What Are the Risks of Smoking.docx

What Are the Risks of Smoking.docx

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WhatAretheRisksofSmoking

WhatAretheRisksofSmoking?

吸烟有害健康

BeforeDr.LutherL.Terry,thentheSurgeonGeneraloftheUnitedStates,issuedhisoffice'sfirst"ReportonSmokingandHealth"morethan30yearsago,thousandsofarticleshadalreadybeenwrittenontheeffectsoftobaccouseonthehumanbody.

[2]Tobaccocompanieshadcounteredthereports--whichpurportedtoshowlinksbetweensmokingandcancerandotherseriousdiseases--withdenialsandcompetingstudies.

[3]Soin1964,TerryandhisAdvisoryCommitteeonSmokingandHealthknewtheyweresteppingintoamajorpitofcontroversywhentheyannounced"cigarettesmokingisahealthhazardofsufficientimportanceintheUnitedStatestowarrantappropriateremedialaction".

[4]ItwasAmerica'sfirstwidelypublicizedacknowledgmentthatsmokingcigarettesisacauseofseriousdiseases.

[5]Buttheissuewasn'tsettledin1964,norisitsettledin1997,despiteliterallythousandsmorestudies--andlitigationthathasforcedatleastonetobaccocompanytoadmitwhatsomeactivistssaytheyknewallalong:

cigarettesmokeishazardoustoyourhealth.

[6]Morethan30years--andmorethan20SurgeonGeneralreports--later,theissueappearsheadedforsettlementinthecourtroomratherthanthelaboratory.

Sowhataretherisks?

Here'swhattobacco'scriticssay:

CANCER

[7]TheCentersforDiseaseControlandPreventionsayscigarettesmokingisresponsiblefor151,322cancerdeathsannuallyintheUnitedStates.Mostofthose--116,920--arefromlungcancer.TheCDCsaysmenwhosmokeare22timesmorelikelytodiefromlungcancerthannon-smokers.Womenwhosmokeare12timesmorelikelytodiefromthedisease.

[8]Statisticalstudieshavelongshownthatpeoplewhodon'tsmokelivelongerthanpeoplewhodoandscientistshaveseenstatisticallythecorrelationbetweensmokingandincidencesoflungcancersincethe1950s.

[9]ButastudyearlierthisyearbyGerdPfeiferoftheBeckmanResearchInstitutepinpointedspecificcarcinogensincigarettesmokethattargetpartsofagenealreadyknowntobeprominentinsomecancers.

[10]PfeiferwroteinSciencethatcigarettesmokecauseschangesinthegenep53,whichprotectsagainstcancerwhennormalbutpromotescancergrowthwhenmutated.

[11]Anotherstudy,publishedbytheAmericanCancerSociety,saidthatlow-tarcigarettesofferednorelieffromthepotentialofcancer,andinfactwereresponsibleforatypeofcancerthatreachesdeeperintolungtissue.

[12]Othercancersarealsoaffectedbycigarettesmoke.AnAmericanCancerSocietyresearcherreportedearlierthisyearthatsmokingincreasedmen'sriskofdyingofprostatecancer,whileotherstudieshavelinkedtobaccousetoincreasedriskofothercancers,includingthroat,breastandbowelcancer.

CARDIOVASCULARDISEASES

[13]Smokingalsohasbeenlinkedtimeandagaintocardiovasculardiseases.Amongthese,thebiggestkillerisheartdisease:

accordingtotheCDC,smokingtriplestheriskofdyingfromheartdiseaseamongmiddle-agedmenandwomen.

[14]Studiesalsoshowanincreasedriskofdeathfromstroke,aneurysms,highbloodpressure,andothercardiovascularillnesses.

RESPIRATORYDISEASES

[15]Smokingiscitedasariskfordyingofpneumonia,chronicbronchitis,oremphysema.TheCDCsayspeoplewhosmokeincreasetheirriskofdeathfrombronchitisandemphysemabynearly10times.

OTHERILLNESSES

[16]AreportrecentlypublishedintheAmericanJournalofEpidemiologysuggestedthatsmokingincreasedtheriskofdevelopingnon-insulin-dependentdiabetesmellitus（NIDDM）bymorethanthreetimes.

[17]Studieshavepointedtosmokingasariskinvisionlossamongolderpeople,mentalimpairmentlaterinlife,Alzheimer'sdiseaseandotherformsofdementia.

