Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Significantly Increases Risk of Asbestos Lung Cancer and Other Diseases

The frightening statistics regarding lung cancer and other serious diseases caused by the cigarettes or other tobacco products have prompted thousands of Americans to take steps to quit smoking. Tragically, those who smoked and worked in industries where they were exposed to asbestos face an even greater risk to develop serious illness.

If your family is facing a loved one’s diagnosis with mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer or asbestosis, please complete the form on this page for important information about your legal rights.

According to statistics from the National Cancer Institute, smoking-related diseases claim the lives of almost a half million Americans each year, making it the leading cause of preventable deaths in the nation. Tragically, this number includes approximately 38,000 Americans who develop lung cancer or other diseases caused by exposure to secondhand smoke.

While smoking cigarettes or other tobacco products is known to cause lung cancer, countless other tobacco disease victims develop cancers of the throat, mouth, pancreas, kidney, bladder, and cervix. Smokers also face a six times higher risk to have a heart attack or stroke and face significant risk for heart disease and other serious health problems.

Smokers and Asbestos Exposure
Tragically, for thousands of smokers who were exposed to asbestos, the exposure to both carcinogens (cancer-causing substances) significantly increases their risk of developing an asbestos-related disease.

Data from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) about the serious health risks associated with asbestos exposure shows that smokers face a 50 to 84 greater risk to develop an asbestos-related disease.

Asbestos Related Diseases
This high risk rate is caused by the combination from both toxins. In particular, the lung damage caused by smoking creates an environment where inhaled asbestos fibers can cause even greater damage in the lungs.

When asbestos fibers are inhaled, they are not easily expelled by the lungs like other airborne substances. Their sharp, jagged edges cause them to attach to lung tissue. For smokers, the irritation causes damage to air passages, which causes even more asbestos fibers to remain in the lungs.

Over a period of 30-40 ore more years (known as latency periods), the asbestos fibers cause the lungs to scar. For smokers, the scarring can be even more severe. After this decades-long latency period, the scarring can cause a number of serious lung diseases to develop, including asbestosis, emphysema, pleural plaques disease or chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD).

In more serious cases, the combination of asbestos and other tobacco toxins cause the lungs to begin to produce abnormal cells. As these abnormal cells multiply, they cluster and form the tumors that cause asbestos lung cancer or mesothelioma cancer.

Smokers with Asbestos Disease Can Qualify for Compensation
Our asbestos lawyers have fought for families devastated by a loved one’s diagnosis with asbestos disease, even for men and women who smoked.

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, we may be able to help you to seek justice for your illness and file a lawsuit on your behalf.

Please complete the form on this page for a free and confidential review of your potential asbestos lawsuit or request a free copy of our asbestos sourcebook. A Weitz & Luxenberg representative will contact you as soon as possible.