Occupational Respiratory Diseases - Current Perspectives

Abstract

Occupational diseases are one of the most significant causes of death and disability related to work. Within the multiple occupational diseases that can affect the human being, the respiratory diseases related to the occupation are one of the most important, due to their national and international significance, involving high clinical severity and potential years of life lost. They constitute a significant cause of respiratory symptomatology in the worker, as well as absenteeism, disability and death. Within the wide range of occupational respiratory diseases, the author emphasizes the Pneumoconiosis (caused by the inhalation of mineral dust, whether fibers or particles and the subsequent lung response, with a particular impact on the inhalation of crystalline silica and asbestos); Occupational Asthma (characterized by variable airflow limitation and / or airway hyper responsiveness, due to causes and conditions of the respiratory tract attributable to a particular work environment) and occupational respiratory Neoplasms, with particular emphasis on lung cancer and malignant pleural mesothelioma).