Why don't I have asbestosis?

[Roses]

I am most grateful I don't have that unpleasant disease, nor do my younger sisters, but I find it hard to understand why we don't.

My father used asbestos a lot in his horticultural business, he would saw up sheets of it on a regular basis when we were kids. My sisters and I loved the silky feel of the asbestos dust, and would throw it into the air no doubt breathing it in. One of my sisters and I actually liked the taste of it, and would eat it!!!!!! I would have thought we were prime candidates to get asbestosis. Other people who appear to have much less contact than we did with asbestos have not been so fortunate.

WEIRD!

[SteveH]

Luck. Some people smoke 80 a day for decades and don't get lung cancer, and other people who never smoke do. Nevertheless, statistically cigarette smokers are much more likely to get lung cancer than non-smokers. Similarly with asbestos.

[Roses]

Luck. Some people smoke 80 a day for decades and don't get lung cancer, and other people who never smoke do. Nevertheless, statistically cigarette smokers are much more likely to get lung cancer than non-smokers. Similarly with asbestos.

You are probably right, one can only assume my siblings and I have cast iron lungs!

[Rhiannon]

Genes, possibly.

[jeremyp]

I am most grateful I don't have that unpleasant disease, nor do my younger sisters, but I find it hard to understand why we don't.

My father used asbestos a lot in his horticultural business, he would saw up sheets of it on a regular basis when we were kids. My sisters and I loved the silky feel of the asbestos dust, and would throw it into the air no doubt breathing it in. One of my sisters and I actually liked the taste of it, and would eat it!!!!!! I would have thought we were prime candidates to get asbestosis. Other people who appear to have much less contact than we did with asbestos have not been so fortunate.

WEIRD!

There's more than one kind of asbestos. Some versions are more dangerous than others. All the same, it's probably worth asking your doctor about it.

[Roses]

There's more than one kind of asbestos. Some versions are more dangerous than others. All the same, it's probably worth asking your doctor about it.

I doubt she would have the answers either. 

[Sebastian Toe]

I doubt she would have the answers either.

...until you ask though, you'll never find out.

[Roses]

...until you ask though, you'll never find out.

Getting to see our GP now is well nigh impossible, unless you have something pretty seriously wrong with you.

[Sebastian Toe]

Getting to see our GP now is well nigh impossible, unless you have something pretty seriously wrong with you.

Asbestosis is serious.

[Roses]

Asbestosis is serious.

I don't have any lung problems, so there is no point in bothering her.

[Anchorman]

I don't have any lung problems, so there is no point in bothering her.

How do you know you don't have any lung problems?
I'm not being flippant - a friend I know went to his GP with a nose bleed....the doc gave him an MOT, and sent him for an X-ray. He'd never had breathing difficulties or pains in his chest.
The result was a cancerous tumour  in the lung - too big for surgery - which had spread.

[Roses]

How do you know you don't have any lung problems?
I'm not being flippant - a friend I know went to his GP with a nose bleed....the doc gave him an MOT, and sent him for an X-ray. He'd never had breathing difficulties or pains in his chest.
The result was a cancerous tumour  in the lung - too big for surgery - which had spread.

Our GPs  will only see you if you are actually having a problem not a, 'what if'. Anyway I have discussed it with my family from time to time, who comprise a number of medics and none of them seem to think we have a problem. It would most likely have shown up by now, as it was well over 50 years ago when we were playing with the asbestos dust.

[Robbie]

I'm glad you're being sensible about this LR.

Blue asbestos (crocidolite) is far more dangerous than white (chrysotile) but both can be dangerous, causing asbestosis or mesothelioma. However I doubt your exposure to either was sufficient to cause any problem.  Symptoms occur twenty to thirty years after exposure, you say you were a child when your dad was cutting it up & have had none. Plenty of people had same exposure and even ironing board covers (if damaged) released asbestos fibres, never mind things that went behind cookers& the like. I've probably had some exposure myself.

Got this from NHS site:- "..you would need prolonged exposure to asbestos fibres, usually over many years, before you develop asbestosis."

I expect you've had a chest x-ray at some stage over the years which was clear.

Forget it. If you develop an asbestos related disease when you're eighty-five which is unlikely, you won't care too much. However it is extremely unlikely so don't be spooked.

[ProfessorDavey]

Asbestosis is serious.

Mesothelioma, which is usually asbestos related, is even more serious.

[ProfessorDavey]

I'm glad you're being sensible about this LR.

