Asbestos : A way to Lung Cancer.

Introduction:

Asbestos lung cancer is referred to a variety of cancers caused due to exposure of asbestos to many occupational workers.This cancer is mainly found in workers who are contionously exposed to Asbestos during their working hours. The governments are now more and more concerned towards the use of asbestos in industries. Asbestos fibres enter the lungs through the nose and these very fine particles, cannot be seen by the naked eyes get deposited inside lungs, leading to tumors. Therefore very strict steps are being taken by organisations all over the world to get rid of this death giving disease.

Causes:

Asbestos is a very hard and poor conductor of heat and electricity.It is chemical resistant also. Due to the chemical, heat and electrical resistant nature of asbestos, it is widely preferred for contructional purposes. Asbestos consists of very fine fibre particles cannot be seen through the naked eyes. These fibre particles can be inhaled easily. They remain inside body for years, resulting into cancer. During the 1920's the use of asbestos increased with a rapid speed due to its useful properties. For about 70 years, it was not known that it leads to such a threat. Researches and studies showed that workers who were exposed to asbestos daily for sometime inhaled considerable amount of fine asbestos particles. Asbestos is mainly used for building purposes such as roofs, tiles, ceilings.

Picture showing Asbestos.

Asbestos :



















Asbestos Sheet :


















Last Stage of Cancer :

Symptomps of Asbestos Lung Cancer.

The symtomps of cancer depends on the size of tumor in the early stages.
These symptoms may not be apparent for many years.

Common symtomps are:

• Tiredness.
• Problem in breathing.
• Cold and cough.
• Loss in weight considerably.
• Back pain.
• Shoulder pain.
  

Asbestos and Smoking.

Smoking adds to the lung cancer more than asbestos. Studies have shown that frequent smoking is 50 times more effective to asbestos. Note that smoking alone is not the cause of cancer in human beings. With the greater exposure to asbestos, smoking increases the danger of lung cancer to a very great extent. The rapid increase in carcinogens result in increase in the size of cancer tumor.

Treatment of Asbestos Lung Cancer.

Treatment of lung cancer can be done by radiation therapy, chemotherapy or surgery. Details about these is given below.

1. Radiation Therapy : This practice involves the use of high energy waves to treat the cancer tumor. These waves can break the cancer tumor to tiny sizes. Depending on the ways radiation is reached to the tumor, this therapy is of two types.

Internal radiation therapy : The waves reach to the tumor through radioactive materials being send by small sized tubes directly to the affected region of lungs.

External radiation therapy : The radiations for the treatment purpose is generated by special techniques and send to the tumor.


2. Chemotherapy : This includes the use of injections and chemical drugs for the treatment of cancer. This results into an advantage that it disinfects the whole body from cancer cells while radiation therapy treats infected portion only. New drugs and vaccines are being continously developed and tested for safe operation and effective cure of the disease.


3. Surgery : This practice is done by doctors which manually remove the cancer tumor and affected cells and tissues around it. Surgery is used to remove part of the lining of abdomen or chest. If most of the parts of the body are affected by the cancer cells, this method is not allowed as a large number of tissues cannot be removed from the body.