The inhalation of asbestos fibers often leads to two brutal outcomes. One either gets Mesothelioma or lung cancer. Both of these cancers are often fatal. That being said, what if you are lucky enough not to get either of these? Well, you aren't out of the forest yet. You still have to worry about asbestosis.

The human body is an amazing thing. The fact we run normally is simply amazing given all the processes required to make that happen. They can be infinitely complex as can the processes used to fight things that are bad for us. Well, that is till we get to the lungs. The lungs are abused because they breathe in air from our world without much of a filter. The pollution in most cities is simply staggering. Regardless, the lungs react to foreign contaminants by using a brute force defense. They simply start trying to expel the material via a contraction. We've all experienced it. It is called coughing.

Asbestos is literally a killer because the lungs have massive problems dealing with it. The fibers tend to become embedded in lung material when breathed in. Despite endless coughing, most of the fibers will remain in the lungs. In unfortunate cases, this can lead to lung cancer or Mesothelioma. In others, it causes the less deadly, but often miserable condition known as asbestosis.

Asbestosis is literally the scarring of the lungs. When asbestos fibers are breathed in, they become embedded in the walls of the lungs. The body reacts by encasing them in scar tissue. This is problematic because scar tissue in the lungs is incapable of performing the gas exchange process handled by the lungs. If enough scarring occurs, your capacity for breathing will be reduced. This can greatly reduce the quality of one's life as exercise and such become next to impossible.



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Asbestos is a highly toxic mineral and unfortunately Virginia has an abundance of this naturally occurring asbestos throughout its mighty Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountain regions.

Two asbestos mines once operated near the Richmond metropolitan area to process the mineral, and a controversial vermiculite mine is still in operation in Louisa which has recently tested positive for some asbestos contamination.

Statistics show that the state of Virginia is ranked 10th when it comes to asbestos-related deaths. From 1979 to 2001 asbestosis accounted for 790 deaths and up to 900 for mesothelioma. For the 1999 - 2004 period there were 456 reported deaths in Virginia due to mesothelioma.

In addition to the actual process of mining asbestos, mesothelioma cases in the state of Virginia are mostly attributed to asbestos exposure in oil refineries, ship yards, chemical plants and power plants. These businesses have all used asbestos-containing materials throughout their operations - mostly for heat insulation, coatings for mechanical equipment, asbestos paint and insulation on machinery and pipes. Of special note are the Hopewell Power Plant and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth which have utilized asbestos for hundreds of purposes. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, with more than 230 years of history in ship building and repairs, is the Navy's oldest and largest. At one stage, during WWII, the shipyard employed 43,000 workers in its operations. Unfortunately, just as in other shipyards of the past century, many thousands of these workers were exposed to asbestos.

Today, many seamen and employees are victims of asbestos-related illnesses. The most serious of these is mesothelioma - a form of cancer that develops in the thin linings of the lungs and can quickly spread to nearby organs.

So what should you do if you have been exposed in the past to asbestos fibers in Virginia? First, you must seek professional medical advice and do whatever you can to preserve your health. If your doctor confirms that you have mesothelioma and you are sure that you have contracted the disease at your workplace, you can file a mesothelioma lawsuit. Your next step would be to choose an experienced Virginia-based mesothelioma lawyer to represent you in court to pursue financial compensation.



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Cancer is a very big problem, I do not have to tell you that and more and more people get cancer. 50 years ago, cancer was rare, but now it seems that everyone is either directly or indirectly affected by it. There are several ways to treat cancer, some of them are more dangerous, then others. Radiation therapy is considered safer, then for example chemotherapy. So is radiation treatment for lung cancer, your best option?

Have you noticed that doctors are not talking about curing cancer, but treating cancer. Conventional cancer treatments are used to treat cancer, as long as possible and hopefully then the patient will get rid of cancer. There is no question in anyone´s mind, that drug companies control cancer treatments and what ever they say, has to be done, because they have the money.

Radiation therapy may be better than chemotherapy, but someone really wants to be cured of cancer, then these methods are not going to cut it. Or if these methods are going to be used then, they can be many times more effective, by simply using some natural and alternative treatments, vitamins, minerals and supplements.

There are hundreds of alternative and natural cures that are very simple, cheap and effective. Since these methods are not used by conventional medicine, then it means they are not looking out for your best interests. The more expensive and the more money a certain treatment brings in the more it is pushed and pushed, until it is excepted. Not looking into other ways to treat and cure cancer, besides the 2-3 methods, like radiation therapy, is not a very wise thing to do.



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The question often asked these days is whether asbestos is still a hazard to people. As many ads as we see on TV talking about Mesothelioma, one would think that asbestos is still a real threat to our home air quality. Research seems to indicate it is not.

Asbestos was used in many building materials in the 19th century because is was found to have some great properties. It actually is a naturally occurring silicate mineral. It has long fibrous crystals and can withstand very high heat.. It is the long fibrous crystals that cause the problems in our lungs. Asbestos was used in buildings in the US through the 1970s. It was used to fireproof roofing and flooring, for heat insulation, and for a host of other purposes.

Asbestos actually becomes a health concern when high concentrations of the fibers are inhaled over a long period of time. This can occur when the fibers are broken loose as they are very light and remain airborne easily. It is hard to imagine, but there are many particles of dust and other matter floating in the air you are breathing right now. When he inhale asbestos fibers they can get trapped in our lungs and eventually cause very small irritation sites that lead to breathing problems and other health issues. It is believed that short high exposures to asbestos is not harmful and even long term, very low level exposures is not that harmful. It is the long term, high exposures that cause the problems.

So what can be done? Since most respirable asbestos fibers are totally invisible to the human eye because their size, the only thing you can do is make sure there is none in your home or you can filter these particles with a good air purifier. It is always best to remove the source of any contaminate than to filter it, but home air filters, such a Blueair filter system can remove these particles if they exist. You must make sure you get a HEPA filter system as the size of these particles is about 3.0-20.0 microns long and can be as thin as 0.01 micron. Human hair ranges in size from 17 to 181 microns in width, so you can understand how very small the asbestos fiber is.



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