EFFECTONPREGNANCY

[18]Pregnantwomenwhosmokecanpassnicotineandcarbonmonoxidetotheirbabythroughtheplacenta.Researchindicatesthiscanpreventthebabyfromgettingtheoxygenandnutrientsitneedstogrow--potentiallyleadingtofetalinjury,prematurebirth,orlowbirthweight.AccordingtotheAmericanLungAssociation,smokingduringpregnancyaccountsforanestimated20to30percentoflowbirthweightbabies,upto14percentofprematuredeliveries,andabout10percentofallinfantdeaths.

Amotherwhosmokescanalsopassnicotinetoherbabythroughherbreastmilk.

SECONDHANDSMOKE

[19]Thestudiesdidn'tjustpointtotheilleffectsofsmokingonthosewhosmoke--non-smokers,too,areapparentlyaffectedbythesmokefromtheirfriends,familymembersandstrangerswholightupintheirpresence.

[20]Asteadystreamofreportsdocumentedthestatisticalrisksofcontractingcancerorsufferingfromheartdisease,evenifyou'veneverputacigarettetoyourlips.

[21]TheAmericanHeartAssociationlastfallreleasedaseven-yearstudyshowingthatnever-smokingspousesofsmokershavemorethana20percentgreaterchanceofdeathfromcoronaryheartdiseasethanthosewhohaveneversmokedwholivewithnon-smokers.Thatstudygavemoreimpetustothedrivetomakeworkplacesandotherpublicareassmoke-free.

[22]Theeffectsofsmokingarehardonthechildrenofsmokersaswell,thestudiessay.Dr.ClaudeHanetoftheSt.LucUniversityHospitalinBrussels,Belgium,saidearlierthisyearthatababyborntoasmokingmother"shouldbeconsideredanex-smoker",

[23]Hanet'sstudycautionedthatcigarettesmokewasmoredetrimentalwithdecreasingage.

[24]AndaUniversityofBirmingham,England,study,publishedintheBritishJournalofCancershowedapossiblelinkbetweenfatherswhosmokedandanincreasedincidenceofcancersintheirchildren,whilestudiesintheU.S.showedapossiblelinkbetweensmokingandDNAdamage.

ADDICTION

[25]Ofallthediseasesassociatedwithsmoking,addictionisperhapstheonethatreceivestheleastattention.ButPresidentClintondeclarednicotineanaddictivedruglastAugust.InMarch,theLiggettGroup,makersofChesterfieldandLarkbrandcigarettes,admittedthatcigaretteswereaddictiveandcausecancerandagreedtopayabout$750milliontotalto22statesthathadfiledsuittoforcetobaccocompaniestopayforMedicaidforsmoking-relatedillnesses.

[26]ScottHarshbarger,theMassachusettsattorneygeneralandpresidentoftheNationalAssociationofAttorneysGeneral,toldreportersthattheLiggettdeal"willproduceinformationthatindicatesmajortobaccocompanieswerefullyawarethattheproducttheyweresellingisaddictive,thattheproducttheyweresellinghadgreatimpactonpublichealth".

[27]OthertobaccocompaniesareclearlynonetookeenontheLiggettdeal.Forthem,nicotineremainswhattheycallaharmlessflavorenhancement.

BENEFITS?

[28]Despitetheweightofthedataabouttheillsoftobaccosmoke,researchalsoshowssomeoccasionalbenefitfromsmoking.ResearchersattheBrookhavenNationalLaboratoryinUpton,NewYork,reportedthatsomethingincigarettesmokelowersthelevelsofanenzymeknownasMAOB.

[29]Thiscoincideswithanincreaseindopamine,knownforyearstobethebrainchemicalresponsibleforpartofnicotine'spleasure.

[30]Smokers,saytheresearchers,mayhavealowerriskofParkinson'sdisease,becausethenervediseaseisaggravatedbyshortagesofdopamine.

[31]Andwhilesmokingmaybeacauseofdementia,italsocouldbesharpeningthemind.UniversityofCalifornia-SanDiegoresearcherspresentedastudytotheSocietyforNeuroscienceearlierthisyearshowingthatsmokingcigarettessharpensshort-termlearningandmemoryamongyoungpeople.

[32]Researchersinthestudy,however,cautionedthatsuchbenefitsdon'tout-weightherisksofmoreseriousailments.

ASHESTOASHES

[33]AccordingtotheCDC,400,000Americansdieeachyearbecausetheysmokecigarettes,makingitthesinglemostpreventablecauseofprematuredeathintheUnitedStates.

[34]Quittingdoesn'tnecessarilyhelp,accordingtoanotherUniversityofBirminghamstudy--atleastnotifthesmokerwaitstoolong.Strokeriskishighforupto20yearsafterasmokerquits,accordingtothatstudy,publishedintheJournalofEpidemiologyandCommunityHealth.

