研究發現終生吸菸可減壽10年大綱

Five decades after the U.S. surgeon general first warned of the hazards of smoking, researchers reported fresh evidence Wednesday of tobacco's devastating toll on the health of the U.S. population─and of the benefits of quitting.

在美國衛生總監第一次對吸菸的危害提出警告50年之後，研究人員週三發表報告，稱找到了菸草對美國人健康造成巨大不利影響──以及戒菸有益──的新證據

Two studies that looked at the effects of smoking over a lifetime found that both men and women who smoke were about three times as likely to die before reaching age 80 in one study, and 75 in the other study, compared with those who never smoked. Associated Press

有兩項研究考察了終生吸菸給健康帶來的影響，其中一項研究發現，與從不吸菸的人相比，吸菸的男性和女性在80歲之前死亡的可能性提高了兩倍，另一項研究則把80歲提前到了75歲。

One of the studies found that women who smoke through their lives lose 11 years of longevity, compared with never-smokers, while men lose about 12 years.

其中一項研究發現，與從不吸菸的女性相比，終生吸菸的女性的生命短了11年，而對於男性而言，則短了12年。

'Men and women are now equal─they both lose a decade of life from smoking,' said Prabhat Jha, director of the center for global health research at University of Toronto. He is lead author of one of the reports, both of which are being published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

多倫多大學(University of Toronto)全球健康研究中心的負責人傑哈(Prabhat Jha)說，男性和女性這次平等了，他們都會因爲吸菸而損失10年左右的生命。他是其中一份報告的第一作者，這兩份報告都在《新英格蘭醫學雜誌》(New England Journal of Medicine) 發表。

Current estimates are that about 44 million Americans, or 19% of the adult population, are smokers. That's down from about 42% of adults in 1965, the year after the landmark surgeon general's report that found smoking caused lung cancer in men. Since then, a steady stream of research has linked tobacco use to heightened risk of a variety of cancers, heart disease and other ailments, as well as death from any cause, among both men and women.

現在流行的一個估計數據是，美國約有4,400萬吸菸人口，約佔美國成年人總數的19%。相比之下，1965年吸菸人口占成年人的比重爲42%。此前一年，美國衛生總監發表了具有里程碑意義的報告，稱發現吸菸可導致男性罹患肺癌。從那之後，不斷有研究發現，不管是男性還是女性，罹患多種癌症、心臟病和其他疾病以及死亡的風險升高都和吸菸有關。

Because women generally didn't become serious smokers until the 1960s, about two decades after men, previous studies had indicated women were at lower risk of death than men. But with 50 years of smoking experience to evaluate, researchers now say the risk for women has pulled even with men.

因爲在上世紀60年代之前，女性吸菸的程度通常比不上男性（比男性晚了20年），之前的研究曾表明，女性因吸菸死亡的風險小於男性。但有了50年的吸菸經歷可供評估之後，現在研究人員說，女性因吸菸死亡的風險與男性相同。

Both studies found that quitting smoking at any time─but the earlier the better─helped offset at least some of the risk of early death. Quitting by age 30 resulted in gaining 10 years of life, compared with those who continued to smoke, Dr. Jha said, while even quitting by age 50 recovered six years of life on average that otherwise would be lost from a lifelong habit.

兩項研究均發現，任何時候戒菸都有助於降低──至少是在一定程度上降低──早亡的風險，但戒菸還是越早越好。傑哈博士說，與一直吸菸的人相比，在30歲之前戒菸可以多活10年，更有甚者，與終生吸菸相比，在50歲之前戒菸平均能多活六年。

Dr. Jha's study was based on smoking histories of more than 200,000 men and women 25 years and older who participated in the U.S. National Health Interview survey between 1997 and 2004. The data were linked to causes of death that occurred by the end of 2006.

傑哈博士的研究基礎是200,000多名男女的吸菸史，這些人年齡在25歲（含）以上，曾於1997年至2004年之間參與過美國全國健康採訪調查。上述數據與2006年年底前死亡者的死因之間存在關聯。

The other report, headed by Michael J. Thun of the American Cancer Society, used data from that organization's large cancer-prevention studies and other studies of smoking information, with a focus on people who had reached age 55 or older during the follow-up period.

另外一份報告的第一作者是美國癌症協會(American Cancer Society)的圖恩(Michael J. Thun)。他利用了該協會的大規模癌症預防研究和其他有關吸菸方面的研究，重點關注年齡在跟進期達到55歲及以上的人。

One message from the findings is that 'in terms of health benefits, it is never too late to quit,' said Steven Schroeder, director of the smoking-cessation leadership center at University of California, San Francisco, in an editorial accompanying the papers.

在與這兩項研究同時刊發的評論文章中，加利福尼亞大學舊金山分校(University of California, San Francisco)的煙癮戒斷領導力中心負責人施羅德(Steven Schroeder)說，兩項研究得到的發現傳達出的信息之一是，從健康的角度而言，戒菸永遠不晚。