Asbestosis and mesothelioma and their differences

There are a variety of diseases that stem from asbestos exposure. The most common kinds of these diseases would be asbestosis, lung cancer, pleural plaques and mesothelioma. Asbestosis occurs when an individual inhales particles of asbestos over very long period. It grows into becoming a chronic and prolonged disease which causes problems to the lungs and other major difficulties with time. Anyhow, asbestosis is not a cancerous disease unlike mesothelioma which is a cancerous disease that affects the protective lining of the organs such as the lungs, heart etc. inside the body. The most common cause of mesothelioma is asbestos exposure and does not seem to exist among individuals who do not have exposure to asbestos.

In America, the most obvious cause of mesothelioma is the individual’s inhaling of asbestos fibers at a workplace. Mesothelioma too is not a cancer of the lungs but only one that damages the lining of the lungs. But obviously when it gets aggravated and progresses to the next level it is bound to affect the functioning of the organ itself. Biologically a normal mesothelial cell can reproduce only a few times and then its functioning stops naturally but the introduction of a cancer cell into the system causes these cells to reproduce infinitely thus crunching the space of the total number of cells that the lining can accommodate, thus damaging the healthy functioning of the individual cells. These extra numbers of cells then begin to form lumps that we commonly call tumours.

There are two kinds of tumours – malignant which has the ability to spread the cancer and benign which is more or less concentrated at the spot of the tumour. In the case of malignant tumours there are also chances that cells may break off from the tumour and then affect other tissues and organs thus spreading the cancer throughout the body. In this way a primary tumour can initiate the growth of several secondary tumours which are also known as metastasis. The lymphatic system thus gradually begins to break down and eventually collapses in absolute ruins.