Silicosis of the lungs is a disease that occurs as a result of professional activity. It is usually found in people whose activities are related to the metallurgical, porcelain-faience, machine-building, and mining industries. The disease occurs when a worker breathes air with dust containing silicon dioxide for a long time. The most dangerous is fine dust, in this case, the inhaled particles begin to inhibit the alveoli and bronchioles, causing pathologies and fibrosis. The severity of the onset of symptoms and further complications is directly related to the amount of silicon that has entered the lungs of a person. If a worker did not use protective equipment and at that time the norm of inhaled dust was exceeded, such a person after three years will have to learn what acute silicosis of the lung is.
Course of illness
In many cases, this occupational disease has a latent course, although a complication in the form of tuberculosis or pathologies in the respiratory organs is not excluded. If the patient has an acute formsilicosis, he develops fibrosis (scarring) of lung tissue. The disease continues even if the person has left their activity and no longer inhales harmful dust.
Description of the disease
Silicosis of the lung is a type of pneumoconiosis. After an excess of dust containing silicon dioxide enters the respiratory organs, the lung tissue grows excessively and small nodules form. The patient begins to feel a lack of oxygen and, as a result, his condition worsens.
Symptoms of disease
One of the insidious diseases is silicosis of the lungs. Symptoms in this case may not appear for a long period, and at this time the disease continues to develop and, as a result, passes into the chronic stage. After a while, the sick person begins to feel pain in the chest. Over time, severe pain is complemented by shortness of breath, which increases during physical activity. Other signs of lung silicosis are a dry cough with occasional sputum production.
Once the pathology has developed in the lungs, the symptoms become more obvious. Now shortness of breath can occur even without exertion, in a calm state of a person. Against the background, chronic bronchitis and bronchial asthma occur, and pain at this stage can become stronger. If the disease is accompanied by a dry cough and sputum is only sometimes noticeable, then there are complications in the form of bronchiectasis. Outwardly, a sick person does not change.
Sometimes doctors make a diagnosis based on symptoms. They can be told about the diseasedry wheezing and hard breathing. But more often the patient is sent for an x-ray and the diagnosis is confirmed by what fluorography shows. For a doctor, emphysema of the lungs opens in the picture, it is clear that the mobility of the lung is reduced, from which the respiratory function is significantly impaired.
A pronounced form of the disease is manifested in a constant cough, in which a lot of sputum is released. There is severe squeezing pain in the chest, and cyanosis is noticeable in some people.
Other patients experience hemoptysis, as well as problems in the functioning of blood vessels and the heart. If, in the presence of symptoms, the patient continues to inhale harmful dust, he may begin a hypertrophic process, which will lead to changes in the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract.
Stages of silicosis
The whole process of disease development can be divided into three stages:
- The first stage is accompanied by the appearance of shortness of breath, immediately with a significant load. At the same time, a strong cough of a dry type opens, and noticeable pain or discomfort occurs near the chest. X-rays may already show small nodules and scars that are just beginning to form.
- At this stage, the chest pain hardly goes away, and the cough becomes even stronger. Hard, dry rales are already beginning to be noticed, and breathing becomes heavier. Doctors notice a significant deformation of the lungs, this is what fluorography shows at this stage of the disease.
- With the onset of the third stage, the patient experiences shortness of breath more often. Ata person's cough becomes regular. There is more sputum discharge, sometimes with blood.
Why it is important to respond to symptoms
Once an illness has been identified, it is important to begin treatment immediately. If you start the situation and do not respond to the slightest signs, a person develops concomitant respiratory diseases, as well as complications of silicosis. So, against the background of an occupational disease, a fungus of the lungs, pulmonary hypertension, tuberculosis, emphysema, pneumothorax and others may appear.
When should I go to the hospital?
There are circumstances that force a person to turn to a specialist, and these include:
- Prophylactic examination. Workers who have to stay in a dusty room should have an examination by a pulmonologist twice a year. If a person does not notice the presence of symptoms, he still needs to do a fluorography.
- For chronic cough, regardless of its nature (wet, dry).
- Sharp chest pain (contact doctor immediately).
- Severe cough, loss of appetite and frequent fatigue.
Silicosis of the lungs: treatment and necessary measures
After identifying the disease, the first important measure is to stop contact with silicon. Next, the patient learns to do breathing exercises. The attending physician prescribes to the victim a visit to oxygen inhalation. Fortreatment with specific medications. Some additionally use folk recipes.
If an acute form is diagnosed, a person is prescribed bronchodilators by mouth. They also take samples for tuberculin. If the answer is positive, the patient is additionally prescribed anti-tuberculosis drugs, for example, Isoniazid. Tuberculosis, developed against the background of silicosis, is treated with several means, usually at least four. Among them, "Rifampicin" must be present.
With a complicated course of the disease and advanced fibrosis, the patient cannot do without a lung transplant operation.
Patients who have stages 1 and 2 can be prescribed spa treatment.
Treatment Predictions
After the therapy has been carried out, the patient hopes for a full recovery, but the further condition depends on the stage at which the treatment was started. Silicosis of a mild chronic nature, which accompanies a person for a long time, can completely recede after therapy. But if an acute form is diagnosed, complications appear in the body, more often it is fibrosis or pulmonary hypertension. In this case, the patient will have to deal with these comorbidities.
Prophylaxis
If a person has to work in extreme conditions to reduce the risk of a disease such as silicosis of the lung, it is important for him to take measures to protect his he alth. To do this, he should not neglect protective equipment and clothing during work. In dusty conditions, the working day should be shortened, and a person has the right to work half-heartedly. You also need decent, nutritious nutrition with the addition of milk to the diet, as well as maintaining the correct daily routine.
If you have to spend time in dusty conditions, do not neglect regular medical examinations and x-rays, because it is easier to prevent a disease than not knowing how to cure it later.
