Asbestos is a mineral fiber. It can be definitely identified simply with a special kind of microscope. There are many types of asbestos fibers. Formerly, asbestos was added to a range of products to reinforce them and to give heat insulation and fire resistance.

Asbestos-related lung disease happened at very high rates to the middle of the 20th century, when patients who were uncovered decades earlier to asbestos finally developed disease. British asbestos workers were among the first who were detected to suffer lung cancer related to asbestos.

Like mesothelioma, the latency phase between asbestos exposure and the growth of asbestos related lung cancer may be two, three, four, or even more decades. Very frequently, asbestos-related cancer sufferers also suffer from asbestosis, a scarring of the lung tissue caused by asbestos exposure. Approximately one in seven people with asbestosis will ultimately expand cancer of lung.

The danger of lung cancer and mesothelioma raises with the number of fibers inhaled. The risk from inhaling asbestos fibers is greater too if you smoke. While the majority asbestos-associated cancers are related to the intensity and extent of exposure, reports in medical journals have related some mesotheliomas to short exposure phases, on the order of months.

Many studies have attempted to decide whether asbestosis is present in all cases of asbestos-related lung cancer. While this would make simpler the pathology determination once the diagnosis was completed-and potentially help in treatment decisions-this has not showed to be a reliable pattern in these cases.

Once the existence of any of these lung abnormalities is recognized, any tests may be necessary to establish if cancer of lung is present, how far it has progressed, and what medications are indicated. Frequently, some are used in conjunction to give a complete picture.

While imaging tests like A Computed Tomography Scan (CT scan or CAT scan), Positron emission tomography (PET) scans and ultrasound give helpful information, lung cancer, asbestos-related or otherwise, cannot be diagnosed without examination of the abnormal tissue or tumor. This necessitates a biopsy, or physical removal of tissue for examination. Physicians typically prefer to use the least invasive methods first, resorting to more invasive if a diagnosis cannot be attained.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dilek_Eickelmann

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