What Are the Risks of Smoking [1]Before Dr. Luther L. Terry, then the Surgeon General of the United States, issued his office‘s first "Report on Smoking and Health" more than 30 years ago, thousands of articles had already been written on the effects of tobacco use on the human body.

[2] Tobacco companies had countered the reports——which purported to show links between smoking and cancer and other serious diseases——with denials and competing studies.

[3] So in 1964, Terry and his Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health knew they were stepping into a major pit of controversy when they announced "cigarette smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the United States to warrant appropriate remedial action".www.hope.net.cn/education/index.html

[4] It was America‘s first widely publicized acknowledgment that smoking cigarettes is a cause of serious diseases.

[5] But the issue wasn‘t settled in 1964, nor is it settled in 1997, despite literally thousands more studies——and litigation that has forced at least one tobacco company to admit what some activists say they knew all along： cigarette smoke is hazardous to your health.

[6] More than 30 years——and more than 20 Surgeon General reports——later, the issue appears headed for settlement in the courtroom rather than the laboratory.

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。

So what are the risks？ Here‘s what tobacco’s critics say：

CANCER

[7] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cigarette smoking is responsible for 151,322 cancer deaths annually in the United States. Most of those——116,920——are from lung cancer. The CDC says men who smoke are 22 times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smokers. Women who smoke are 12 times more likely to die from the disease.

[8] Statistical studies have long shown that people who don‘t smoke live longer than people who do and scientists have seen statistically the correlation between smoking and incidences of lung cancer since the 1950s.

[9] But a study earlier this year by Gerd Pfeifer of the Beckman Research Institute pinpointed specific carcinogens in cigarette smoke that target parts of a gene already known to be prominent in some cancers.www.hope.net.cn/information/index.html

[10] Pfeifer wrote in Science that cigarette smoke causes changes in the gene p53, which protects against cancer when normal but promotes cancer growth when mutated .

[11] Another study, published by the American Cancer Society, said that low-tar cigarettes offered no relief from the potential of cancer, and in fact were responsible for a type of cancer that reaches deeper into lung tissue.

[12] Other cancers are also affected by cigarette smoke. An American Cancer Society researcher reported earlier this year that smoking increased men‘s risk of dying of prostate cancer, while other studies have linked tobacco use to increased risk of other cancers, including throat, breast and bowel cancer.

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。

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES

[13] Smoking also has been linked time and again to cardiovascular diseases. Among these, the biggest killer is heart disease： according to the CDC, smoking triples the risk of dying from heart disease among middle-aged men and women.

[14] Studies also show an increased risk of death from stroke, aneurysms, high blood pressure, and other cardiovascular illnesses.

RESPIRATORY DISEASES

[15] Smoking is cited as a risk for dying of pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, or emphysema. The CDC says people who smoke increase their risk of death from bronchitis and emphysema by nearly 10 times.

OTHER ILLNESSES

[16] A report recently published in the American Journal of Epidemiology suggested that smoking increased the risk of developing non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus （NIDDM） by more than three times.www.hope.net.cn/picture/index.html

[17] Studies have pointed to smoking as a risk in vision loss among older people, mental impairment later in life, Alzheimer‘s disease and other forms of dementia.

EFFECT ON PREGNANCY

[18] Pregnant women who smoke can pass nicotine and carbon monoxide to their baby through the placenta. Research indicates this can prevent the baby from getting the oxygen and nutrients it needs to grow——potentially leading to fetal injury, premature birth, or low birth weight. According to the American Lung Association, smoking during pregnancy accounts for an estimated 20 to 30 percent of low birthweight babies, up to 14 percent of premature deliveries, and about 10 percent of all infant deaths.

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。

SECONDHAND SMOKE

[19] The studies didn‘t just point to the ill effects of smoking on those who smoke——non-smokers, too, are apparently affected by the smoke from their friends, family members and strangers who light up in their presence.

[20] A steady stream of reports documented the statistical risks of contracting cancer or suffering from heart disease, even if you‘ve never put a cigarette to your lips.

