BLACK LUNG
"As morbid as this may sound, it seemed at times like the lucky ones developed cancer and died quickly."
Kevin L. Shrake, Registered Respiratory Therapist
Kevin L. Shrake, Registered Respiratory Therapist
In addition to all of the external struggles and physical damage associated with the powerful stories relayed in Sixteen Tons, allow me to offer a perspective on the internal medical challenges that were created by the coal mining work environment. I trained as a Respiratory Therapist in Central Illinois and achieved the status of Registered Respiratory Therapist in 1975. One of the very basic elements of life is the ability to breathe comfortably. When that basic ability is impaired, nothing else really matters. It can be very rewarding to improve the lung function of people struggling with breathing disorders and at the same time agonizing to realize that some are on a desperate downward spiral. That is the dichotomy of the joys and sorrows of being a healthcare professional.
Since I practiced in Central Illinois, there was a large population of people who had worked in the coal mining profession that sought medical assistance for Black Lung. This is the common name associated with the medical term, coal miner's pneumoconiosis. It received its name because healthy lungs are pink and lungs exposed to long periods of coal dust are black.
The inhalation and accumulation of coal dust causes black lung. This stems from working in a coal mine, coal trimming (loading and stowing coal for storage), mining or milling graphite, and manufacturing carbon electrodes (used in certain types of large furnaces) and carbon black (a compound used in many items, such as tires and other rubber goods). Because black lung is a reaction to accumulated dust in the lungs, it may appear and get worse during exposure to the dust or after exposure has ceased. It generally begins with a simple cough with increased amounts of sputum production. This gradually progresses to shortness of breath, weakness, development of scar tissue in the lung and destruction of air sacs. In short, it is a slow, agonizing, suffocating loss of function and quality of life that eventually leads to death. (Thus the graphic quote about the lucky ones developed cancer and died.)
Many coal miners who already had the risk of black lung also added "fuel to the fire" by smoking cigarettes. This provided a dual insult to the lungs and increased the risk of developing emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease known commonly as COPD. Since I was treating patients in the 1970's with black lung, their exposure had occurred largely in the 1950s. By this time, the working conditions in the mines had improved dramatically and despite that fact, the prevalence and devastation of the disease was very evident to me as a practitioner. As I reviewed the pictures of the workers from many decades ago in Sixteen Tons it struck me in a very powerful way how incredibly harmful the working conditions must have been. Having knowledge of the health effects these conditions create for human beings made the stories and oral histories of the worker's struggles to organize very real and personal to me.
Although the mining industry has changed dramatically and safer working conditions have largely eradicated black lung, our society still suffers from the pervasive health effects of smoking. The percentage of smokers in the United States is declining (currently about 21%) but the prevalence in women and teenagers is on the rise. As a professional dedicated to making a difference in the health of our society, I offer the following free resource from the American Lung Association...the national lung health line and the tobacco quit line.
To your health,
Kevin L. Shrake
Web Page: www.protonproductionsllc.com
American Lung Association Call Center
3000 Kelly Lane
Springfield, IL 62707
(217) 787-5916 Fax
(866) QUI-TYES IL Tobacco Quitline
(800) 548-8252 Lung Helpline
Web Page: http://www.lungusa.org
Email to: info@lungusa.org
Trained professional registered nurses and registered respiratory therapist answer medical calls on all lung health issues. Also staffed with Addiction Specialists. Quitline is a full smoking cessation counseling program, offering proactive and reactive calls. Hearing impaired phone line Translation services available for 150+ languages.
Since I practiced in Central Illinois, there was a large population of people who had worked in the coal mining profession that sought medical assistance for Black Lung. This is the common name associated with the medical term, coal miner's pneumoconiosis. It received its name because healthy lungs are pink and lungs exposed to long periods of coal dust are black.
The inhalation and accumulation of coal dust causes black lung. This stems from working in a coal mine, coal trimming (loading and stowing coal for storage), mining or milling graphite, and manufacturing carbon electrodes (used in certain types of large furnaces) and carbon black (a compound used in many items, such as tires and other rubber goods). Because black lung is a reaction to accumulated dust in the lungs, it may appear and get worse during exposure to the dust or after exposure has ceased. It generally begins with a simple cough with increased amounts of sputum production. This gradually progresses to shortness of breath, weakness, development of scar tissue in the lung and destruction of air sacs. In short, it is a slow, agonizing, suffocating loss of function and quality of life that eventually leads to death. (Thus the graphic quote about the lucky ones developed cancer and died.)
Many coal miners who already had the risk of black lung also added "fuel to the fire" by smoking cigarettes. This provided a dual insult to the lungs and increased the risk of developing emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease known commonly as COPD. Since I was treating patients in the 1970's with black lung, their exposure had occurred largely in the 1950s. By this time, the working conditions in the mines had improved dramatically and despite that fact, the prevalence and devastation of the disease was very evident to me as a practitioner. As I reviewed the pictures of the workers from many decades ago in Sixteen Tons it struck me in a very powerful way how incredibly harmful the working conditions must have been. Having knowledge of the health effects these conditions create for human beings made the stories and oral histories of the worker's struggles to organize very real and personal to me.
Although the mining industry has changed dramatically and safer working conditions have largely eradicated black lung, our society still suffers from the pervasive health effects of smoking. The percentage of smokers in the United States is declining (currently about 21%) but the prevalence in women and teenagers is on the rise. As a professional dedicated to making a difference in the health of our society, I offer the following free resource from the American Lung Association...the national lung health line and the tobacco quit line.
To your health,
Kevin L. Shrake
Web Page: www.protonproductionsllc.com
American Lung Association Call Center
3000 Kelly Lane
Springfield, IL 62707
(217) 787-5916 Fax
(866) QUI-TYES IL Tobacco Quitline
(800) 548-8252 Lung Helpline
Web Page: http://www.lungusa.org
Email to: info@lungusa.org
Trained professional registered nurses and registered respiratory therapist answer medical calls on all lung health issues. Also staffed with Addiction Specialists. Quitline is a full smoking cessation counseling program, offering proactive and reactive calls. Hearing impaired phone line Translation services available for 150+ languages.