Asbestosis

What Is Asbestosis?

Asbestosis is a serious lung condition that forms after asbestos fibers damage your lungs. These fibers settle in the lungs, which causes inflammation and scarring. The scar tissue, also called pulmonary fibrosis, makes your lungs stiff and less able to work properly.

When your lungs become stiff, your body can’t get enough oxygen. Thickened scar tissue makes it hard for your lungs to pass oxygen into the blood. This can cause problems like trouble breathing, coughing and chest pain.

Key Facts About Asbestosis

1. Incurable lung disease that worsens breathing over time
2. Usually develops after years of breathing in asbestos at work
3. Plays a role in 600 to more than 1,000 deaths in the U.S. each year
4. Signals a person has a higher risk for asbestos-related cancer

Doctors haven’t found a cure for asbestosis yet, but medicines and therapies can lessen your symptoms and slow how quickly it gets worse. Asbestosis isn’t cancer. But it does mean you’re likely at a higher risk for asbestos-related cancers. These cancers include lung cancer and pleural mesothelioma. After diagnosis, lung cancer is more likely than mesothelioma for a person with asbestosis.

Asbestosis Symptoms

The first symptoms of asbestosis include a dry cough, difficulty breathing and crackling sounds when breathing. These crackling sounds happen because scar tissues stiffens your lungs. Stiff lungs make it harder for your blood to get enough oxygen, which leads to shortness of breath. Long-term breathing problems and low oxygen cause fatigue and weight loss.

Common Asbestosis Symptoms

• Chest pain or tightness
• Clubbing of fingers and toes
• Crackling sounds when breathing
• Fatigue
• Loss of weight and appetite
• Persistent dry cough
• Shortness of breath

Registered Nurse and Board-Certified Patient Advocate Karen Selby tells us, “Asbestosis symptoms can be similar to many illnesses or diagnoses. So your physician may not immediately consider it. Because of this, discussing your asbestos exposure history will be important. This will help your physician in ordering appropriate testing quickly.”

Advanced Asbestosis Symptoms

Advanced symptoms of asbestosis include pulmonary hypertension. Scar tissue tightens your arteries, which raises blood pressure because the heart must work harder to pump blood to the lungs.

When your lungs deliver too little oxygen to your blood, a symptom called clubbing can appear. Clubbing makes the tips of the fingers and toes broader and rounder than usual. Some people may develop this symptom early in the disease.

Asbestosis develops faster than asbestos-related cancer. A diagnosis of asbestosis signals a higher risk of lung cancer or mesothelioma in the future.

What Causes Asbestosis?

The only cause of asbestosis is breathing in asbestos fibers. Asbestosis belongs to a group of lung diseases called pneumoconiosis. These diseases happen when people inhale certain types of dust. For example, silicosis comes from breathing silica dust.

When you breathe in asbestos fibers, they accumulate in your lungs. This triggers inflammation and can change lung tissue over time. When scar tissue forms, it limits your lungs’ ability to move and carry out their job. The interstitium (fluid-filled spaces around cells and blood vessels), alveoli (tiny air sacs) and nearby tissues become inflamed and scarred.

Asbestosis usually develops after many years of regular exposure to asbestos. Symptoms and diagnosis often appear decades after exposure. The time from first exposure to symptoms or latency period is usually 20 to 30 years for asbestosis. This is shorter than the latency for other asbestos-related illnesses like mesothelioma, which takes 20 to 60 years to develop.

Where Does Asbestos Exposure Occur?

People diagnosed with asbestosis inhale asbestos fibers at home, at work or in the natural environment. Common places where exposure happens include construction sites, ships and industrial workplaces. Workers in these settings face a higher risk of developing asbestosis.

Many products made before the 1980s contained asbestos, such as building materials, automotive parts, textiles and some talc products. Although the U.S. no longer mines asbestos or uses it in new residential construction, old buildings still contain legacy asbestos. 

You must have regular, prolonged exposure to asbestos to develop pulmonary fibrosis. Experts agree that occasional asbestos exposure doesn’t cause asbestosis. For this reason, occupational exposure causes most cases of asbestosis.

Asbestosis Risk Factors

People with occupational asbestos exposure face a higher risk of developing asbestosis. The disease usually develops in people exposed to large amounts of asbestos for long periods. Certain jobs carry a high risk of heavy asbestos exposure. These include military personnel, construction workers, insulators, miners and millers. 

A 2024 study in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health also highlighted pipefitters and metal, oil and shipyard workers as higher risk. Textile mill workers, industrial workers and mechanics face higher risks too. 

