Silicosis and Smoking: Is There a Relationship? An Interview with Epidemiologist Patrick Hessel, Ph.D.

The uncertainty did it. An epidemiologist is all about understanding the incidence, distribution, and control of disease in a population. Uncertainty is the enemy. And it prompted epidemiologist Patrick Hessel, Ph.D., and two co-authors to look to the peer-reviewed literature for an answer to the question of whether there is a relationship between silicosis and smoking. He did not find a concrete answer. Instead, he found a "a suggested positive relationship" between silicosis and smoking, possibly connected to how X-ray readers interpret opacities on chest X-rays.

"We have known about the relationship between smoking and irregular opacities for quite some …