Synergistic Effect (Between Cigarette Smoking and Asbestos Exposure)

(I-Newswire) March 9, 2009 - Research has proven, time and again that cigarette smoking does not contribute to developing mesothelioma. In fact, patients who never smoked were more likely to develop mesothelioma, than those who did smoke. Studies also show that asbestos exposure, alone, doesn't cause lung tissue cancer.

Lung tissue is the functional organ tissue that delivers oxygen and expels carbon dioxide. The visceral pleura is the inner mesothelial lining that encases the lobes of both lungs. There is also an outer (parietal pleura) mesothelial lining on the inside of the chest cavity (rib cage). Smoking has not been shown to increase the risk of visceral pleural mesothelioma, the most common location for pleural mesothelioma.

What has been shown is that smoking is a known cause of lung tissue cancer. Other studies have shown the probability of developing lung cancer is between four and eleven times greater in smokers than non-smokers, and as much as 27 times greater in heavy smokers.

What is the Effect of Smoking Combined with Asbestos Exposure?

The combination of asbestos exposure and smoking is far more destructive than either by itself. This multiplication of risk is called a synergistic effect. Synergism produces an outcome that is greater than the sum of the components. In this situation, the outcome is the number of people who develop lung cancer, and the components are smokers exposed to asbestos compared to smokers with no exposure to asbestos.

Smokers exposed to asbestos have a 50 to 90 times greater risk of lung cancer than smokers with no asbestos exposure. Add to this the risk of COPD for all smokers, and studies show the rate of COPD also is much higher in smokers with asbestos exposure. Needless to say the risk for developing both COPD and lung cancer are also many times greater in combination with asbestos exposure.

Asbestosis is caused by particles that lodge in the airways and alveoli, the little sacs where oxygen and carbon dioxide cross to and from the bloodstream. Chronic inflammation of these tissues eventually causes scarring with the development of fibrotic tissue. Fibrotic tissue is thick and rigid, It causes fibrotic lung disease that restricts the expansion of lung tissue, and impedes the necessary gas exchange.

It is conceivable that a smoker exposed to asbestos could eventually develop and suffer from a combination of obstructive lung disease, restrictive lung disease and lung cancer.

What Good Would It Do To Quit Smoking?

It's worth noting that smokers who have a history of asbestos exposure can reduce their risk of lung cancer as low as two to six times that of the general population in as little as ten years after quitting smoking. While this is still an undesirable risk, it is an immense improvement from 50-90 times. Since this is a controllable risk it is worth quitting smoking, however difficult that may be.

If you have received a diagnosis of mesothelioma or asbestosis, you may be entitled to compensation. Please visit the website of Parker, Dumler & Kiely, LLP, the experienced mesothelioma lawyers in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

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