【VOA】ScienceintheNews.docVIP

Adding Up the Many Dangers of Tobacco -- and Finding New Ones Researchers have more warnings for smokers. Also, advice about how to quit. Transcript of radio broadcast: 01 December 2008 VOICE ONE: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. Im Shirley Griffith. VOICE TWO: And Im Steve Ember. This week, we will present some new warnings about smoking and tobacco products. (MUSIC) VOICE ONE: For many years, scientists have warned us not to smoke. The World Health Organization says tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the world. Five million people die of causes linked to tobacco use every year. Now, medical research has provided even more warnings. Advisers to Americas Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that pneumococcal pneumonia threatens smokers more than nonsmokers. The advisers say many smokers will need a vaccine to help prevent the disease. This is the first time medical experts have suggested the vaccine for young and middle-aged adult smokers. The Advisory Committee on Immunization proposed that the vaccine be given to smokers ages nineteen through sixty-four. VOICE TWO: Past research showed that cigarette smokers are four times more likely to get pneumococcal diseases than nonsmokers. For years, older adults and children under two have been urged to get the vaccine. So have people with serious health problems like diabetes and heart disease. Others at risk are people with low resistance to infection. A C.D.C. official says it is not known why smokers are more likely to get pneumococcal infections. One idea is that smoking damages protective tissue in the back of the throat. As a result, bacteria are more likely to connect to the smokers windpipe and lungs. VOICE ONE: The vaccine fights several kinds of Streptococcus pneumoniae. The bacteria can infect a persons brain, causing the disease meningitis. It also can affect the blood. Experts say up to twenty percent of people with pneumococcal blood infections die