Asbestos poisoning or asbestosis occurs due to prolonged and constant exposure to asbestos. Illnesses caused by asbestos poisoning are fatal, aggressive and incurable. When asbestos fibers are inhaled, they will penetrate in lung tissues and become lodged in the lung lining, causing deep scarring and often leading to chronic breathing impairment and cancer. Asbestos exposure may also result in mesothelioma which directly affects the protective lining of the major organs such as lungs, heart and abdomen.
The diagnosis of asbestos poisoning can be somewhat difficult because symptoms of asbestos poisoning or its related diseases such as mesothelioma or asbestosis do not manifest until decades after exposure to asbestos.
Asbestos poisoning also called as asbestosis is an interstitial pulmonary fibrosis that is caused by asbestos exposure. When asbestos containing materials break down or disturbed, its microscopic fibers become airborne that can easily be inhaled or swallowed and can cause serious health concerns in the long run.
Life during Mesothelioma latency period is extremely long when compared to other cancers. Latency period is the medical term used to note the period between exposure to the trigging agent of a disease until its symptoms become apparent. Mesothelioma cancer’s latency period is from 10 years to 40 years. The higher range is more common making this latency period the longest of any of the illnesses caused by asbestos exposure.
Veterans of U.S. Armed Services are quite often exposed to asbestos and become victims of mesothelioma. Approximately 30% of mesothelioma victims have at some point been in the U.S. military. In recent years, many former Army, Air Force, Marine, Navy, and Coast Guard personnel and their spouses have developed mesothelioma. The association between veterans and mesothelioma is quite prominent among people who served in the shipyards for the Navy during World War II.