Blue asbestos (crocidolite) is far more dangerous than white (chrysotile) but both can be dangerous, causing asbestosis or mesothelioma. However I doubt your exposure to either was sufficient to cause any problem.  Symptoms occur twenty to thirty years after exposure, you say you were a child when your dad was cutting it up & have had none. Plenty of people had same exposure and even ironing board covers (if damaged) released asbestos fibres, never mind things that went behind cookers& the like. I've probably had some exposure myself.

Got this from NHS site:- "..you would need prolonged exposure to asbestos fibres, usually over many years, before you develop asbestosis."

I expect you've had a chest x-ray at some stage over the years which was clear.

Forget it. If you develop an asbestos related disease when you're eighty-five which is unlikely, you won't care too much. However it is extremely unlikely so don't be spooked.

I'm not sure I would be sure about that.

Nearly five years ago my father died at the age of 79. Up until the age of 78 he was fit and healthy, playing golf daily, doing meals on wheels and all sorts of other activities. He went to the doctor with a slight cough, the doctor didn't like what he saw for some reason and sent him for tests. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma - he was dead in less than a year (and that was standard prognosis). His mesothelioma was almost certainly liked to asbestos exposure when he was in the merchant navy in the 1950s. No sign whatsoever for nigh on 60 years and then bang, diagnosis of incurable cancer and dead in months.

LR - get yourself checked out.

[Roses]

I'm glad you're being sensible about this LR.

Blue asbestos (crocidolite) is far more dangerous than white (chrysotile) but both can be dangerous, causing asbestosis or mesothelioma. However I doubt your exposure to either was sufficient to cause any problem.  Symptoms occur twenty to thirty years after exposure, you say you were a child when your dad was cutting it up & have had none. Plenty of people had same exposure and even ironing board covers (if damaged) released asbestos fibres, never mind things that went behind cookers& the like. I've probably had some exposure myself.

Got this from NHS site:- "..you would need prolonged exposure to asbestos fibres, usually over many years, before you develop asbestosis."

I expect you've had a chest x-ray at some stage over the years which was clear.

Forget it. If you develop an asbestos related disease when you're eighty-five which is unlikely, you won't care too much. However it is extremely unlikely so don't be spooked.

Thanks for that sensible post. I think it was the white asbestos which my father used. 

[Robbie]

If LR was diagnosed with asbestosis, unlikely, would she be cured or would she be subjected to prolonged treatment which achieved nothing and caused a lot of anxiety?

Merchant seaman as well as those involved in ship building are considered to be at high risk of asbestos related diseases.

LR is sensible and sufficiently well read to know about the risks of asbestos/mesothelioma, there's no point in scaremongering. 

However I'm not going to dissuade anyone from being checked out if it will reassure them so will say no more.

[jeremyp]

If LR was diagnosed with asbestosis, unlikely, would she be cured or would she be subjected to prolonged treatment which achieved nothing and caused a lot of anxiety?

Merchant seaman as well as those involved in ship building are considered to be at high risk of asbestos related diseases.

LR is sensible and sufficiently well read to know about the risks of asbestos/mesothelioma, there's no point in scaremongering. 

However I'm not going to dissuade anyone from being checked out if it will reassure them so will say no more.

In LR’s position I would have done my best to get in front of a specialist as soon as I became aware of how serious the consequences might be. Whether there is a cure or not, I’d want to know.

[Shaker]

Whether there is a cure or not, I’d want to know.

There's a thread topic in itself.

[Roses]

I suffer from health anxiety and  definitely don't want to know.

[Roses]

I have just seen this.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-45426533

Yet another asbestos concern!

[SteveH]

How do you know you don't have any lung problems?
I'm not being flippant - a friend I know went to his GP with a nose bleed....the doc gave him an MOT, and sent him for an X-ray. He'd never had breathing difficulties or pains in his chest.
The result was a cancerous tumour  in the lung - too big for surgery - which had spread.

This is scaremongering. If LR has made it to her advanced age () without any lung problems, it is pretty much certain she hasn't got asbestosis, and isn't going to get it.

[Roses]

This is scaremongering. If LR has made it to her advanced age () without any lung problems, it is pretty much certain she hasn't got asbestosis, and isn't going to get it.

I agree.  Asbestosis is the least of my concerns at present, I don't think a bad back which is giving me jip, is a sign of that disease.

[jeremyp]

This is scaremongering. If LR has made it to her advanced age () without any lung problems, it is pretty much certain she hasn't got asbestosis, and isn't going to get it.

In her position I'd want the reassurance from a qualified medical practitioner rather than a random person from the Internet.

[Roses]

In her position I'd want the reassurance from a qualified medical practitioner rather than a random person from the Internet.

As I said before, I don't want to know.