Asbestosis

Asbestosis is a chronic inflammatory medical condition affecting the parenchymal tissue of the lungs. It occurs after long-term, heavy exposure to asbestos, e.g. in mining. Sufferers have severe dyspnea (shortness of breath) and are at an increased risk regarding several different types of lung cancer.

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As clear explanations are not always stressed in non-technical literature, care should be taken to distinguish between several forms of relevant diseases. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), these may defined as; asbestosis (the subject of this article), lung cancer, and mesothelioma (generally a very rare form of cancer, when more widespread it is almost always associated with prolonged exposure to asbestos).

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Inflammatory: Inflammatory may refer to...

Parenchyma: The parenchyma are the functional parts of an organ in the body (i.e. the nephrons of the kidney, the alveoli of the lungs). This is in contrast to the stroma, which refers to the supporting tissue....

Tissue: The word tissue has several meanings:...