女性吸煙或吸二手煙更易患乳腺癌

Health risk: The earlier a woman starts smoking, the greater her risk, and it remains high for 20 years after she has given up. Women who have smoked are at greater risk of developing breast cancer in later life – even if they gave up the habit decades earlier. According to a study, women are 16 per cent more likely to suffer from the disease after the menopause – when most cases are diagnosed – if they smoke. The earlier a woman starts smoking, the greater her risk, and it remains high for 20 years after she has given up。

香煙帶給社會的危害、帶給我們身體的傷害，已經早不是一個新話題引起社會的重視了，但是隨着“女煙民”的數量越來越多，香煙對於女性羣體的身體傷害又作為一個研究課題擺在了人們面前，我們都知道，女煙民的煙齡越早，香煙帶給她們的危害，造成身體上的損害就越大，即使戒掉了，這種傷害一會在她身上維持20年。專家警告説，女煙民患上乳腺癌的機率非常高，即使她們在很早就戒煙了，吸煙帶來的壞處會伴隨她們的後半生，至少維持20年。

Overall, if she has smoked she is 9 per cent more likely to develop the disease, according to the U.S. research. The study also suggests that decades of passive smoking increases the risk of breast cancer by 32 per cent, particularly if the exposure occurred during childhood. Around 46,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in the UK each year, and one in eight British women will develop the disease during their lifetime。

總的來説，根據美國研究調查發現，女煙民有9%的機率患上乳腺癌，調查還指出了“被動吸煙”帶來的害處，特別是被動吸煙長達數10年的女性，患上乳腺癌的機率達到32%，專家還指出，女性倘若在兒童時期被動吸煙，她們患上乳腺癌的機率會更大。每年，大約有4萬多英國民眾患上乳腺癌，八分之一的英國婦女在她們的一生中會不同程度地處於該病的發展狀態。

The highest breast cancer risk was found among women who had smoked for 50 years or more. Those who started smoking as teenagers were also at high risk. And the study suggests a 32 per cent raised risk among non-smoking women exposed to extensive passive smoking. Dr Margolis said: ‘Our findings highlight the need for interventions to prevent initiation of smoking, especially at an early age.’ Dr Rachel Greig, Senior Policy Officer at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: ‘The study suggests the earlier you start smoking and the longer you continue to do so, the higher your chance of developing breast cancer. We encourage all women not to smoke.’

據悉，煙齡達到50年的女性煙民，患乳腺癌的機率是最高的。那些年少就吸煙的女煙民也同時具有患病的高風險。此外，32%的被動吸煙的女性(非煙民)也有患上乳腺癌的風險。醫生Dr Margolis 説：“這個數據警示我們一個很嚴肅的問題，過早吸煙不可取，吸煙後患無窮。我們希望女性離香煙越遠越好。”