What is the difference between Pleural Plaques, Asbestosis, and Mesothelioma?
The pleura is a two-layered membrane surrounding the lungs and lining the inside of the rib cage. It is very common for areas of this membrane to become thickened and to accumulate a chalky material If one has been exposed to asbestos. These areas are called pleural plaques.
If you have pleural plaques, it doesn’t mean that:
you will go on to get a more serious disease
you have a more serious disease at the moment
Being exposed to asbestos does increase your risk of developing a serious lung condition such as asbestosis, mesothelioma, or cancer. Plaques aren’t a form of cancer.
Asbestosis is a rare long-term lung condition. It usually develops around many years after you have breathed in .
Breathing in asbestos fibres, can cause them to become lodged inside your lungs and cause scarring. This scarring leads to the lungs shrinking and hardening. In turn, this results in shortness of breath.
Asbestosis is not cancer, but studies have shown that having the disease can make patients more likely to develop lung cancer in the future. Patients with asbestosis could even develop mesothelioma in the future.
Although asbestosis isn’t cancer, there are, unfortunately, long-term complications involved with the disease and there is currently no cure.
Other than the fact that asbestosis is not a deadly cancer like mesothelioma, the biggest difference is how it develops. Asbestosis develops from asbestos fibers lodging in the alveoli, which are the lungs air sacs. Mesothelioma develops from asbestos fibers lodged in the lining of the lungs.
At Schmidt-Salita Law Team we discuss your employment history and have significant records with known asbestos-containing materials and job sites . We have handled many cases on behalf of victims of Mesothelioma or Asbestos disease and their families. We pursue claims and lawsuits against those employers, manufacturers and third parties for medical care, lost earnings, the victim’s pain and suffering, or the survivors’ losses.
Please contact us at:
Phone: 952-473-4530
Toll Free: 1-800-656-8450
Fax: 952-544-1308
Email: info@mnlawteam.com
