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Attacking Asbestos Related Illness Before it Attacks You

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As is true when we become aware of a disease that seems to be widespread in the population, there is a tendency to panic.  When more and more people began to be diagnosed with dread diseases that were directly related to asbestos exposure, it did cause a level of anxiety in society.  Two aspects of asbestos "poisoning" that could be cause for widespread alarm are the prevalence of asbestos before we knew it was a potential threat and the long gestation time before the illnesses related to asbestos exposure showed up.

For years, asbestos was considered a standard insulation material for homes, factories, offices and schools.  That means that at any time during the decades spanning 1950-1980, just about anyone could have been living or doing business in a building insulated with asbestos.  The infection of asbestos fibers also occurred silently.  It is entirely possible to breath in asbestos fibers that were leaking from the insulation in the building in which you worked or lived and not know it.  In a worse case scenario, virtually entire populations could potentially breathe in asbestos fibers for years and never know it.

The second part of this "one two punch" to our health is that most asbestos related illnesses surface years or decades after the infection took place.  This means that even though significant effort has been made to eliminate asbestos from our public buildings and homes since 1980, you could have breathed in a lethal amount of asbestos and the cancers or other lung disease might not surface until late in life.  These two factors concerning asbestos exposure and illness are a virtual nightmare situation for health officials or for any of us who suspect we might be the next victims of asbestos related disease.  

The best way to attack asbestos related illness before it attacks you is to understand it and to get a measure of common sense about the problem to determine if you really are at risk before you panic.  The truth is that, while asbestos was used widely in many buildings, there was never any risk unless the insulation as damaged which would cause the fibers to leak into the air circulation systems of those buildings.  This kind of leakage was quite rare.  So everybody in the population who might have lived or gone to school or work in a building insulated with asbestos were not at risk.

The people at the highest risk of exposure to asbestos fibers were construction workers who dealt directly with the insulation in buildings.  Also, be aware that most asbestos related illnesses have been diagnosed in elderly people who may have inhaled the fibers decades ago.  So if you are not in the demographic, then your health is probably not as much as risk.

However, if you have a grandparent or parent who falls within the at risk demographic, the next step to attack the problem is to determine if grandpa or grandma ever worked in a construction related field or lived with someone who did.  It is true that the spouses or even children of construction workers who had a significant exposure to asbestos could bring those fibers home on their clothing and those fibers could get into the air at home through the cleaning process.

By asking the right questions, you can determine if anyone in the family is at risk.  If there is sufficient reason to be concerned about asbestos exposure earlier in life, then you can get your doctors involved to take the diagnosis process to the next level.  Be comforted that by attacking the problem before it surfaces, you have a much higher chance that you will defeat asbestos related problems before they become dire.  That is good health management for you and for your family.
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