China 
Africa 
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Toxicity and Toxins
Published in Gary S. Moore, Kathleen A. Bell, Living with the Earth, 2018
Gary S. Moore, Kathleen A. Bell
Two types of disease commonly seen in those exposed to asbestos are asbestosis and mesothelioma. Asbestosis is a slowly developing disease normally occurring over 20–30 years, resulting in increasing breathlessness on exertion and the development of a productive cough. Decreased respiration leads to a barrel chest, bluish discoloration of the skin, and a restricted chest expansion.74 The lungs are typically scarred, with thickening of the lining of the lungs, which is replaced by calcium deposits. Mesothelioma is a rare malignant tumor involving the pleura or the abdominal wall and abdominal organs, caused only by exposure to asbestos. The disease is a diffuse cancerous tumor that spreads rapidly, is usually fatal, and results in death within 1–2 years after diagnosis.74 Cancer can also develop in the digestive tract as a result of ingesting asbestos in food, in beverages, or swallowing the fibers in contaminated saliva.
Health Effects
Published in Wayne T. Davis, Joshua S. Fu, Thad Godish, Air Quality, 2021
Wayne T. Davis, Joshua S. Fu, Thad Godish
Patients with emphysema usually have problems exhaling because air remains trapped in the lungs and overinflates damaged lung tissue. This overinflation contributes to the “barrel chest” characteristic of most patients with emphysema. Exhalation difficulties are due to the compression and collapse of some of the smaller airways and the overall decrease in lung elasticity common to those afflicted by emphysema.
Validation of a novel contact-free heart and respiratory rate monitor
Published in Journal of Medical Engineering & Technology, 2021
Ofer Havakuk, Ben Sadeh, Ilan Merdler, Zeev Zalevsky, Javier Garcia-Monreal, Sagi Polani, Yaron Arbel
A total of 115 subjects completed the study procedures. Mean age was 66 ± 14.6 (range 29–93) with 60% males, 31% obese patients (i.e., BMI > 30 kg/m2, range 17–44) and 56% measured in a chair (Table 1). In addition, the population included 13.3% of patients with an ongoing respiratory condition (of which 7.5% have COPD), 12.5% with abnormal chest shape (including barrel chest deformity; Table S1). Seventy Percent of subjects had relatively bright skin tones, 17.5% with a brown skin tone, and 12.5% with dark skin tones (Tables S2). Subjects’ clothing varied in the type of garment, colour and number of layers. About half of subjects wore an undershirt or T-shirt, 24% wore a hospital gown and 18% wore a dress shirt or blouse, while a few wore sweaters (7%) (Table S3). The vast majority of subjects had only one layer of clothing (77%), though several had two layers (18%) or even three layers (5%). Lastly, 15% of measured subjects had an active arrhythmia during the measurement, of which 3% had atrial fibrillation (Afib). Details of the frequency distribution of medical history entries as evident in subjects’ medical records can be found in supplemental Table S4.