungs, ...

Due to the accumulating spoil caused by asbestos fibers, asbestosis and asbestos pleural disease are slowly progressive asbestos diseases. They possibly will be treated, but not cured. The physician will try to ease the patient’s symptoms and to ...

A history of asbestos exposure may provide the first clue to the diagnosis of asbestos diseases such as asbestosis and asbestos pleural disease. It often takes decades involving the patient’s asbestos exposure and the appearance of early symptoms such as shortness of breath and chest pain.

A physician may test for asbestosis by using a stethoscope to listen for basal crackles or persistent high–pitched sounds that are characteristic of the disease. An x–ray may show small irregular opaque areas, usually in the lower lobes of the lungs. Pleural plaques indicative of asbestos pleural lung disease may also show up in an x–ray. However, x–rays are limited in detecting early asbestos disease, sometime yielding false positives for smokers as well as false ...