Black lung disease is an occupational lung disease caused by prolonged inhalation of coal mine dust. Black lung disease is also called silicosis, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, or black lung. Discover the signs, symptoms, treatment & prevention of black lung disease. Black lung disease is a type of pneumoconiosis, a condition caused by inhaling certain forms of dust into the lungs. Specifically, black lung disease is caused by the inhalation of coal dust, which tends to turn the lungs black instead of their normal pink color. It occurs only among workers in coal mines, or those in other work situations that cause high exposure to coal dust. A chronic occupational lung disease contracted by the prolonged breathing of coal mine dust. The silica and carbon in the coal dust cause black lung disease. About one of every 20 miners studied in the US has X-ray evidence of black lung disease, a form of pneumoconiosis. In its early stages, called simple pneumoconiosis, the disease does not prevent the miner from working or carrying on most normal activities. In some miners, the disease never becomes more severe. In other miners, the disease progresses from simple to complicated pneumoconiosis, a condition also called progressive massive fibrosis. Pneumoconiosis is not reversible. There is no specific treatment. Causes Some patients develop emphysema (a disease in which the tiny air sacs in the lungs become damaged, leading to shortness of breath, and respiratory and heart failure) as a complication of black lung disease. Others develop a severe type of black lung disease called progressive massive fibrosis, in which damage continues in the upper parts of the lungs even after exposure to the dust has ended. Disease of the lungs caused by an accumulation of dust, especially from coal, asbestos, or silica. Inhaled particles make the lungs gradually fibrous and the victim has difficulty breathing. Over many years the condition causes severe disability. After the emphysema strikes silently in black lung disease, there comes scarring of the lungs and nodule formation in the lung tissues. The symptoms and breathing function test results in patients with black lung disease are often much worse than the chest X-ray picture would suggest. There is, unfortinately, no specific treatment for black lung disease. Symptoms The primary symptom of the disease is shortness of breath, which gradually gets worse as the disease progresses. In severe cases, the patient may develop cor pulmonale, an enlargement and strain of the right side of the heart caused by chronic lung disease. This may eventually cause right-sided heart failure. Simple black lung usually does not cause symptoms. However, many people with this disease cough and easily become short of breath because they also have an airway disease, such as bronchitis or emphysema, and these are more likely to occur in smokers. The severe stages of progressive massive fibrosis, on the other hand, cause coughing and often disabling shortness of breath. Treatment Unfortunately, there's no specific treatment for black lung disease. People whose lung impairment has reached the point that they would benefit from supplemental oxygen, or extra oxygen at home, would certainly receive oxygen. Other than that, there's unfortunately no specific medicine that reverses the damage that's been done to the lungs. The damage that's done could be thought of as a scar, and just as you might have a scar on your arm that doesn't go away or doesn't heal, scars, or fibrosis inside the lungs don't go away either.
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