What Is Black Lung Disease?

The black lung movement was a movement formed in the late 1960’s in which the miners fought for the health benefits to cover black lung disease. Black lung is directly caused by mining and working with coal. Mildred Mullins wrote this poem and hung it on the coffin of her dead husband in the Capital to display what was going on, “Compensation we are asking,
While alive and still gasping;
When life is o’er and hymns are sung,
Then they’ll know we have black lung.( “Charleston Gazette” 15)” The miners felt that since their job caused this disease that they should be compensated for it. The coal companies felt that mining did not cause this lung disease and that the miners were just making it up.

Could you imagine living life trying to be successful and making a living to make sure you have food on the table? Now can you also imagine having that same occupation be the same thing that is danger to yourself and the life that you’ve built? Black Lung Disease. A disease that has pledged many working families around the world. Most commonly known as “Lung Disease “or Coal worker’s pneumoconiosis, black lung disease was first discovered long ago but not much was known about the disease until the 1950s. This disease is caused by the inhalation of coal dust and usually results in the lungs turning black instead of being its normal pink. The disease is most commonly found among miners of hard coal, but it also occurs in soft-coal miners and graphite workers. The beginning of the disease is gradual; the symptoms usually appear only after 10–20 years of exposure to coal dust, and the extent of disease is clearly related to the total dust exposure. It is not clear whether coal itself is solely responsible for the disease, as coal dust often is contaminated with silica, which causes similar symptoms. There is strong evidence that tobacco smoking aggravates the condition. The early stages of the disease (when it is called anthracnosis) usually have no symptoms, but in its more advanced form it frequently is associated with pulmonary emphysema or chronic bronchitis and can be disabling; tuberculosis is also more common in victims of black lung. In 2013 CWP resulted in 25,000 deaths down from 29,000 deaths in 1990. The inhalation and accumulation of coal dust into the lungs increases the risk of developing chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The disease gets its name from a distinctive blue-black marbling of the lung caused by accumulation of the dust. Georgius Agricola, a German mineralogist, first described lung disease in coal miners in the 16th century, and it is now widely recognized. It may be the best known occupational illness in the United States.

This paper will review past practices and policies relating to mountaintop coal mining, evaluate and analyze current research on the impact of coal mining on human health, and provide recommendations for further research guided by logic and in agreement with biblical truth.

It’s a U.S. law which provides monthly payments and medical benefits to coal miners disabled from pneumoconiosis (black lung disease) rising from employment in or around the nation's coal mines. The law also provides monthly benefits to a miner's dependent survivors if pneumoconiosis caused or hastened the miner's death.

According to the NAACP Press Release, low-income families as well as minorities are the victims of these power plants; stating that the 6 million people living near coal-fired power plants make over 3,000 dollars lower than the national average. “Coal Blooded: Putting Profits Before People”, the source of this

Preventative Measures: The main way to avoid having lung cancer is not to smoke and to avoid taking in second hand smoke, but also stay away from radon gas and asbestos. Certain types of mining and farming can cause exposure to harmful asbestos and radon. It is best to stay away from these kinds of fumes, dust and other dangerous chemicals. A certain nutrient called phytoestrogen which is found in legumes, whole grains, soy products and vegetables reduces the risk of developing lung cancer. Coal products,

You might have as of late discovered that you or your cherished one has mesothelioma, a sort of cancer that is obtained through the introduction to asbestos. When you breathed in asbestos strands and it enters your lungs, it removes the lung tissues and causes the development of cancer cells. A few individuals might connect smoking with mesothelioma however there truly are no immediate circumstances and end results relationship that exists between the two. What you ought to recollect is that it might exacerbate things however it may not really precipitate it. On the off chance that you have this sort of infection, you ought to as of now take part in medications and other restorative sessions that would offer you some assistance

