Will your asbestos-related illness get worse if you smoke cigarettes?

Asbestosis is a serious, progressive, long-term disease of the lungs caused by high exposure or long duration of exposure to asbestos.

Asbestosis is not a cancer.

Cigarette smoking will make this asbestos-related illness worse.

The disease typically develops 10 to 20 years after initial exposure, getting worse over time.

It causes lung tissues to scar. Scarring of the lungs makes it hard to breathe and difficult for oxygen and carbon dioxide to pass through the lungs, and to clear out chemicals, such as the cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco smoke.