[35]TheCDCsaysthatonaverage,ifyousmoke,youwilldiesevenyearsearlierthanifyoudon't.

30多年前，在当时美国的卫生局局长路德·L·特里博士发表他上任以来的第一份“有关吸烟与健康的报告”之前，已经有成千上万篇关于吸烟对人体健康影响的文章发表了。

[2]烟草公司对这些旨在表明吸烟和癌症以及其他疾病之间有关系的报告采取抵制的态度——予以否认，并提出分庭抗礼的研究报告。

[3]所以，在1964年，特里和他的吸烟与健康咨询委员会就明白了，在他们宣布“吸烟危害健康，在美国应引起人们足够的重视，有必要采取适当的补救措施”时，他们就踏人了一个争论的大坑中了。

[4]那是美国第一次广泛宣传，承认吸烟会导致严重的疾病。

[5]但是这个问题在1964年没有得到解决，在1997年还是没有解决，尽管确实又进行了数千项研究——且提起的诉讼已迫使至少一家烟草公司承认一些禁烟活动积极分子的说法，其实也是他们一直都明白的：

吸烟对人体有危害。

[6]30多年以来，有20多位卫生局局长提出报告，此后，这个问题似乎是走向法庭解决，而不是在实验室解决。

那么吸烟究竟有什么危害呢?

还是听听烟草批评家们的说法：

癌症

[7]疾病防治中心说，吸烟是导致美国每年151322位癌症患者死亡的罪魁祸首。

这些死亡者中的大多数——116990人是死于肺癌。

疾病防治中心认为，男性烟民死于肺癌的可能性是非吸烟者的22倍。

女性烟民死于肺癌的可能性是非吸烟者的12倍。

[8]统计数据研究早就表明，不吸烟的人比烟民长寿，而且自20世纪50年代以来，科学家们通过统计资料，已经发现了吸烟和肺癌发病率之间的相互关系。

[9]而今年早些时候，贝克曼研究所的格尔德·普法伊费尔所作的一项研究确切地指出了卷烟烟雾中固有的致癌物，这些致癌物袭击的目标是一种基因的某些部分，人们已经发现，这种基因在一些癌症中很突出。

[10]普法伊费尔在《科学》杂志上写道，吸烟使p53基因发生改变，这种基因在正常情况下起着防癌的作用，但在发生突变时，就会加快癌症的发展。

[11]美国癌症协会发表的另一份研究报告说，尼古丁含量低的卷烟并不能减少患癌症的可能性，它们实际上是引起一种进入到肺组织深层的癌症的罪魁祸首。

[12]而其他的癌症也受吸烟的影响。

今年年初，美国癌症协会的一份研究报告表明，吸烟使男性死于前列腺癌的危险增加了，而其他的一些研究把吸烟同患上其他癌症（包括喉癌、乳腺癌和结肠癌）的危险的增加联系到了一起。

心血管疾病

[13]吸烟还被一再地和心血管疾病联系在一起，其中最大的杀手是心脏病。

根据疾病防治中心的说法，吸烟使中年男女烟民死于心脏病的危险增至3倍。

[14]研究还表明，死于中风、动脉瘤、高血压和其他心血管疾病的危险也有所增加。

呼吸系统疾病

[15]吸烟被引证为导致死于肺炎、慢性气管炎或肺气肿的一种隐患。

疾病防治中心说，吸烟的人死于支气管炎和肺气肿的危险比不吸烟的人高出将近10倍。

其他疾病

[16]美国《流行病学杂志》最近发表的一份报告表明，吸烟使人们患非胰岛素依赖型糖尿病的危险增加了3倍多。

[17]研究指出，吸烟有导致老年人中的失明、晚年大脑损伤、早老性痴呆病和其他类型的痴呆病的危险。

吸烟对妊娠的影响

[18]抽烟的怀孕女性会通过胎盘把尼古丁和一氧化碳传给胎儿。

研究表明，这会妨碍胎儿获得发育所需要的氧气和营养物质，这可能对胎儿造成伤害，引起早产或胎儿体重不足。

根据美国肺器官协会的说法，估计有20％至30％的体重不足的婴儿，多达14％的早产以及约10％的婴儿死亡都是由于女性在孕期吸烟引起的。

吸烟的母亲还有可能通过喂母乳把尼古丁传给婴儿。

被动吸烟

[19）研究不光指出了吸烟给烟民自己造成的危害，还指出了非吸烟者