[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".

    [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，在當時美國的衛生局局長路德·L·特里博士發表他上任以來的第一份“有關吸煙與健康的報告”之前，已經有成千上萬篇關于吸煙對人體健康影響的文章發表了。

    [2]煙草公司對這些旨在表明吸煙和癌癥以及其他疾病之間有關系的報告采取抵制的態度——予以否認，并提出分庭抗禮的研究報告。

    [3]所以，在1964年，特里和他的吸煙與健康咨詢委員會就明白了，在他們宣布“吸煙危害健康，在美國應引起人們足夠的重視，有必要采取適當的補救措施”時，他們就踏人了一個爭論的大坑中了。

    [4]那是美國第一次廣泛宣傳，承認吸煙會導致嚴重的疾病。

    [5]但是這個問題在1964年沒有得到解決，在1997年還是沒有解決，盡管確實又進行了數千項研究——且提起的訴訟已迫使至少一家煙草公司承認一些禁煙活動積極分子的說法，其實也是他們一直都明白的：吸煙對人體有危害。

    [6]30多年以來，有20多位衛生局局長提出報告，此后，這個問題似乎是走向法庭解決，而不是在實驗室解決。

    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.#p#分頁標題#e#

    [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.

    [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.

    那么吸煙究竟有什么危害呢?還是聽聽煙草批評家們的說法：

    癌癥

    [7]疾病防治中心說，吸煙是導致美國每年151322位癌癥患者死亡的罪魁禍首。這些死亡者中的大多數——116990人是死于肺癌。疾病防治中心認為，男性煙民死于肺癌的可能性是非吸煙者的22倍。女性煙民死于肺癌的可能性是非吸煙者的 12倍。

    [8]統計數據研究早就表明，不吸煙的人比煙民長壽，而且自20世紀50年代以來，科學家們通過統計資料，已經發現了吸煙和肺癌發病率之間的相互關系。

    [9]而今年早些時候，貝克曼研究所的格爾德·普法伊費爾所作的一項研究確切地指出了卷煙煙霧中固有的致癌物，這些致癌物襲擊的目標是一種基因的某些部分，人們已經發現，這種基因在一些癌癥中很突出。

     [10]普法伊費爾在《科學》雜志上寫道，吸煙使p53基因發生改變，這種基因在正常情況下起著防癌的作用，但在發生突變時，就會加快癌癥的發展。

    [11]美國癌癥協會發表的另一份研究報告說，尼古丁含量低的卷煙并不能減少患癌癥的可能性，它們實際上是引起一種進入到肺組織深層的癌癥的罪魁禍首。 

    [12]而其他的癌癥也受吸煙的影響。今年年初，美國癌癥協會的一份研究報告表明，吸煙使男性死于前列腺癌的危險增加了，而其他的一些研究把吸煙同患上其他癌癥(包括喉癌、乳腺癌和結腸癌)的危險的增加聯系到了一起。

    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.#p#分頁標題#e#

    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.

    [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]吸煙還被一再地和心血管疾病聯系在一起，其中最大的殺手是心臟病。根據疾病防治中心的說法，吸煙使中年男女煙民死于心臟病的危險增至3倍。

    [14]研究還表明，死于中風、動脈瘤、高血壓和其他心血管疾病的危險也有所增加。

呼吸系統疾病

    [15]吸煙被引證為導致死于肺炎、慢性氣管炎或肺氣腫的一種隱患。疾病防治中心說，吸煙的人死于支氣管炎和肺氣腫的危險比不吸煙的人高出將近 10倍。 

    其他疾病

    [16]美國《流行病學雜志》最近發表的一份報告表明，吸煙使人們患非胰島素依賴型糖尿病的危險增加了3倍多。

    [17]研究指出，吸煙有導致老年人中的失明、晚年大腦損傷、早老性癡呆病和其他類型的癡呆病的危險。 吸煙對妊娠的影響

    [18]抽煙的懷孕女性會通過胎盤把尼古丁和一氧化碳傳給胎兒。研究表明，這會妨礙胎兒獲得發育所需要的氧氣和營養物質，這可能對胎兒造成傷害，引起早產或胎兒體重不足。根據美國肺器官協會的說法，估計有20％至30％的體重不足的嬰兒，多達14％的早產以及約 10％的嬰兒死亡都是由于女性在孕期吸煙引起的。吸煙的母親還有可能通過喂母乳把尼古丁傳給嬰兒。

    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.#p#分頁標題#e#

    [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.

    被動吸煙

    [19)研究不光指出了吸煙給煙民自己造成的危害，還指出了非吸煙者顯然也會受到他們吸煙的朋友、家人或在他們面前吸煙的陌生人的傷害。

    [20]持續不斷的報告通過統計數字證明，即使你從來就沒有吸過煙，也有患癌癥或心臟病的危險。
 
    [21]去年秋季，美國心臟協會發表丁一份歷時7年的研究報告，該報告指出，煙民的配偶雖然從不吸煙，但是和那些與非吸煙者生活的配偶相比，他們死于冠心病的危險要高出20％。這項調查進一步推動了在工作場所和公共場所禁煙活動的開展。

    [22]調查還表明，煙民的孩子也深受吸煙之害。今年年初，比利時布魯塞爾圣·盧卡大學醫院的克勞德·哈內特博士說，吸煙的母親生下的孩于"應被看作是有吸煙史的人"。

    [23]哈內特的研究提請人們注意：年齡越小，吸煙的危害越大。

    [24]《英國癌癥雜志》發表的一份英格蘭伯明翰大學的報告顯示，吸煙的父親與其孩子患癌癥比率的增加可能有聯系；同時美國的研究則顯示吸煙和脫氧核糖核酸受損可能有關系。

    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".

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

    煙癮

    [25]在所有和吸煙有關的疾病中，也許人們最容易忽略的就是吸煙上癮。然而，去年8月，克林頓總統宣布尼古丁為使人上癮的麻醉藥物。今年(指 2000--編者注)3月，生產切斯特菲爾德和云雀牌香煙的利格特集團承認吸煙使人上癮并會引發癌癥，并且同意向22個州支付總額為7．5億美元的賠償金，這22個州提起了訴訟，要求煙草公司向治療與吸煙有關的疾病的醫療補助制度進行賠償。#p#分頁標題#e#

    [26]馬薩諸塞州首席檢察官、全美首席檢察官協會會長斯哥特·哈什伯杰對記者說，對利格特集團的處理"將帶來這樣一個信息，那就是，大煙草公司充分意識到了他們出售的產品會使人上癮，他們出售的產品對大眾的健康影響極大"。

    [27]很顯然，其他煙草公司中沒有一家對利格特集團的處理感興趣。對他們來說，尼古丁仍然是他們所稱的無害的提味劑。