Mesothelioma Lawyer

There has been a heavy amount of coverage in recent years regarding exposure to asbestos.  However, most people simply hear that “asbestos causes injuries” without knowing exactly what’s happening that leads to this result.  Below is a brief description of how asbestos gets into the body and causes serious, if not life-threatening health problems.  If you’ve been exposed to asbestos and you’re experiencing problems with your breathing, seek immediate medical help and contact the asbestos lawyers at Williams Kherkher today for a free initial consultation.

The Pathway of Asbestos

Asbestos is a substance that’s present in the air, much like tiny dust or dirt particles that you’d experience in a room that hasn’t been cleaned for some time.  Generally, the human body is constructed with defense mechanisms to guard the lungs against the presence of these dust-like particles, which is why you’ll often cough or sneeze when you breathe dusty air – your body is expelling these foreign bodies before they get into your lungs.

The problem with asbestos particles is that many of them are simply too small to be completely prevented from entering your airway passages.  They are able to “sneak through” your built-in defense mechanisms and find their way into your lungs.  Once inside, these particles generally lodge themselves directly into your lung tissue.

After these fibers have successfully penetrated your lungs, a different defense mechanism inside your body actually works somewhat against you.  Protein tends to gather around the fibers and coat them, but this only serves to increase the size of each fiber that’s present in your lungs.  Over time, if too many of these fibers get into your lungs and are coated with this protein, your lungs become increasingly congested and you’re not able to expel them by coughing.

What to Do Next

The presence of asbestos in your lungs can lead to several health conditions, but the ominous common thread is that each of them acts almost like the lung cancer a smoker develops over time – your breathing capacity is limited, and eventually your lungs stop working properly.

Equally unfortunate is the fact that at this time there is no known cure for the conditions caused by asbestos.  These conditions can be managed if they’re detected early enough in their development, but it can take years before the full effects of inhaling asbestos fibers are discovered.

If you are suffering as a result of exposure to asbestos, you need to protect your rights.  Contact the asbestos lawyers at Williams Kherkher today.