Asbestos Health Test
It’s not just an asbestos health test.
Asbestos is a well-known health hazard capable of causing a variety of serious diseases to individuals who breathed asbestos dust. Our free health test looks for evidence of other serious medical issues such as those discussed below.
Asbestos-Related Diseases
Our asbestos health test looks first and foremost for evidence that your lungs were damaged by exposure to asbestos. We spefically look for evidence of the following lung diseases:
- Asbestosis - Asbestosis is a type of scarring to the lung that is only caused by asbestos. Asbestosis causes shortness of breath and other breathing difficulties. In some cases, asbestosis can be fatal.
- Pleural Plaques - The pleura are the membranes that line the lungs. Pleural plaques are a fibrous thickening of the pleura. These plaques can cause pain and discomfort when breathing because the normally-soft and flexible membranes become hard and unable to flex the way they should.
- Lung Cancer - Lung cancer has a number of causes, including exposure to asbestos. We look very closely for signs of lung cancer. A number of Asbestos Health Line clients are alive today because our free health test caught their lung cancer early enough that it could treated.
- Mesothelioma - Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that is caused almost-exclusively by exposure to asbestos. It is a painful, fatal disease. There is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos below which an individual cannot contract mesothelioma. In other words, anyone who worked around asbestos should get tested for mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases
Heart Abnormalities
Part of our asbestos health test is looking for any heart abnormalities. It’s important to do so because while asbestos typically only damages the lungs, it can also damage the heart. Among other ailments, asbestos can cause primary malignant pericardial mesothelioma, which is a fatal type of cancer that forms in the membrane surrounding the heart. We of course check for that, but also check for:
- Cardiomegaly (Enlarged Heart) - Cardiomegaly, or “enlarged heart,” is a condition in which the heart grows larger than it should. Cardiomegaly can be temporary or permanent, and in some cases it can be fatal. A member of the AHL staff had a brother who died of cardiomegaly in his early thirties.
- Heart Calcification - Calcium deposits can form in various parts of the heart, leading to a number of potentially-serious ailments such as aortic valve calcification, aortic valve stenosis, and aortic valve sclerosis.
- Aneurysms - A heart aneurysm is a bulge or ballooning area of the heart, typically in the aorta. A heart aneurysm is especially dangerous because if it ruptures, death is often so sudden that there is no time to get medical attention. Even less severe-cases can be serious because a heart aneurysm can lead to a heart attack. We diagnosed one gentleman with a heart aneurysm that was so severe that he was taken immediately to the hospital for life-saving surgery.
- Congestive Heart Failure - Congestive heart failure is a condition in which fluid builds up around the heart, preventing it from pumping blood efficiently to the rest of the body. Treatment for this condition varies depending upon severity.
Lung Abnormalities
While we check your lungs for evidence of damage from asbestos, we also check your overall lung health. Dr. Christopher John is a Board-Certified Pulmonologist (lung specialist) who has diagnosed and treated tens of thousands of patients across England, Canada, South Africa, and of course, the United States. He will check your lungs for a variety of common ailments, including:
- Pleural Effusions - The pleura are the membranes that surround the lungs. A pleural effusion is sometimes referred to as “water on the lungs” as it is a buildup of fluid between the pleura. Symptoms often include coughing and shortness of breath - which are also symptoms of asbestos damage. Dr. John carefully checks for both pleural effusions and for asbestos damage.
- Pneumonia - The Alveoli are the “air sacs” in the lungs and are where gas exchanges take place in the lungs. These air sacs can get infected with bacteria or viruses; an infection of the alveoli is called pneumonia. Just like with pleural effusions, symptoms of pneumonia include coughing and shortness of breath. Serious cases of pneumonia see the alveoli fill with fluid or pus, and can lead to death if left untreated.
- Pleuritis - Sometimes called pleurisy, Pleuritis is an inflammation of the pleura. There are a number of possible causes of Pleuritis, and symptoms usually include chest pain while breathing.
- Cancer - Asbestos is but one of many known carcinogens that can cause lung cancer. Dr. John has diagnosed lung cancer thousands of times in his career, and is the first to tell you that it is very treatable if caught early enough. We at Asbestos Health Line have been fortunate enough to catch lung cancer early enough to save the lives of a number of our clients. Most of those clients felt perfectly normal and had no idea there was a tumor growing on their lung
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The cancer doctor told me the kind of I had was aggressive. I say had because I'm cancer-free now thanks to Asbestos Health Line.
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I went to take an x-ray and qualified for compensation. I would recommend it to all my friends I worked with. I've never been treated any better.
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My employer never told me the dangers of working around asbestos and as an operator, you just did the things you had to do. I recommend the Asbestos Health Line to everybody who worked in industry.
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My husband wanted me to be checked for asbestos exposure because I washed his clothes. Turns out, I was exposed. It's something you need to take advantage of.