Smoking and asbestos exposure can greatly increase the risk for asbestos-related diseases. Lung cancer is a disease that is commonly associated with asbestos exposure and smoking. Mesothelioma cancer is caused only by , and smoking can help to create the conditions that could prompt this disease.
Asbestos
Asbestos contains six natural minerals such as silicon, oxygen and various metals. This substance is used in buildings and commercial products. Asbestos is made up of fibers, and all the fibers are bad for human health. Chrysotile, amosite and crocidolite are the three most common types of asbestos fibers. When these fibers get caught inside of a person's lungs, they cause scar tissue to form, which has a significant chance of developing into cancer.
Smoking
When a person has been exposed to asbestos, continuing (or starting) to smoke can aggravate the asbestos fibers within their lungs and cause asbestosis to form. Asbestosis is a chronic inflammation of the lungs that could eventually lead to mesothelioma. Smoking doesn't increase the chances of mesothelioma, but it increases the chances of developing lung cancer, which in turn could provoke the mesothelioma cancer to form.
Recommendations
Mesothelioma occurs in the mesothelial membrane that surrounds the body's internal organs. Pleural mesothelioma is the most common type, and it affects the pleural lining of the lung and chest wall. Individuals who have been exposed to asbestos are encouraged to stop smoking because it greatly reduces their chances of developing lung cancer.
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