What are the symptoms of silicosis pulmonary fibrosis?

I believe that many friends have never heard of silicosis. Silicosis is a disease caused by long-term inhalation of quartz dust. It is a systemic disease characterized by fibrosis. The symptoms of silicosis pulmonary fibrosis are obvious, including chronic cough, sputum, chest tightness and other discomforts.

Silicosis is a systemic disease characterized by diffuse pulmonary fibrosis caused by long-term inhalation of quartz dust. It is a common and serious occupational disease in my country. It is currently one of the occupational diseases with the highest incidence rate and is also the most serious of the 12 types of pneumoconiosis.

Pulmonary fibrosis refers to the interstitial tissue of the lungs, which is composed of collagen, elastin, and protein sugars. When fibroblasts are damaged chemically or physically, they secrete collagen to repair the interstitial tissue of the lungs, thereby causing pulmonary fibrosis; that is, the result of the body's repair after the lungs are damaged.

Main symptoms:

1. Chronic cough: Usually the first symptom. The cough is intermittent at first and is more severe in the morning. Later, there will be cough in the morning and evening or throughout the day, but the cough is not obvious at night. In a few cases, the cough is not accompanied by sputum, and in some cases, there are various obvious airflow limitations but no cough symptoms.

2. Coughing up phlegm: After coughing, people usually cough up a small amount of mucous phlegm, and some patients have more in the early morning. When combined with infection, the amount of sputum increases and may contain purulent sputum. Secondary infection is prone to occur, resulting in mucopurulent sputum or purulent sputum, and occasionally bloody sputum.

3. Wheezing and chest tightness: These are not specific symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis. Some patients, especially those with severe disease, experience wheezing. Chest tightness usually occurs after exertion and is related to the isovolumetric contraction of the intercostal muscles due to labored breathing. The patient has exertional dyspnea and progressively worsens, with shallow and rapid breathing, and may have nasal flaring and accessory muscles involved in breathing, but most patients do not sit up to breathe.