Asbestosis Signs and Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of asbestosis can show up many years after the asbestos exposure has ended. Manifestations rarely occur less than 10 years following first exposure and are more common after 20 years or more.

Symptoms (what a patient with asbestosis will experience)

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Shortness of breath.
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Asbestosis has been called a monosymptomatic disease because the earliest, most consistently reported, and most distressing symptom is shortness of breath.
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Occurs with heavy effort and then progressively diminishing levels of effort as the disease becomes worse.
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Persistent and productive cough.
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Almost as common as the shortness of breath.
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Often occurs with distressing spasms.

Other symptoms include:

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Chest tightness, Chest pain, General ill feeling, Fitful sleep, Hemoptysis, Appetite loss.

Signs (what your doctor will look for with asbestosis)

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Basal crackles or rales. When a stethoscope is used to listen to the lower lungs, you can hear what sounds like Velcro opening up.
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An early distinctive feature of asbestosis.
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Usually heard first over the basal regions.
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Persistent (unaffected by coughing)
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Precise timing (at first, mid to late inspiration and eventually during most of inspiration)
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High pitched quality.
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Small irregular opacities on X-ray (Looks like ground glass).
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Obscures normal lung vasculature.
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Usually first seen in the lower lateral lobes in between the rib shadows.
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Borders of the heart, particularly the left side may be obscured.
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Pulmonary function tests usually show restrictive disease but can also show obstructive and mixed disorders. This means that your lungs will lose the ability to breathe.
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Reduced diffusion capacity.
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Reduce lung volumes and capacities
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Reduced flow rates.

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Clubbing of fingers and toes. Swelling of the fingers and toes due to excess blood accumulating there.

None of these symptoms are specific. Something as benign as the common cold could also give you these symptoms. Keep in mind that asbestosis is a chronic progressive disease meaning that once these symptoms start, they generally do not get better. Fortunately, the disease progresses slowly giving your doctor time to catch it.