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Great Home and Garden Improvement Tips

Hi! My name is Gary and this is my home and garden improvement blog. My passion for working on my home and garden began when I bought my first house. It was a run down little place in the suburbs of Sydney. Even though the place was in a bit of a state, it was in a fantastic location. I spent many hours reading up on DIY and gardening tips before setting about improving the place. It was a lot of hard work but it was also a lot of fun. I learnt a lot during that time so I decided to start this blog.

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3 Deadly Diseases You Can Get From Asbestos

by admin

Asbestos is a dangerous material, and it was a widely used construction material in Australia for many years. If your home was built before 1987, there's a good chance that your home contains asbestos, meaning that any renovations could put your health in danger. Redoing your kitchen or bathroom could add value to your home, but it could also give you one of these diseases later in life. 

Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a cancer of a membrane called the mesothelium. The mesothelium is a tissue that lines the insides of your lungs and your abdominal cavity. 

While doing home renovations, like pulling out floor tiles or drilling into walls, asbestos fibres are released into the air. When you breathe, these fibres settle in your lungs. It will be at least several years until you develop mesothelioma, and sometimes, as many as sixty years can pass. 

You will develop chest pain, shortness of breath, and a persistent cough. Since these symptoms are somewhat vague, it is rarely discovered in time. Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments can be used to prolong life, but the cancer is incurable. 

Lung cancer

When you breathe in asbestos fibres, you don't always end up with mesothelioma. Sometimes, cancer develops on the lung tissue itself. 

The symptoms of lung cancer can be vague. Your only clue that something is wrong could be a cough and some chest pain, which can easily be written off as a cold or flu. 

Lung cancer can be treated with chemotherapy, radiation or surgery, but since asbestos lung cancer is usually discovered late, these treatments don't help much. Most patients with late stage cancer will live less than a year after their diagnosis.

Asbestosis

Asbestosis isn't cancer; it's an inflammatory lung disease. When you breathe in asbestos fibres, they cause scar tissue to build up on your lungs. It can take as many as twenty years for this to become a problem, but once there is enough scar tissue, your lungs won't be able to expand or contract properly.

If you develop this disease, you will suffer from chest pain and difficulty breathing. These symptoms will get worse over time, until finally, you won't be able to breathe at all. There is no cure for this disease, but receiving oxygen via mask can help prolong your life.

These three horrible diseases aren't inevitable. If you live in an older house and want to do renovations, consult a professional asbestos removalist, like ASBESTOP. These professionals can safely remove the dangerous asbestos from your home, and afterwards you can proceed with your renovations without fear. 

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