Asbestos and The Lungs - What Happens When We Breathe?

When we take a deep breath, the air goes down the wind-pipe (or trachea) into the middle of the chest. There the trachea divides into two, then four, then eight - and finally, hundreds of thousands of little airways (or bronchi and bronchioles) in each lung. At the end of each airway is a tiny sac (or alveolus.) Healthy lungs have hundreds of millions of these sacs (or alveoli.)

An upside-down oak tree provides a good example: The wind-pipe is like the large trunk which divides countless times into branches (airways) and twigs (small airways), until at the end of every twig there is a leaf (alveolus). As the wind blows, the leaves move.

What are Asbestos-related Diseases?

There are several different kinds of diseases that are related to previous exposure to asbestos fibers, and they can be categorized in various ways:

Some are malignant (or cancerous), such as mesothelioma and lung cancer. Others are benign (non-malignant or non-cancerous), such as asbestosis, pleural plaques, diffuse pleural fibrosis, and benign pleural effusions.

What Is Malignant Mesothelioma?

Malignant mesothelioma is a cancer that starts in cells in the linings of certain parts of the body, especially the chest or abdomen. A layer of specialized cells called mesothelial cells lines the inside of the chest, the abdomen, and the space around your heart.

These cells also cover the outer surface of most of your internal organs. The lining formed by these cells is called mesothelium. The mesothelium helps protect your organs by making a special lubricating fluid that allows organs to move around.

Mesothelioma: Questions and Answers

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer in which malignant (cancerous) cells are found in the mesothelium, a protective sac that covers most of the body's internal organs. Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles.

1. What is the mesothelium?
The mesothelium is a membrane that covers and protects most of the internal organs of the body. It is composed of two layers of cells: One layer immediately surrounds the organ; the other forms a sac around it. The mesothelium produces a lubricating fluid that is released between these layers, allowing moving organs (such as the beating heart and the expanding and contracting lungs) to glide easily against adjacent structures.

Signs and Symptoms of Mesothelioma

Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 20 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos. Shortness of breath, cough, and pain in the chest due to an accumulation of fluid in the pleural space are often symptoms of pleural mesothelioma.

Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include weight loss and cachexia, abdominal swelling and pain due to ascites (a buildup of fluid in the abdominal cavity). Other symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma may include bowel obstruction, blood clotting abnormalities, anemia, and fever. If the cancer has spread beyond the mesothelium to other parts of the body, symptoms may include pain, trouble swallowing, or swelling of the neck or face.

Mesothelioma What is that?

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. 

Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and internal chest wall), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity), the heart, the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart) or tunica vaginalis.