[21] The American Heart Association last fall released a seven-year study showing that never-smoking spouses of smokers have more than a 20 percent greater chance of death from coronary heart disease than those who have never smoked who live with non-smokers. That study gave more impetus to the drive to make workplaces and other public areas smoke-free.www.hope.net.cn/graduate/index.html

[22] The effects of smoking are hard on the children of smokers as well, the studies say. Dr. Claude Hanet of the St. Luc University Hospital in Brussels, Belgium, said earlier this year that a baby born to a smoking mother "should be considered an ex-smoker",

[23] Hanet‘s study cautioned that cigarette smoke was more detrimental with decreasing age.

[24] And a University of Birmingham, England, study, published in the British Journal of Cancer showed a possible link between fathers who smoked and an increased incidence of cancels in their children, while studies in the U.S. showed a possible link between smoking and DNA damage.

被动吸烟

[19）研究不光指出了吸烟给烟民自己造成的危害，还指出了非吸烟者显然也会受到他们吸烟的朋友、家人或在他们面前吸烟的陌生人的伤害。

[20]持续不断的报告通过统计数字证明，即使你从来就没有吸过烟，也有患癌症或心脏病的危险。

[21]去年秋季，美国心脏协会发表丁一份历时7年的研究报告，该报告指出，烟民的配偶虽然从不吸烟，但是和那些与非吸烟者生活的配偶相比，他们死于冠心病的危险要高出20％。这项调查进一步推动了在工作场所和公共场所禁烟活动的开展。

[22]调查还表明，烟民的孩子也深受吸烟之害。今年年初，比利时布鲁塞尔圣。卢卡大学医院的克劳德。哈内特博士说，吸烟的母亲生下的孩于"应被看作是有吸烟史的人".关于医学的英文方面可以参考医学英语上有关文章。

[23]哈内特的研究提请人们注意：年龄越小，吸烟的危害越大。

[24]《英国癌症杂志》发表的一份英格兰伯明翰大学的报告显示，吸烟的父亲与其孩子患癌症比率的增加可能有联系；同时美国的研究则显示吸烟和脱氧核糖核酸受损可能有关系。

SECONDHAND SMOKE

ADDICTION

[25] Of all the diseases associated with smoking, addiction is perhaps the one that receives the least attention. But President Clinton declared nicotine an addictive drug last August. In March, the Liggett Group, makers of Chesterfield and Lark brand cigarettes, admitted that cigarettes were addictive and cause cancer and agreed to pay about $750 million total to 22 states that had filed suit to force tobacco companies to pay for Medicaid for smoking-related illnesses.

[26] Scott Harshbarger, the Massachusetts attorney general and president of the National Association of Attorneys General, told reporters that the Liggett deal "will produce information that indicates major tobacco companies were fully aware that the product they were selling is addictive, that the product they were selling had great impact on public health".www.hope.net.cn/english/index.html

[27] Other tobacco companies are clearly none too keen on the Liggett deal. For them, nicotine remains what they call a harmless flavor enhancement.

烟瘾

[25]在所有和吸烟有关的疾病中，也许人们最容易忽略的就是吸烟上瘾。然而，去年8月，克林顿总统宣布尼古丁为使人上瘾的麻醉药物。今年（指 2000——编者注）3月，生产切斯特菲尔德和云雀牌香烟的利格特集团承认吸烟使人上瘾并会引发癌症，并且同意向22个州支付总额为7.5亿美元的赔偿金，这22个州提起了诉讼，要求烟草公司向治疗与吸烟有关的疾病的医疗补助制度进行赔偿。

[26]马萨诸塞州首席检察官、全美首席检察官协会会长斯哥特。哈什伯杰对记者说，对利格特集团的处理"将带来这样一个信息，那就是，大烟草公司充分意识到了他们出售的产品会使人上瘾，他们出售的产品对大众的健康影响极大".

[27]很显然，其他烟草公司中没有一家对利格特集团的处理感兴趣。对他们来说，尼古丁仍然是他们所称的无害的提味剂。