Chapter 6 
DR. SAMET: There are many postulated mechanisms, some of which 
Dr. Harris already surveyed. They are essentially mechanisms having to 
do with the balance between factors in the lung that injure it and those 
that protect it, and how that balance may be shifted in individual smokers, 
either by virtue of genetics or aspects of smoking, toward destruction rather 
than susceptibility. It is the subject of a great deal of research. 
DR. HEADEN: The next Surgeon General's report will be on smoking and 
tobacco use among ethnic minorities. 1 want to remind the group that some 
smoking patterns among ethnic minorities, particularly African-Americans, 
differ substantially from smoking patterns of whites. For example, African- 
Americans have extremely low daily rates of smoking, but they smoke very 
high tar and nicotine cigarettes. Thus, it suggests that perhaps we need some 
new data, oversampling for African-Americans and perhaps other ethnic 
groups, particularly males, to find out what the relationships would be for 
these subgroups. 
DR. SAMET: 1 would certainly agree. 
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