Rise in asbestos-related illnesses expected
Growing numbers of cancer cases are being put down to asbestos poisoning. According to Professor Dieter Koehler of the German Association for Pneumology , 110,000 people in Germany will fall ill to asbestos-induce diseases in the coming 15 years.
The reason is that many of those diseases have an incubation period of between 10 and 40 years. Asbestos has been banned in Germany since 1993 but “among work-related illnesses, more deaths are caused by asbestos than by fatal accidents in the work place.” Says Koehler.
Asbestos was widely used in the construction industry up until the 1070s. Diseases related to asbestos poisoning such as silicosis, lung cancer and tumors in the pleural region usually cause the early death of the patient. Even for people who stopped working with the material in the distant past, Koehler advises they have regular check up with a lung specialist who can examine them using X-ray or CAT scan.
A general rule is that the longer a person has come into contact with asbestos, the higher the risk of developing cancer. To complicate matters, cancer caused by asbestos are often diagnosed at a late stage and when the cancer cells have already reached other organs of the body, that is why early detection is so important.
The reason is that many of those diseases have an incubation period of between 10 and 40 years. Asbestos has been banned in Germany since 1993 but “among work-related illnesses, more deaths are caused by asbestos than by fatal accidents in the work place.” Says Koehler.
Asbestos was widely used in the construction industry up until the 1070s. Diseases related to asbestos poisoning such as silicosis, lung cancer and tumors in the pleural region usually cause the early death of the patient. Even for people who stopped working with the material in the distant past, Koehler advises they have regular check up with a lung specialist who can examine them using X-ray or CAT scan.
A general rule is that the longer a person has come into contact with asbestos, the higher the risk of developing cancer. To complicate matters, cancer caused by asbestos are often diagnosed at a late stage and when the cancer cells have already reached other organs of the body, that is why early detection is so important.
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