Asbestos itself is any number of minerals that are fibrous in nature and have some remarkable heat resisting qualities, which lead to asbestos' large scale usage in construction and other areas for fire retardation and similar purposes. Asbestosis is a respiratory disease caused by long-term exposure to asbestos fibres. These fibres were common in construction through the mid 1970s and are present to this day in some products, such as the brakes on your car.
The specific cause of the disease are asbestos fibres that get into a person's lung, pierce the lining, and cause scar tissue. The scar tissue is both less flexible than regular lung tissue and also cannot operate to exchange gases into the blood stream. Asbestosis is a debilitating, incurable disease that affects millions of people worldwide.
Symptoms, which may take 20-40 years to present, are most typically exemplified by shortness of breath and persistent pain in the chest.
See also: National Institute of Health
