Asbestosis and Smoking - A Synergistic Relationship

Asbestos, for nearly forty years now, has been known to cause asbestosis and the deadly lung cancer mesothelioma in individuals who have been exposed to the tiny fibers. The cancer mesothelioma is frequently found in individuals who have already suffered for years with asbestosis. The link between asbestosis, smoking, and mesothelioma has only started coming to light recently.

Asbestosis gives an individual an increased risk of developing mesothelioma. This is because they both are the result of scarring in the lungs from years of tiny asbestos fibers building up and causing irritation. Smoking is also known to be a cause, of sorts, of lung cancer. When a person has asbestosis and smoking, the odds of developing or being diagnosed with mesothelioma go up exponentially.

The theory is that because both items, smoking and asbestosis, can independently cause lung cancer, when the two are combined the chances of a catastrophe are much greater. The combination of smoking and asbestosis in a single person means that the combined, or overall, risk of developing lung cancer is far higher than the sums of their individual risks. The lung cancer that can be developed can be mesothelioma or any number of other forms of lung cancer.

A non-smoker diagnosed with asbestosis is three times more likely to develop lung cancer than a non-smoker who does not have asbestos. For comparison, a smoker without asbestosis is five and a half times more likely to develop lung cancer than an individual that does not smoke and has not been diagnosed with asbestosis. A smoker with asbestosis is fourteen times more likely to develop lung cancer than is a non-smoker who has not been diagnosed or treated for asbestosis.

Because of this, a person who has been diagnosed with asbestosis should make every effort to quit smoking completely, immediately. Smoking not only increases the chances of developing mesothelioma but will also exacerbate the symptoms of asbestosis, like breathlessness.

There are now a number of options to help an individual quit smoking. There are prescription medicines, over the counter patches and gums, and any number of items. Overall, it is just healthier to quit smoking than it is to smoke, regardless of whether a person has ever been exposed to asbestos or diagnosed with asbestosis. Any doctor will have all sorts of information to help a person quit smoking.