asthma through working as a welder

i was a welder for 5 years,after 2 years 1 took a 18 month break and then went back to it for 3 years,this was wen the problems began.during the 3rd year i started having problems i.e coughing,chest pains,wheezing all the time,iv now been away from the job for 4 years but i still suffer from asthma,im prone to chest infections,will this ever clear up

Occupational Asthma, Worker, 8/10/2007, 8/13/2007,

Asthma can start at any age, what is likely to happen in the future depends on whether the asthma was caused by the work (in which case there is reasonable chance of recovery), or has some other (in which case it will probably continue). Welding fume is one of the commoner causes of occupational asthma, if it was the cause the asthma it should have improved on days off work or when leaving. Asthma caused by work is more likely to clear up completely if the time between developing asthma and removal from exposure to the cause is short, particularly if it is less than one year. Welding fume might also cause COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) although the evidence is less good. COPD can cause cough, wheeze and breathlessness which does not get better away from exposure and will persist after the cause is removed.

8/13/2007