Smoking and Cancer.
吸煙和癌.
1. Americans smoke six thousand million cigarettes every year （1970 figures）. This is roughly the equivalent of 4,195 cigarettes a year for every person in the country of 18 years of age or more. It is estimated that 51% of American men smoke compared with 34% of American women.
1、美國人每年抽煙60億支（1970年的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)字）。這大致等于每個18歲以上的人一年要吸4195支煙。據(jù)估計(jì)，美國有51%的男性吸煙，而女性吸煙的比例則為34%.
2. Since 1939, numerous scientific studies have been conducted to determine whether smoking is a health hazard. The trend of the evidence has been consistent and indicates that there is a serious health risk. Research teams have conducted studies that show beyond all reasonable doubt that tobacco smoking, particularly cigarette smoking, is associated with shortened life expectancy.
2、1939年以來，為了確定抽煙是否有害健康進(jìn)行了大量的科學(xué)研究。證據(jù)所顯示的趨勢是一貫的，并表明對人體的健康有嚴(yán)重的危險。許多研究小組進(jìn)行的研究不容置疑地表明，吸食煙草，特別是吸卷煙與預(yù)期壽命縮短有關(guān)。
3. Cigarette smoking is believed by most research workers in this field to be an important factor in the development of cancer of the lungs and cancer of the throat and is believed to be related to cancer of the bladder and the oral cavity. Male cigarette Smokers have a higher death rate from heart disease than non-smoking males. （Female smokers are thought to be less affected because they do not breathe in the smoke so deeply.） The majority of doctors and researchers consider these relationships proved to their satisfaction and say, "Give up smoking. If you don't smoke—don't start!"
3、這方面的研究人員大都相信吸卷煙是產(chǎn)生肺癌、喉癌的重要因素，還認(rèn)為膀胱癌、口腔癌也與此有關(guān)。男性吸煙者的心臟病死亡率比不吸煙的高。（他們認(rèn)為女性吸煙者受影響小一些，因?yàn)樗齻兾鼰煵荒敲瓷�。）大多�?shù)醫(yī)生和研究人員認(rèn)為，上述那些關(guān)系已得到令人滿意的證實(shí)，并且告誡說：“戒煙吧，如果你不會抽—那可不要學(xué)!”
4. Some competent physicians and research workers—though their small number is decreased even further—are less sure of the effect of cigarette smoking on health. They consider the increase in respiratory diseases and various forms of cancer may possibly be explained by other factors in the complex human environment —atmospheric pollution, increased nervous stress, chemical substances in processed food, or chemical pesticides that are now being used by farmers in vast quantities to destroy insects and small animals. Smokers who develop cancer or lung diseases, they say, may also, by coincidence, live in industrial areas, or eat more canned food. Gradually, however, research is isolating all other possible factors and proving them to be statistically irrelevant.
4、有些精通業(yè)務(wù)的醫(yī)生和研究人員—雖然這些人不多，并且人數(shù)在進(jìn)一步減少—不那么肯定吸卷煙對人體健康有影響。他們認(rèn)為呼吸系統(tǒng)疾病和各種癌癥的增多也許可以說是由于人類復(fù)雜環(huán)境中另外一些因素，即：空氣的污染、人們精神壓力的增大、經(jīng)過加工的食品中的化學(xué)物質(zhì)、或化學(xué)殺蟲藥引起的。農(nóng)民現(xiàn)在大量使用這些農(nóng)藥殺死昆蟲和小動物。據(jù)他們說，那些患了癌癥或肺病的人可能恰巧也住在工業(yè)區(qū)，或是吃了更多的罐頭食品。但是研究工作逐漸排除了其它因素的可能性，并且用統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)字證明這些因素是無關(guān)的。
5. Apart from the scientific statistics, it might be helpful to look at what smoking tobacco actually does to the human body. Smoke is a mixture of gases, vaporized chemicals, minute particles of ash, and other solids. There is also nicotine, which is a powerful poison, and black tar. As the smoke is breathed in, all these components form deposits on the membranes of the lungs. One point of concentration is where the air tube, or bronchus, divides. Most lung cancer begins at this point.
5、除了科學(xué)統(tǒng)計(jì)之外，研究工作還有助于認(rèn)清吸食煙草對人體的實(shí)際影響。抽煙產(chǎn)生的煙霧是一種混合的氣體，包括氣化的化學(xué)物質(zhì)，極小的灰末微粒和其它固體，還有毒性很強(qiáng)的尼古丁和黑焦油。當(dāng)吸進(jìn)煙時，所有這些成分就都沉淀在肺膜上。在氣管和支氣管分支的地方有一個集中點(diǎn)。大部分肺癌就從這里發(fā)端。
6. Smoking also affects the heart and blood vessels. It is known to be related to Beurger's disease, a narrowing of the small veins in the hands and feet that can cause great pain and lead even to amputation of limbs. Smokers also die much more often from heart disease.
6、抽煙也影響心臟和血管。現(xiàn)已查明抽煙與伯爾格氏病有關(guān)。這種疾病使手腳的細(xì)靜脈不斷縮小，從而引起劇烈疼痛甚至?xí)䦟?dǎo)致截肢。抽煙者死于心臟病的也比不吸煙的人多得多。
7. While all tobacco smoking affects life and expectancy and health, cigarette smoking appears to have a much greater effect than cigar or pipe smoking. However, nicotine consumption is not diminished by the latter forms, and current research indicates a causal relationship between all forms of smoking and cancer of the mouth and throat. Filters and low tar tobacco are claimed to make smoking to some extent safer, but they can only marginally reduce, not eliminate the hazards.
7、盡管吸食各種煙草都會影響預(yù)期壽命和健康，但是抽香煙的影響要比抽雪茄和抽煙斗大得多。不過，后兩種并不能減少對尼古丁的吸食，并且當(dāng)編者注：本篇文章寫作日期較早。事實(shí)上，近年來美國吸煙人口比率以及吸煙量一直在持續(xù)下降。根據(jù)美國疾病預(yù)防與控制中心的報告，2003年美國抽煙人口比率已經(jīng)下降到21、6%.美國對吸煙有明確的法律規(guī)定：未滿21周歲的人不得吸煙；在公共場所，如圖書館、教堂、超市、飯店、公共汽車、地鐵等處不得吸煙。美國對煙草行業(yè)的征稅特別重，故煙價很高，這也是限制吸煙的重要措施。前的研究指出各式各樣的吸煙都和口腔癌、喉癌有某種因果關(guān)系。據(jù)稱過濾嘴香煙和低焦油煙草能使吸煙在某種程度上比較安全，但是這只能略微減少危害，而不能消除危害。
