Exposed to asbestos and now contending with a lung cancer diagnosis?

If you were exposed to asbestos decades ago and now have cancer, discuss your situation with our leading attorneys

By now, the adverse effects associated with exposure to asbestos has been found in many studies of workers exposed on the job, family contacts of workers, and people living near asbestos mines.

These studies have shown a definite association between exposure to asbestos and an increased incidence of lung cancer, pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma, gastrointestinal cancer, and asbestosis.

Asbestosis
Asbestosis is a lung disease that is caused only by exposure to asbestos.

As with other known chronic occupational diseases, disease associated with asbestos generally appears about 20 years following the first occurrence of exposure.

Asbestosis is pulmonary fibrosis caused by the accumulation of asbestos fibers in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath, coughing, fatigue, and vague feelings of sickness.

When the fibrosis worsens, shortness of breath occurs even at rest. The diagnosis of asbestosis is based on a history of exposure to asbestos, the presence of characteristic radiologic changes, end inspiratory crackles (rales), and other clinical features of fibrosing lung disease.

Pleural plaques and thickening are observed on X-rays taken during the early stages of the disease. Asbestosis is often a progressive disease even in the absence of continued exposure, although this appears to be a highly individualized characteristic.

Smoking: An increased risk
Studies indicate that the risk of lung cancer among exposed workers who smoke cigarettes is greatly increased over those who do not smoke.

These studies suggest that cessation of smoking will reduce the risk of lung cancer for a person exposed to asbestos but will not reduce it to the same level of risk as that existing for an exposed worker who has never smoked.

Signs and symptoms if you have been exposed to asbestos
The signs and symptoms of lung cancer or gastrointestinal cancer induced by exposure to asbestos are not unique, except that a chest X-ray of an exposed patient with lung cancer may show pleural plaques, pleural calcification, or pleural fibrosis.

Symptoms characteristic of mesothelioma include shortness of breath, pain in the walls of the chest, or abdominal pain.

Mesothelioma has a much longer latency period compared with lung cancer (40 years versus 15-20 years), and mesothelioma is therefore likely to be found among workers who were first exposed to asbestos at an early age.

What you can do if you were exposed to asbestos and now have cancer
Many companies manufactured asbestos-containing products without any regard for the public. If you’d like to hold them accountable for the harm they have caused you or a loved one, please complete the form on this page for a free legal review.

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