Maritz Gert S, Mutemwa Muyunda
Department of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western cape, Bellville.
Glob J Health Sci. 2012 May 30;4(4):62-75. doi: 10.5539/gjhs.v4n4p62.
Tobacco use started several centuries ago and increased markedly after the invention of the cigarette making machine. Once people start smoking they find it difficult to quit the habit. This is due to the addictive effect of nicotine in tobacco smoke. Various epidemiologic and laboratory studies clearly showed that smoking is associated with various diseases such as heart diseases, asthma and emphysema and the associated increase in morbidity and mortality of smokers. Several studies implicate nicotine as the causative factor in tobacco smoke. Apart from nicotine, various carcinogens also occur in tobacco smoke resulting in an increase in the incidence of cancer in smokers. While the smoking habit is decreasing in developed countries, tobacco use increases in the developing countries. Smoking prevalence is also highest in poor communities and amongst those with low education levels. It is important to note that, although ther is a decline in the number of smokers in the developed countries, there is a three to four decades lag between the peak in smoking prevalence and the subsequent peak in smoking related mortality. It has been shown that maternal smoking induces respiratory diseases in the offspring. There is also evidence that parental smoking may program the offspring to develop certain diseases later in life. Various studies showed that maternal nicotine exposure during pregnancy and lactation via tobacco smoke of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), program the offspring to develop compromised lung structure later in life with the consequent compromised lung function. This implies that NRT is not an option to assist pregnant or lactating smokers to quit the habit. Even paternal smoking may have an adverse effect on the health of the offspring since it has been shown that 2nd and 3rd hand smoking have adverse health consequences for those exposed to it.
烟草使用始于几个世纪前，在卷烟制造机器发明后显著增加。一旦人们开始吸烟，就会发现很难戒掉这个习惯。这是由于烟草烟雾中尼古丁的成瘾作用。各种流行病学和实验室研究清楚地表明，吸烟与各种疾病有关，如心脏病、哮喘和肺气肿，以及吸烟者发病率和死亡率的相应增加。几项研究表明尼古丁是烟草烟雾中的致病因素。除了尼古丁，烟草烟雾中还存在各种致癌物，导致吸烟者患癌症的几率增加。虽然发达国家的吸烟习惯在减少，但发展中国家的烟草使用却在增加。吸烟率在贫困社区和教育水平低的人群中也最高。需要注意的是，尽管发达国家的吸烟者数量有所下降，但吸烟率峰值与随后吸烟相关死亡率峰值之间存在三到四十年的滞后。研究表明，母亲吸烟会导致后代患呼吸道疾病。也有证据表明，父母吸烟可能会使后代在以后的生活中患上某些疾病。各种研究表明，母亲在怀孕和哺乳期间通过烟草烟雾或尼古丁替代疗法（NRT）接触尼古丁，会使后代在以后的生活中肺部结构受损，进而导致肺功能受损。这意味着NRT不是帮助怀孕或哺乳期吸烟者戒烟的选择。甚至父亲吸烟也可能对后代的健康产生不利影响，因为有研究表明，二手烟和三手烟会对接触者的健康产生不良后果。
