Treatment of nonmalignant asbestos-related diseases

Our plain-English summary of Treatment of nonmalignant asbestos-related diseases, by M.R. Harbut (American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 2007).

The study

• Author: M.R. Harbut
• Journal: American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 2007;50(1):71-2
• Type of article: Editorial
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article was a two-page editorial, not a research study, and it reported no new data. The author argued that a 2004 American Thoracic Society consensus document moved the care of patients with asbestos-related lung disease from therapeutic nihilism toward the possibility of clinical and functional improvement. The author described asbestosis as pulmonary fibrosis caused by asbestos. The author noted that no studies of drugs for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis or pulmonary hypertension had specifically examined patients with asbestosis, and that oral steroids had not been shown to help asbestosis itself. The editorial recommended pneumococcal (pneumovax) and annual influenza vaccination, colonoscopy on an accelerated schedule, and a very low threshold of suspicion for lung cancer and mesothelioma. After other causes are excluded, it said, the pain of pleural plaques may need narcotics or a chronic pain clinic. The author stated that osteopontin and mesothelin-related protein blood tests were not clinically available in the United States. The author concluded that asbestosis should no longer be dismissed as a legal inconvenience, and that much more research is needed.

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: Editorial (opinion article; no original data)
• Exposure: Asbestos in general; the editorial concerns nonmalignant asbestos-related disease, mainly asbestosis, and does not name specific fiber types
• Main results:
  • The author stated that the 2004 American Thoracic Society consensus document moved care of patients with asbestos-related lung disease away from therapeutic nihilism
  • The author noted that no studies of agents for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis or pulmonary hypertension had specifically examined patients with asbestosis
  • The author stated that oral steroids have not been shown to help in treating asbestosis itself
  • The author recommended pneumococcal (pneumovax) and annual influenza vaccination for persons with asbestos-related disease
  • The author recommended colonoscopy on an accelerated schedule for patients in the asbestos-exposed population
  • The author stated that the threshold of suspicion for lung cancer and mesothelioma should be very low
  • The author stated that, after other causes are excluded, pain from pleural plaques may require narcotics or referral to a chronic pain clinic
  • The author stated that osteopontin and serum mesothelin-related protein blood tests were not clinically available in the United States
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that asbestosis should not be dismissed as a legal inconvenience because it is a human disease that causes suffering and death, and that significantly more research into its pathophysiology and treatment is required

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Related studies

• Diagnosis and initial management of nonmalignant diseases related to asbestos — American Thoracic Society (2004)
• Serum levels of soluble mesothelin-related peptides in malignant and nonmalignant asbestos-related pleural disease: relation with past asbestos exposure — J.A. Rodríguez Portal, E. Rodríguez Becerra, et al. (2009)
• Workers' compensation for nonmalignant asbestos-related lung disease — C. Nevitt, W. Daniell, et al. (1994)
• Diagnosis and initial management of nonmalignant diseases related to asbestos — D. Weill, H. Weill (2005)
• Diagnosis and initial management of nonmalignant diseases related to asbestos — D.D. Smith (2005)
• Diagnosis and initial management of nonmalignant diseases related to asbestos — A.J. Ghio, V.L. Roggli (2005)

Browse more research in American Journal of Industrial Medicine, or return to medical research.