Asbestos-related disease

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos-related disease, by C. Bolton, A. Richards, P. Ebden (Hospital Medicine, 2002).

The study

• Authors: C. Bolton, A. Richards, P. Ebden
• Journal: Hospital Medicine
• Published: 2002;63(3):148-51
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 7 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Until the 1980s, asbestos was widely used throughout the UK. The incidence of asbestos-related disease is still climbing because of the long delay in developing the disease from the initial exposure. The spectrum of diseases encompasses malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis, asbestos-related lung carcinoma and benign pleural disease, including pleural plaques.

In plain English

This 2002 article by three doctors at Prince Philip Hospital, Llanelli, was a narrative review written for hospital doctors and general practitioners. It reported no new data. It summarised existing knowledge about asbestos-related disease, citing other publications. The authors described a lag of up to 30–40 years between exposure and disease. They covered pleural plaques, pleural effusion, rounded atelectasis, diffuse pleural thickening, asbestosis, malignant mesothelioma and lung cancer. They wrote that plaques may follow low exposure and take at least 10 years to form, while asbestosis requires heavy exposure. They described mesothelioma as a rare pleural, and occasionally peritoneal, tumour usually caused by asbestos, with median survival of 12–18 months. They cited a 1999 study by Peto and colleagues forecasting that yearly mesothelioma deaths among men in Western Europe would double over 20 years, amounting to 250 000 deaths over the next 35 years. They stated that asbestos exposure increases the risk of all types of lung cancer and acts synergistically with smoking. The authors concluded that, because of the long lag, an increasing number of patients will be affected and present for assistance.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: narrative review (no original data)
• Who was studied: No study population; a review written for hospital doctors and general practitioners by authors at Prince Philip Hospital, Llanelli
• Exposure: Asbestos in general: serpentine (chrysotile, printed as 'chrysolite') and amphiboles (crocidolite, printed as 'crocodilite', amosite, tremolite, anthophyllite, actinolite). Occupations at risk include electricians, insulation workers/laggers, carpenters, boilermakers, ship building, power station workers, plumbers and pipefitters, railway workers, and construction and demolition workers
• Main results:
  • The authors stated that asbestos-related disease has a lag of up to 30–40 years after exposure
  • The authors wrote that pleural plaques are strongly associated with asbestos exposure and may occur after low-level exposure
  • The authors wrote that pleural plaques take at least 10 years to form
  • The authors wrote that asbestosis requires heavy exposure and takes up to 15–20 years to develop
  • The authors described malignant mesothelioma as a tumour usually caused by asbestos, with a latency of around 30 years
  • The authors described malignant mesothelioma as a rare pleural, and occasionally peritoneal, tumour
  • The authors gave median survival in mesothelioma as 12–18 months
  • The authors wrote that the yearly number of males dying from mesothelioma in Western Europe is forecast to double over the next 20 years
  • The authors cited Peto et al (1999) as forecasting 250 000 deaths over the next 35 years among males in Western Europe
  • The authors stated that asbestos exposure increases the risk of all types of lung cancer
  • The authors stated that asbestos exposure and smoking act synergistically on lung cancer risk
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, because of the long lag from exposure to disease, an increasing number of patients will be affected and present for assistance

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Malignant Mesothelioma, Carcinoma, Pleural Plaques.

Related studies

• Asbestos-related benign pleural disease — C. Peacock, S.J. Copley, et al. (2000)
• Clinical value of fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography in differentiation of malignant mesothelioma from asbestos-related benign pleural disease: an observational pilot study — H. Yildirim, M. Metintas, et al. (2009)
• Asbestos related diseases without asbestosis — D. Davies (1983)
• Compensation for asbestos-related diseases--the U.K. model — M. Britton (1989)
• Lump sum compensation for asbestos related lung disease — T. Williams, P. Slade, et al. (1998)
• Hyperventilation in men claiming compensation for benign asbestos-related diseases — G.K. Crompton (2010)

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