Risk Factors for Asbestosis

• Amount and concentration of asbestos
• Size, shape and type of asbestos fibers
• Length of time exposed to asbestos
• Health factors like smoking or lung disease history
• Genetic factors or DNA mutations that increase disease risk 

Family members of these workers can get exposed to asbestos fibers when they’re accidentally brought home on clothing, shoes and tools. Secondhand asbestos exposure is known to cause mesothelioma but isn’t as likely to cause asbestosis. Asbestosis usually happens after high amounts of asbestos exposure, mostly from direct workplace contact. 

Asbestosis survivor Jerry Cochran tells us his time in the Navy led to an asbestosis diagnosis later in life. He encountered asbestos when he scraped and ground nonskid paint off an aircraft carrier in the early 1970s. He says, “We didn’t have any training or any knowledge of what was happening to us. You were innocent young men, 18 to 19 years old, doing a job.”

Jerry Cochran

Verified Asbestos.com Survivor

Navy Veteran With Asbestosis Has a Passion for Justice

Navy veteran Jerry Cochran developed asbestosis from exposure to asbestos-containing products. His faith and his work advocating for others has kept him going for the past half a century.

Jerry Cochran

Verified Asbestos.com Survivor

Read Jerry’s Story

Diagnosing Asbestosis

Your doctor will review your medical and work history and perform tests to diagnose asbestosis. Radiologists look for lung scarring on chest X-rays or CT scans. They confirm your diagnosis when scan results match your history of asbestos exposure.

You may have lung tests to check how well your lungs work. Your doctor will use a stethoscope to listen for crackling sounds during breathing. They’ll also do lung function tests to measure your breathing ability.

Your doctor may take a lung tissue biopsy to find scarring and asbestos fibers. But a biopsy isn’t always needed if imaging shows scarring and your history includes asbestos exposure.

Prognosis for Asbestosis

People with asbestosis live an average of about 10 years after diagnosis. Life expectancy changes with the stage of the disease. People in the early stage often live the longest, around 14 years. In the advanced stage, life expectancy drops to about 1.75 years.

How fast the disease progresses and how much asbestos exposure you had affect your outlook. High exposure usually leads to more severe cases that worsen quickly. Lower exposure often means mild cases that progress slowly or stay stable.

No treatment can reverse the lung scarring after asbestos exposure. Only a double lung transplant can stop the disease from getting worse. Asbestosis causes more deaths from pneumoconiosis than any other lung condition. It accounted for about 60% of all pneumoconiosis deaths from 1999 to 2018.

Asbestosis Treatment Options

Asbestosis treatments relieve your symptoms, slow progression and improve your quality of life. Supplemental oxygen from a portable oxygen tank is often necessary if you have reduced lung capacity. Medications can thin lung secretions to make coughing easier and relieve your chest pain. 

Treatments for Asbestosis

• Lung transplant
• Medications
• Physical therapy
• Pulmonary rehabilitation
• Smoking cessation
• Supplemental oxygen

Pulmonary rehabilitation helps people with chronic breathing problems. A team of therapists supports your physical and mental health. Exercise and physical therapy can improve your fitness, lung function and how you feel each day. Physical therapists use percussion and vibration to loosen and clear mucus. Quitting smoking is critical because cigarette smoke worsens symptoms and asbestosis progression.

Lung transplants can stop the disease from worsening in advanced cases. Doctors usually recommend double lung transplants because they offer the best results, but only a few people qualify for this major surgery.

Top Pulmonologists Treating Asbestosis

Working with a pulmonologist who has experience treating asbestosis is key to managing the disease effectively. These specialists understand how asbestosis affects your lungs and can create a personalized care plan. They monitor your lung function, adjust treatments as needed and help manage symptoms to improve your breathing and quality of life.

A top pulmonologist can also connect you with other health professionals such as nutritionists and therapists who support your overall well-being. If you consider complementary therapies or supplements, always discuss them with your pulmonologist first to make sure they’re safe and fit into your treatment plan. This teamwork helps you get the right care and avoid risks.

Common Questions About Asbestosis

How long can you live with asbestosis?

Asbestosis is a long-term disease, different from mesothelioma. Many people live for decades after diagnosis. Some people face serious breathing problems, and the disease can eventually be deadly.

What is the difference between asbestosis and mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a cancer that affects the tissue around the lungs, chest and abdomen. Asbestosis is a chronic lung disease, not cancer. It’s a type of lung scarring called pulmonary fibrosis. Both diseases come from asbestos exposure, like other asbestos-related illnesses.

Can asbestosis be cured?

You can live with asbestosis for years, but there is no cure for this progressive condition. Treatments focus on easing symptoms and helping you breathe better. On average, people live about 10 years with asbestosis, but this can vary widely.

What questions should you ask your doctor?

• How advanced is my condition?
• What is the best treatment for asbestosis?
• What medications do you recommend and what are the side effects?
• How much experience do you have managing asbestosis?
• Will I need a lung transplant?
• Am I at risk of developing mesothelioma or lung cancer?
• Is anyone in my family at risk?

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