Pages from ROLL 10 ASBESTOS MEDICAL ARTICLES-combined-40

Our plain-English summary of Pages from ROLL 10 ASBESTOS MEDICAL ARTICLES-combined-40 (1971).

The study

• Published: 1971
• Type of article: Translation
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library.

In plain English

This translated Russian study examined causes of death among 90 asbestosis patients from Central Ural asbestos plants who died from 1948 to 1967. They were 31 men and 59 women; 80 had worked in concentrating mills and the rest in asbestos mining. For four causes, the authors compared these shares with deaths among people over 20 in the adjacent town. Malignant tumours caused 34 deaths (37.8%, against 13.3% in that population) and lung tuberculosis 16 (17.8% against 6.1%). Circulatory diseases caused 14 (15.5% against 45.2%), and pneumonia, bronchial asthma and lung abscess 4 (4.5% against 15.6%). Uncomplicated asbestosis caused 12 deaths (13.4%), with no population comparison. Of the cancers, 23.5% were respiratory, 20.6% stomach and 17.6% uterus. Most patients whose asbestosis was not complicated by tumours died less than 15 years after asbestosis was diagnosed. For those with cancer, this interval was 15 to 30 years or more. The authors concluded that cancer (above all respiratory), tuberculosis, circulatory diseases and asbestosis were the main causes of death.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Retrospective review of causes of death among asbestosis patients. For some causes, it compared the percentage distribution of causes of death with that of the general population over 20.
• Who was studied: 90 workers with asbestosis (31 men, 59 women) from asbestos industry plants in the Central Urals who died from 1948 to 1967. All had been followed during life by a special occupational pathology dispensary. 80 were former concentrating mill workers and the rest worked in asbestos mining. The comparison group was people older than 20 living in the adjacent town.
• Exposure: Asbestos dust in asbestos concentrating mills and asbestos mining, mostly at high dust levels before 1955. No fiber type is named.
• Main results:
  • 34 of the 90 asbestosis patients (37.8%) died of malignant neoplasms of different locations.
  • Among the general population older than 20, neoplasms accounted for 13.3% of deaths in the same period.
  • 16 asbestosis patients (17.8%) died of lung tuberculosis, against 6.1% among the general population.
  • 14 asbestosis patients (15.5%) died of circulatory diseases, against 45.2% among the general population (the table gives 45.2).
  • 4 asbestosis patients died of pneumonia, bronchial asthma and lung abscess. The table gives these non-specific respiratory diseases as 4.5% of deaths, against 15.6% in the general population.
  • 12 asbestosis patients (13.4%) died of uncomplicated asbestosis. The table gives no general-population figure for asbestosis or for other diseases.
  • Of the cancer deaths, 23.5% were cancers of the respiratory organs, 20.6% of the stomach, 17.6% of the uterus, 8.7% of the liver, 5.9% of the intestine and 5.9% of the breast.
  • 29 of the 34 people who died of tumours were older than 40 years.
  • For most patients whose asbestosis was not complicated by tumours, the time from asbestosis diagnosis to death was under 15 years. For patients whose asbestosis was complicated by cancer, it was 15 to 30 years or more.
  • Of the tuberculosis deaths, 5 people who began dusty work at ages 16 to 18 died at ages 29 to 42. All who began at age 20 or older died at ages 49 to 75.
  • Average duration of dusty work was 19.1 years for patients whose asbestosis was complicated by cancer.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the main causes of death of asbestosis patients were cancer of different locations (first of all of the respiratory organs), pulmonary tuberculosis, cardio-circulatory diseases and asbestosis. In the authors' words, these patients died of cancer and lung tuberculosis 'significantly more often' than people over 20 living in the adjacent town, who more often died of cardio-circulatory diseases. No statistical test is reported. The authors also saw the tuberculosis findings as a reason to forbid work in the asbestos industry for anyone younger than 18 to 20.

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