碧萝芷Pycnogenol(对抽烟人士的排毒与帮助.docVIP

碧蘿芷Pycnogenol?對抽煙人士的排毒與幫助 Pycnogenol?1, a useful food supplement for smokers P. Rohdewald 1Pycnogenol?, French maritime pine bark extract, (Horphag Research Sales Ltd.) Most educated smokers know about the dangers of smoking, however, the addiction to nicotine makes it very difficult to quit smoking. To remember: a large number of epidemiological studies have linked cigarette smoking to cardiovascular diseases, stroke, lung carcinoma, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emphysema (T?nnesen and Vermeire, 2000). Smoking also increases the incidence of age related macular degeneration, the most common cause of irreversible blindness (Chan, 1998). Smoking exacerbates asthma and diabetes (Traber et al., 2000). Smoking also increases the risk of cancers of larynx, oral cavity, oesophagus, pancreas, urinary bladder and lung (Nair and Brandt, 2000). Whereas addiction to cigarette smoking has been attributed to nicotine, which itself is not considered to be carcinogenic, the toxicity and carcinogenicity results from byproducts developing during combustion of tobacco (T?nnesen and Vermeire, 2000). Cigarette smoke is a complex mixture of more than 4700 chemicals, including high concentration of free radicals and other oxidants (Bluhm et al., 1971; Church and Pryor, 1985). Cigarette smoke contains free radicals in both the gas and the tar phase. Free radicals in the gas phase, however, are highly reactive and are extremely difficult to inactivate in cigarette filters. Free radicals from cigarette smoke have been indicated in the pathogenesis of smoking induced lung disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema and lung cancer (Rahman and MacNee, 1996). Free radicals from cigarette smoke play a role in enhancing inflammation in smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, through the activation of transcription factors regulating expression of pro-inflammatory mediators and protective antioxidant gene expression (MacN