Top 2 Reasons of Development of Asbestos Cancer

Asbestos Cancer happens to be the most devastating form of lung cancer. But do you know how it develops and the probable causes responsible to spread the dreaded ailment? Well, let's give you some insights about this form of cancer before proceeding further.

Medical researches had already begun as early as 1935 to track down the most common causes related to the Asbestos cancer. After a series of extensive research, the factors responsible to spread this form of cancer was none other than asbestos exposure to your body. 

During the research, it was established by the National Cancer Institute that the level of asbestos exposure should be minimized to check the disorder under control. So, more will be the asbestos exposure to your body, lesser time it will take to spread the ailment.

In the year 1986, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) confirmed without proclaiming any doubts that Americans who have to work with Asbestos are most prone to suffer Lung Cancer in the near future. So, Asbestos Cancer is going to be the greatest health hazard in America, if the level of asbestos exposure is not controlled.

What's Asbestos Cancer?

After throwing some light on the term, let's dig in more about the issues and causes responsible to spread the dreaded ailment.

Asbestos Lung cancer happens to be the rare form of cancer that has now become the prime cause of casualties in America. You will be surprised to know that as many as 5,000 deaths a year has been recorded due to asbestos cancer.

The figures look quite alarming and truly reflect almost 4% casualties happening due to lung cancer alone. The 90% of other deaths in America are linked to smoking.

Another crucial point that needs to be taken into account is the late diagnosis of lung cancer spreading due to the exposure of asbestos. This is due to the long latency period along with the development of onset of symptoms.

Before letting you know more about this form of lung cancer, let's make you understand with the term asbestos first. Well, asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral and can be easily found near your workplace, homes or the environment.

Asbestos has been in the use since 1880s due to a number of commercial purposes. Due to the extensive use of this mineral without proper protection, its use has been restricted. The mineral has even classified as a form of human carcinogen (cancer producing agent).

The mineral takes the form of carcinogen after it gets disturbed for commercial uses and then releases a kind of microscopic fiber to the environment. If these fibers are inhaled, they tend to get entrapped in the lungs.

If these fibers that you inhaled get unnoticed for a long period of time, they get accumulated in the lungs and actively involve causing serious inflammation and other related hazards. In certain cases, they even trigger the onset (development) of lung cancer.

Factors responsible to cause Asbestos Cancer

As per the research conducted in this regard, the key factors that affect the onset of the disease include-

• Concentration of asbestos in your body
• Duration of asbestos exposure to your body.

As per the Helsinki Criteria, the risk of development of lung cancer increases up to 4% with each year of its exposure. As per the findings of OSHA, the higher the asbestos exposure, the higher will be the risk of developing lung cancer.

One more thing that needs to be understood is the implications of its exposure, which doesn't always look apparent as soon as it starts bulging. The fibers tend to get lodged in the linings of the lungs. The size of these fibers (3mm) has a tendency to get accumulated in the lining of lungs, whereas 5mm fibers tend to get lodged within the lung tissues.