One to four cigarettes per day triples risks for heart disease, lung cancer, study shows

THURSDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- There's sobering news for "light" smokers, or smokers who decide to cut down rather than quit: A new study finds that smoking just one to four cigarettes per day nearly triples risks for dying of heart disease or lung cancer. ライトスモーカ、あるいはやめる代わりに減らそうとしたりしている人に悲しいがっかりするニュース。一日１から４本の喫煙でも心臓病は肺癌で死ぬリスクがほぼ３倍になるという。

The study dispels the notion that so-called "light" smokers aren't threatened by the serious health problems faced by heavy smokers.

Reporting in the current issue of Tobacco Control, researchers analyzed health and mortality data on nearly 43,000 men and women collected from the mid 1970s until 2002. All the people were between 35 and 49 years of age at the start of the study.　４３０００人の男女を1970年代から2002年にわたって健康状態と死亡データを調べた。スタート時は３５歳から４９歳の人たちであった。

Compared with people who'd never smoked, those who smoked one to four cigarettes a day were nearly three times as likely to die of heart disease. Men who were light smokers were nearly three times as likely to die of lung cancer, while women who were light smokers were nearly five times as likely to be killed by lung cancer, compared with non-smokers.　非喫煙者と比較して、一日１から４本という少ない喫煙量でも心臓病での死亡を３倍にしていた。男性ではさらに肺癌での死亡も３倍であり、女性では肺癌による死亡が５倍であった。

 The study also found that light smokers were at a 50 percent higher death rate from all causes than people who'd never smoked.　さらに、ライトスモーカは全ての死因で非喫煙者より５０％も高い死亡率を示していた。

The American Cancer Society applauded the research.

Thomas J. Glynn, the ACS director of cancer science and trends and international tobacco programs, said in a prepared statement, "The finding that smoking just 1 to 4 cigarettes a day can significantly boost heart disease and cancer rates is important because many smokers, due to expanding restrictions on smoking in public places and at work, are cutting back on the number of cigarettes they smoke each day. By doing so, they often feel that they are sharply reducing or eliminating the health dangers from smoking. But this study shows that this is not the case and reiterates the important message that there is no such thing as a safe level of smoking."