Byssinosis: causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment
Byssinosis is a lung disease characterized by bronchoconstriction, affecting cotton, flax and hemp workers
Byssinosis is a typical occupational respiratory disease
Byssinosis occurs almost exclusively in workers who come into contact with cotton in its raw form (ie, unprocessed and unpurified cotton), especially those who open bales and do carding.
Studies suggest that some agent present in the corolla of the cotton induces bronchoconstriction.
Long-term exposure to cotton dust was once thought to induce emphysema and irreversible obstruction, but these effects now seem unlikely in light of a number of postmortem studies which have found some degree of bronchitis but no increased frequency of emphysema or destructive changes of the parenchyma.
Chest tightness appears on the first day of returning to work after the weekend or after vacation.
In many people who complain of chest tightness, ventilatory capacity drops during the first work shift.
In byssinosis, unlike asthma which worsens with repeated exposure to allergens, symptoms and chest tightness decrease with repeated exposure and, usually, by the end of the week the subject becomes asymptomatic.
However, with repeated and prolonged exposure over years, chest tightness tends to recur and persist throughout Tuesday and Wednesday and occasionally well into the end of the week or even consistently as long as the individual continues to work.
Limited data suggest that occasionally, mild airway obstruction may occur and persist.
Beyond byssinosis: other occupational respiratory diseases
Other frequent occupational respiratory diseases that may interest you are:
- silicosis;
- coal workers’ pneumoconiosis;
- asbestosis and related diseases (mesothelioma and pleural effusion);
- berylliosis;
- hypersensitivity pneumonitis;
- occupational asthma;
- diseases from irritant gases and other chemicals;
- sick building syndrome.
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