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.

[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(lián)系在一起，其中最大的殺手是心臟病。根據(jù)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(fēng)、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(tǒng)疾病

[15]吸煙被引證為導(dǎo)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(xué)雜志》最近發(fā)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(dǎo)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(fā)育所需要的氧氣和營養(yǎng)物質(zhì)，這可能對胎兒造成傷害，引起早產(chǎn)或胎兒體重不足。根據(jù)美國肺器官協(xié)會的說法，估計有20％至30％的體重不足的嬰兒，多達(dá)14％的早產(chǎn)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.

[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(xù)不斷的報告通過統(tǒng)計數(shù)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(xié)會發(fā)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(diào)查進(jìn)一步推動了在工作場所和公共場所禁煙活動的開展。

[22]調(diào)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(xué)醫(yī)院的克勞德·哈內(nèi)特博士說，吸煙的母親生下的孩于"應(yīng)被看作是有吸煙史的人"。

[23]哈內(nèi)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(fā)表的一份英格蘭伯明翰大學(xué)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(lián)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(guān)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(guān)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(tǒng)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(chǎn)切斯特菲爾德和云雀牌香煙的利格特集團(tuán)承認(rèn)吸煙使人上癮并會引發(fā)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(guān)的疾病的醫(yī)療補(bǔ)助制度進(jìn)行賠償。

[26]馬薩諸塞州首席檢察官、全美首席檢察官協(xié)會會長斯哥特·哈什伯杰對記者說，對利格特集團(tuán)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(chǎn)品會使人上癮，他們出售的產(chǎn)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(tuán)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。