How Do You Know if Asbestos Made You Sick?
Lung cancer is one of the biggest killers in the U.S., causing more than 100,000 deaths each year. Smoking is linked to many of those lung cancer cases – up to 90%. Only four percent of lung cancer cases in the U.S. are linked to asbestos exposure, a much smaller number. But we know definitively that asbestos exposure can lead to mesothelioma and other cancers and chronic health conditions. If you are or were a smoker and you’ve also been exposed to asbestos, how do you show that asbestos made you sick? While proving the cause of your disease can be more complicated, a history of smoking isn’t insurmountable to proving your case.
Cancers and Lung Disease Caused by Asbestos Exposure
We know that asbestos exposure can cause a wide range of malignant cancers and other chronic diseases, including:
- Mesothelioma
- Ovarian cancer
- Lung cancer
- Colon Cancer
- Gastrointestinal Cancer
- Laryngeal cancer
- Asbestosis
- Pleural thickening
- Pleural effusion
- Pleural plaques
- Atelectasis
- Hyaline pleural plaques
- Peritoneal effusion
- Pericardial effusion
Asbestos exposure is also linked to stomach cancer, colon cancer, and pharyngeal cancer.
Smoking and Asbestos Exposure
If you’re a smoker, or once were, you undoubtedly know that smoking is the number one risk factor for lung cancer. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking is linked to 80% to 90% of lung cancer deaths. While both asbestos exposure and smoking can cause lung cancer, smoking alone does not typically increase your risk for mesothelioma.However, occupational asbestos exposure alone does increase your risk of dying from lung cancer by five times the average. Smoking combined with asbestos exposure makes your risk of death from lung cancer 28 times higher than average.Researchers concluded in a 2020 study reported in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health that:[T]the mechanism of lung cancer causation induced by the interdependent coaction of asbestos fibers and tobacco smoke at a biological level is a multistage stochastic process with both agents acting conjointly at all times. The new knowledge gained through this review provides the evidence for synergism between asbestos exposure and tobacco smoke in lung cancer causation at a biological level.In other words, this scientific review indicates that “any asbestos exposure, even in a heavy smoker, contributes to causation” of lung cancer.
You Need Skilled Legal Advice
If you believe that you or a loved one developed mesothelioma, lung cancer or another illness from asbestos exposure, you may be entitled to compensation. Call the Madeksho Law Firm at 1-888-910-MESO (6376) or contact us online. Your initial consultation is free, and you never pay a fee unless we recover compensation on your behalf.