During 1346-1353, the Black Death hit Europe killing more than 20 million people. The disease had everyone on their toes making sure they weren’t getting sick. The plague had been distributed from between the boats and brought to the docks where the ships were unloaded, and men who were on the ship were already dead as the boats arrived while everyone was waiting. The disease took a toll on all ages, religion, and beliefs. At first the townspeople thought it only effected the men and women, but the disease affected the livestock, and all their crops. Once they were affected, they couldn’t work, because their muscles were getting weaker as they got sicker. The symptoms that held them back were painful swelling in their armpits, legs, lymph nodes,

These illnesses are most often caused by smoking, but can also be brought on by other irritants such as heavy dust, air pollution, or chemical fumes. Symptoms are very painful, and can become increasingly debilitating over time. Treatments range from lifestyle changes and home self-care to surgery such as a lung transplant.

There was a lot of coal mining in America as well. According to the website something “Coal mining was a prominent industry throughout eastern Pennsylvania, northern Maryland, and Wyoming.” It wasn't until the late 19th century that a legislation was passed that limited what age a child could start working in the mines. Even with these working age restrictions, some children as young as five or six years old, still worked in the mines. The youngest workers worked as breaker boys, whose job was to separate the debris from the coal. Because the breaker boys were not allowed to wear gloves they would often catch a skin disease that they called “red tips” which was caused by the sulfur when touching coal too often.

The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 provided compensation for miners who were permanently disabled by pneumoconiosis. Pneumoconiosis is a occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of dust. In Sago, West Virginia on January 2nd of 2006 there was a coal mine explosion that would trap thirteen miners for barely two days. Of the thirteen miners, only one survived. The only survivor, Randal McCloy, was in critical condition with a collapsed lung and dehydration. Miraculously, he had no sign of brain damage or carbon monoxide poisoning after being trapped for more than 42 hours. Luckily, miners have health care for life because of their hazardous jobs. Unlike the coal miners, there are many people in the country who don’t get the security of health care for life. I have a dream that everyone in the world can receive the medical attention they need regardless of their economic status.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a lung disease that occurs when the tissue deep in your lungs become thick and stiff. Over time, the damaged tissue forms scar tissue. The term for the scar tissue is fibrosis. When the scarred tissue becomes too thick, breathing becomes difficult and symptoms arise.

Bronchiolitis is defined by the textbook as, “a diffuse, inflammatory obstruction in the small airways or bronchioles occurring most commonly in children” (Heuther & McCance, 2012). It is an acute inflammatory disease of the lower respiratory tract that occurs most commonly in infants and is caused by infection with seasonal viruses such as respiratory synctial virus (RSV) (Zorc & Hall, 2010). Bronchiolitis often results from an obstruction of the small airways. It is the leading cause of infant hospitalization in the United States (Zorc & Hall 2010) and is arguably the most common significant medical illness of childhood, with at least “1 in 7 normal infants developing symptomatic bronchiolitis in his or her first year of

It was one thought that lung cancer was strictly caused by lifestyle choices, but over the past years, it has been shown that lifestyle isn’t the thing that can potentially allow one to contract lung cancer. The environment along with tobacco use and genetics can also play a role in contracting lung cancer. In an industrial world, pollution has been a reoccurring problem. With emissions from vehicles and industrial power plants, air pollution and/or smog has been hovering over us. In places like China who are thriving in the industrial world, are being greatly affected by air pollution. According to Brody, “In Asia, lung cancer is alarmingly

Lung disease and accidents have always led to high rates of death or disability amongst miners. The lung diseases that affect miners are called pneumoconiosis or black lung. Coal worker’s pneumoconiosis can be defined as the accumulation of coal dust in the lungs and the tissue’s. “Inhaled coal dust enters the terminal bronchioles, and the carbon pigment is engulfed by alveolar and interstitial macrophages. Phagocytes coal particles are transported by macrophages up the mucociliary elevator and are expelled in the mucus or through the lymphatic system” (Pneumoconiosis in China).