到底对健康有益or有害

电子烟好坏大论战

October 10, 2018 by Amy Norton, Healthday Reporter

艾米·诺顿（Amy Norton） 2018-10-10

(HealthDay)—With sales of electronic cigarettes skyrocketing, Americans remain divided on whether the devices are a boon or a threat to public health.

（HealthDay）——虽然电子烟的销量激增，但美国对电子烟是公众健康的“福音”还是“危害”分歧很大。

That's the main finding of a new HealthDay/Harris Poll that surveyed over 2,000 adults on their e-cigarette views.

之所以得出这一结论，是因为HealthDay/哈里斯民调收集了2000多位成年人对电子烟的看法。

Vaping has long been promoted as a way to help smokers kick the habit—offering them a route to get nicotine without the carcinogens in tobacco smoke.

长久以来，蒸汽电子烟都作为戒断烟瘾的一种手段推而广之，使用电子烟的好处就是可以避免吸入致癌物。

But e-cigarettes aren't harmless, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other health authorities. There's particular concern about young people vaping—in part, because nicotine can harm brain development, which continues until about age 25.

但美国疾控中心（CDC）和其他健康权威机构认为电子烟并非100%安全。 他们尤其关切蒸汽电子烟对青年人的影响，因为尼古丁会对大脑发育造成不良影响，而大脑完全发育大概在25岁左右。

In the poll, most adults did have misgivings about e-cigarettes: 85 percent said they were worried that the long-term health effects of the devices are unknown; and 83 percent were at least "somewhat" concerned about teenagers using e-cigarettes.

在这项民调中，大部分成年人对电子烟确实心存顾忌。 85%的人称电子烟对健康的长期影响还不得而知；另有83%表示了对青少年使用电子烟的担忧。

In fact, 43 percent of adults felt that e-cigarettes are actually more dangerous than traditional cigarettes.

事实上，43%的成年人觉得电子烟比传统卷烟更危险。

On the flip side, about as many people (41 percent) viewed e-cigarettes as "healthier" than traditional cigarettes. And 42 percent rated them as an "excellent way" to quit.

反过来讲，约有41%的人认为电子烟比传统卷烟更安全健康。 42%的人甚至将它评为戒断烟瘾的“最佳方式”。

It all adds up to differing views, and possibly confusion, about e-cigarettes and their health effects.

这种种结果只会让公众对电子烟极其对健康的影响更加困惑。

There are, in fact, many unknowns.

电子烟有太多的未知等待探索。

Unfortunately, at this time we have no scientific evidence on the long-term health effects of e-cigarettes, especially given the unknown effects of the aerosols and flavorings in e-cigarette liquids, said Dr. Thanh-Huyen Vu, a research assistant professor at Northwestern University in Chicago.

芝加哥西北大学研究助理教授于青玄（Thanh-Huyen Vu）博士称：“很遗憾，我们还未掌握到科学的证据以验证电子烟对健康的长期影响，尤其是烟油中气雾和香料对健康的影响。”

However, researchers know plenty about nicotine.

但研究人员对尼古丁却再熟悉不过了。

The drug "is well known to be addictive and toxic, and to have adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and on health in general," Vu said.

于博士说：“众所周知，尼古丁是一种有毒且会上瘾的物质，对整体健康以及心血管都有不良影响。”

And that's enough to raise concerns about teenagers' e-cigarette use, she added.

她说这已足够引起公众对青少年使用电子烟的担忧。

In addition, Vu said, studies have found that teenagers and young adults who use e-cigarettes are more likely than non-users to take up smoking.

于博士还说，已经有研究发现使用电子烟的青少年和年轻人更容易染上烟瘾。

And what about adults who use e-cigarettes in place of traditional ones?

那那些使用电子烟完全替代传统卷烟的人现在怎么样了呢？

The devices do allow people to avoid the chemicals they would inhale from burning tobacco, Vu noted.

于博士也注意到，电子烟确认可以避免使用者吸入烟草燃烧释放的化学物。

It's been speculated that using them may be associated with better health outcomes, compared to traditional cigarette smoking, she said.

她还说到：“相比传统卷烟，使用电子烟对健康更有利，这一猜测一直存在。”

But again, Vu pointed out, there's the nicotine and its own health effects.

然而于博士指出电子烟含有尼古丁，尼古丁对健康的影响不言而喻。

E-cigarettes come in different forms, with some emulating traditional cigarettes or pipes. One highly popular brand, called Juul, is shaped like a USB flash drive, and reportedly accounts for one-third of e-cigarette sales in the United States.

电子烟形状各异，有些似传统香烟，有些似烟斗；其中 Juul是最受欢迎的一个牌子，外形类似USB，据报道它的销量占美国电子烟市场的三分之一。

Last week, the CDC reported that Juul sales shot up 641 percent between 2016 and 2017. Researchers called the trend worrying because the devices have a particularly high nicotine content and are popular with young people.