What is Asbestosis?
Asbestosis—Scarring of Lung Tissue From Asbestos Exposure
Effects of Asbestosis on Lung Function
Asbestos causes scarring of lung tissue and irritation prompting asbestosis. Breathed in asbestos strands achieve the air sacs (alveoli) where oxygen is moved into the blood. The lung's invulnerable framework endeavors to expel the outside asbestos filaments with scrounger white platelets (macrophages). In endeavoring to separate the asbestos strands, the macrophages are burst and slaughtered, pulling in a scarring cell known as fibroblasts to the site. The outcome is the development of scar tissue in the lungs, diminishing the lung's capacity to convey oxygen to the blood and evacuate carbon dioxide.
Asbestos Pleural Plaques and Pleural Thickening
Asbestos pleural illness brings about scarring like asbestosis; be that as it may, asbestos pleural malady happens in the dainty covering between the lungs and chest divider known as the pleura, as opposed to inside the lungs themselves. Pleural plaques are limited and all around characterized territories of calcified pleural thickening. The 'thickening' is the body's reaction to the nearness of asbestos strands. On the off chance that the plaques solidify, they are alluded to as 'calcified pleural plaques.' Scarring that stretches out along the chest divider is called diffuse pleural thickening, a more constructive and genuine condition than pleural plaques.
Asbestosis Diagnosis and Treatment
Asbestosis and asbestos pleural infections advance gradually. Early indications may incorporate shortness of breath and chest torment. Doctors may utilize x– beams, CT outputs, breathing or pneumonic capacity tests (PFTs) to analyze whether asbestosis or asbestos pleural ailment is available. People determined to have asbestosis and asbestos pleural plaques are likewise at huge hazard for creating asbestos-caused lung malignant growth and mesothelioma, a lethal type of asbestos disease.