Smokers Appear Better Protected Against Serious Covid-019 Symptons. Why?

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Among the countless ongoing studies seeking to map the penetration of the coronavirus into different strata of the population, one in particular has drawn attention – French researchers have mapped that a small percentage of patients are smokers. A quarter of French adults smoke, but only 8.5 percent of 11,000 patients admitted to Parisian hospitals are smokers.

The statistics corroborate yet another study, conducted in China and published in late March by the New England Journal of Medicine, which shows that only 12.6 percent of 1,099 patients were smokers, compared to an average of 28 percent in China’s adult population.

Is this an indication that, in some way, cigarettes offer protection against covid-19?

According to French researchers, the answer is yes. The reason has intrigued doctors for being unprecedented in health research conducted on respiratory diseases. Smokers, says the research, are as susceptible to contracting the virus as anyone else.

But infected smokers tend to have fewer severe symptoms to the point of being hospitalized. The study’s findings contrast with research published by the European Respiratory Journal that smokers are at greater life risk from the novel coronavirus.

An article in the Economist newspaper suggests that nicotine is most likely to have some effect on the coronavirus. To prevent a race for nicotine, the French government even suspended online sales of the substance on April 24th, in addition to limiting sales in pharmacies. Now, the study’s authors, including the prestigious Sorbonne University and the no less renowned Pasteur Institute, will offer nicotine to controlled groups of patients.

Nicotine, which is known to be harmful, may protect smokers by involving cell membranes and prevent attack by the invading virus. It may also mitigate inflammation, a well-known feature of the substance.

Among the many other ongoing treatments, the most promising is the Remdesivir drug, used to treat diseases such as Ebola. The most advanced vaccine research seems to be coordinated by Oxford University in the UK, with distribution expected by mid-2021, if all goes according to plan.

The French government’s concern is that the study’s initial data will lead to a race for cigarettes, which would be a surreal outcome of a pandemic that has already claimed three million lives worldwide. The new study should provide answers in three weeks.

Source: Exame