What Is Asbestosis, and What Causes It?
Asbestos can cause asbestosis, a scarring of the lungs that leads to breathing problems and heart failure. Workers who manufacture or use asbestos products and have high exposures to asbestos are often affected with asbestosis. The symptoms associated with this include developing increased breathlessness often with cough, sputum, and weight-loss.
One of the diseases associated with asbestosis is lung cancer; this usually occurs in the asbestos worker who smokes cigarettes. In fact, the risk of asbestosis for the asbestos worker who smokes is 90 times more likely than the non-asbestos, non-smoking worker.
