Aged 64. Asthma 4/5 years. Now copd yesterday told. Smoked for 3 years in youth. Ex smoker. For 45 years. Worked in Power Station for 20 years , exposed to aseptic on floors and pipe runs bit's falling off.
Is there a connection ??? Anyone !!
Usual medication.
Welcome jameshenry. Hope you find the answers you are looking for. Xxxxx
Welcome to the site, jameshenry. You will meet a lot of very lovely helpful people here.
I have moderate COPD and gave up smoking after 16 years, 31 years ago, but probably fell foul through cooking on solid fuel stoves, having open fires and living with a heavy smoker for 20 years. I've been able to limit the progression of my COPD through healthy eating, plenty of activity and gentle exercise, avoiding people with coughs, colds and sneezes, and taking my meds as prescribed. And the only open fire I have now is an incinerator in the garden four times a year.
Have you been told what stage your COPD is? Have you been prescribed any inhalers to help your breathing?
Hello Jameshenry, welcome to the site. COPD can occur in none smokers, but with youre employment history I would not rule out other possible causes, or diagnosis. However most lung conditions are treated with similar drugs. Hope others can give you the info you are looking for, I have COPD but only mild.
Thank u.
Welcome to the site jameshenry 
Just to say welcome - sorry can't help with your question
My husband worked in a power station for only 18 months when he was in his teens and 9 years ago it was confirmed that he had asbestosis and it had been caused by the material used during his time at the power station
Welcome! This is a good place to receive and share knowledge.
I too, have wondered if my background has contributed to my lung issues today. 44 yrs ago, I worked in a sewing factory, inhaling fabric fibers all day long for about a year. We had a house built about 30 yrs ago. I started having breathing issue about a year after moving in. What kind of building material did the contractor use? We lived in that house for 12 yrs.
Who knows. The doctors say it's from having childhood illnesses such as whooping cough.
Beth
Pab51 I have problems walking past Lush let alone working there!
Welcome and I hope you can get some answers.huff xxx
The deadly affects of asbestos have been known for hundreds of years.
Greeks and Romans exploited the unique properties of asbestos, they also documented its harmful effects on those who mined the silken material from ancient stone quarries. If they ran out of slaves, they could go and conquer a country to get more workers. No problem to them.
As early as 1897, an Austrian doctor attributed pulmonary troubles in one of his patients to the inhalation of asbestos dust. An 1898 report regarding the asbestos manufacturing process in England, where factories had been routinely inspected since 1833 to protect the health and safety of workers, cited “widespread damage and injury of the lungs, due to the dusty surrounding of the asbestos mill.”
In 1906, the first documented death of an asbestos worker from pulmonary failure was recorded by Dr. Montague Murray at London’s Charring Cross Hospital. The autopsy of the 33-year-old victim revealed large amounts of asbestos fibers in his lungs. (No legislation was enacted to improve working conditions!!).
Reports of worker deaths from “fibrosis” in asbestos plants in Italy and France echoed studies in the U.S. that suggested that asbestos workers were dying unnaturally young. And as early as 1908, insurance companies in the U.S. and Canada began decreasing coverage and benefits, while increasing premiums, for workers employed in the asbestos industry.
In spite of all this evidence, governments and companies continued to use it in factories , offices, houses, hospitals, ship building, car brake shoes. The list is virtually endless.
In Australia, hundreds of people, who had worked in factories producing goods made from asbestos, were found to be dying from asbestos related disease. The wives and children were also affected, since asbestos fibres were carried home on the overalls of the workers. Claims for compensation are on-going there.
It has always been said that it can take up to 40 years before asbestos contamination shows up in anyone who has been exposed to it. This has been acknowledged by British Courts. There is an amplitude of information about asbestos on the internet. This could be of help.
gov.uk/government/news/asbe...
Thank you so much. Very interesting reading.
I have worked in power stations all over the world for the past 50 years. I was diagnosed with pleural plaques 30 years ago. I was put onto an asbestos monitoring system. Everyone who showed signs of having been affected by asbestos was put on that list. I applied for compensation, but the government doctor who examined me, was a former RN doctor. He told me that in 1950-62 medicals xrays had been taken of all navy personnel who had worked in the engine room or on the boilers. He said many had shown signs of pleural plaque, so my application was denied. Oddly enough, many of my friends who have died from mesothelioma, were new employees at some of the power stations. I think it is a matter of luck how one is affected.
I don't think my pleural plaque has had anything to do with my COPD. That's due to smoking.
Ex service my self. Took up the job in Power station . Copd how the hell did I get it ??
My COPD was caused by smoking. The asbestos monitoring programme entailed me having a xray and spirometry test every two years. I had routine for over twenty years. I still kept up smoking, until one time when my breathing was so bad all you could hear was crackling. I no longer coughed up copious amounts of black sputum, since the last place I worked was gas fired. I kept all the results of my spirometry tests, but ignored the gradual fall in my breathing capabilities shown on the graphs. I gave up smoking about 5 years ago, but the damage had already been done. The treatments for COPD have vastly improved, but still no cure.
Newbie
Newbie
Newbie
Newbie alert!
Newbie
