VOA双语新闻：研究：印度吸烟导致疾病后果严重

Medical researchers have released a study that says one million people in India will die every year in the next decade from tobacco-related illnesses. The study's authors also made what they call a surprising discovery about the leading fatal illnesses among smokers 1 in India.

医学研究人员公布的一份研究说，在今后10年里，印度每年将有100万人死于与吸烟有关的疾病。这份研究的作者还在印度吸烟者所患主要致命疾病方面获得令人惊讶的发现。



In what is the largest-to-date study of smoking and death in India, researchers have concluded that smokers here are putting themselves at even greater risk than previously 2 believed.

在对印度人吸烟和死亡方面迄今所做的规模最大的研究报告里，研究人员得出结论，印度的吸烟者所处的健康风险比过去人们认为的更大。



The report finds that 70 percent of all smoking deaths in India happen between the ages of 30 and 69, despite the fact that Indians start smoking later in life and smoke less compared to tobacco users in other countries.

这份报告发现，在印度，70%因吸烟而死亡的人年龄在30到69岁之间。尽管事实上与其它国家的吸烟者相比，印度人开始吸烟的年龄较晚，吸烟也较少。



The study's results were published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers also investigated the diseases that kill smokers here. In Western countries, cigarette smokers tend to die of cancer, heart attacks and respiratory diseases. But one of the lead authors of the study, Dr. Prabhat Jha, says the situation is different in the two Asian countries with the most smokers.

星期四，新英格兰医学期刊发表这项研究结果。研究人员还调查研究了导致印度吸烟者死亡的疾病。在西方国家，吸烟的人趋向于死于癌症、心脏病以及呼吸道疾病。但是这项研究的主要作者之一杰哈说，两个吸烟者最多的亚洲国家情况有所不同。



"In China it would be much less heart attacks but a lot more respiratory disease and lung cancer," he said. "In India, in urban areas it's mostly heart attacks. In rural areas it's mostly tuberculosis 3. So that is a surprise."

杰哈说：“在中国，吸烟者心脏病的发病率非常低，但是患呼吸道疾病和肺癌的吸烟者非常多；在印度，在城市地区，吸烟者更多的是患心脏病。在农村地区，大多数吸烟者得的是肺结核，研究结果令人吃惊。”



India is also unique in that most smokers prefer a cheaper, filter-less cigarette known as bidis, which contain ebony tree leaves and less tobacco than commercially-produced cigarettes.

印度吸烟者的独特之处还在于，大多数吸烟者更喜欢一种廉价的、不带过滤嘴的印度产香烟，这种烟含有乌木树叶，比商业化的香烟所含的烟草成分少。



But the study found that even smoking one bidi or cigarette a day significantly raises the risk of death for Indians compared to their non-smoking compatriots.

但是研究发现，对印度吸烟者来说，与本国非吸烟同胞相比，即使每天吸一根印度产廉价烟或者普通香烟也会增加死亡风险。



In Western countries, and China, as well, progress has been made in getting smokers to quit. But Dr. Jha, of the Center for Global Health Research in Toronto, says only two percent of adult smokers in India have kicked the habit.

在西方国家以及中国，在吸烟者戒烟方面取得了进展。但是多伦多全球健康研究中心的杰哈博士说，只有2%的印度成年吸烟者戒烟。



"Where quitting has become common, death rates do come down," he said. "And that, so far, has mainly been confined to Western countries. China is showing some promise but India is way behind."

杰哈说：“戒烟成为普遍现象的地方，死亡率就会下降。到目前为止，吸烟主要在西方国家受到限制。中国正在显现出一些希望，但是印度则远远落在后面。”



It is estimated that India has about 120 million smokers and the study says from the year 2010, one million of them will die every year due to tobacco.

据估计，印度大约有1亿2千万吸烟者，研究还发现，从2010年开始，每年将有100万印度吸烟者死于与吸烟有关的疾病。



The Indian study was conducted over five years by American, Canadian and Indian researchers and was funded by government health institutes of those three countries.



While India has tightened 4 restrictions 5 on public smoking and advertising 6 of tobacco products, enforcement has been lax.



Reacting to the new study, India's health minister, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, says its finding will be studied "very seriously." The minister also says India's Tobacco Regulatory Authority will be strengthened so it can better enforce existing laws.