Asbestos fibers pose a risk for anyone who works in an area in which these could be released into the air or brought home on another persons’s clothing. Moreover, exposure to asbestos can occur not just on the job, but when renovating properties that were built prior to the 1970s, since the use of asbestos was much more common during that time.

While some asbestos-related diseases can happen after a short period of exposure, others don’t develop until many decades after the exposure happened. Since asbestos can cause a few different serious medical conditions, anyone working in an area in which fibers could be disturbed should use safety protocol to avoid breathing these in.

Asbestos exposure can lead to a variety of issues, including asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. The second two are more well known, but anyone who has been diagnosed with asbestosis likely has questions about the severity of this condition, and symptoms that can be used to identify and whether or not it can develop into mesothelioma.

It is important to realize that asbestosis and mesothelioma are two different medical conditions. Both conditions are caused by underlying exposure to asbestos, and patients who have been diagnosed with either one of these medical conditions might experience similar symptoms.

Many people find it difficult to distinguish these two diagnoses, but there are ways. Some of the most common differences between mesothelioma and asbestosis include symptoms, treatment, latency periods, and diagnostic testing.

What Is Asbestosis?

Asbestosis is a medical condition that involves significant scarring of the patient’s lung tissue caused by long periods of breathing in dust contaminated with asbestos.

This most frequently occurs with workers who have been exposed to asbestos fibers in construction, insulation, pipe fitting, and shipyards. Workers in these employment positions are often exposed to the asbestos mineral for one or two decades before symptoms develop.

The most common symptoms associated with this condition are misshapen fingers, chest tightness, pain, decreased ability to exercise, loss of appetite, and labored breathing. Chest x-rays and CT scans are used to diagnose this condition and can help to identify the problem in its earlier stages.

Those individuals who have developed asbestosis are also at an increased risk of contracting lung cancer, particularly if the patient in question has a history of smoking or currently smokes.

What Is Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is also referred to as pleural mesothelioma. Many people who develop mesothelioma work in the same industries as those mentioned above.

However, this condition results from low levels of exposure when compared with asbestosis, which is linked to high levels of prolonged asbestos exposure. Some of the symptoms of mesothelioma include unusual lumps of tissue under the skin on the chest, shortness of breath, unexplained weight loss, painful coughing, and chest pain under the rib cage.

Physical exams, medical history, CT scans, PET scans, MRI scans, blood tests, x-rays, biopsies, pulmonary function test, and ultrasounds are used to identify mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is much more common in men than in women, often due to the fact that men tend to work in the industries with asbestos exposure more often than women do.

Asbestos lawsuits have been on the rise. Anyone who has a work history in an asbestos-laden industry should be aware of symptoms if they arise. As decades may pass before diagnosis, many individuals do not realize the cause behind their illness.