Smokers are significantly more likely to experience severe COVID-19 and die

Does smoking affect the intensity of the course of the coronavirus? It turns out that it is. And to a large extent. This is the result of a study by British scientists who looked at data on over 421. patients. Thus, they contradicted research from several months ago that smoking may protect against COVID-19 infection.

1. It is worth giving up smoking at any time – doctors of many specializations have been repeating for years
2. Now there is an additional argument in the form of an increased risk of severe course and death from the coronavirus
3. According to British research, every 570th non-smoker and every 266th smoker were admitted to the hospital
4. In contrast, the analysis of genetic predisposition to smoking showed an even more seriously increased risk of infection, hospitalization and death from COVID-19
5. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

Smoking and COVID

Recent studies show that smokers are up 80 percent. more likely to be admitted to hospital for COVID-19. They also die more often from the coronavirus.

The latest research, published in the journal Thorax, contradicts the finding made at the start of the pandemic that smoking could help protect against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These studies were later negated and the publication withdrawn when it was revealed that the two authors of the study had ties to the tobacco industry.

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Other studies conducted in this direction did not bring any specific conclusions. Mainly because it was not possible to clearly establish whether smoking is actually the cause of the increased risk, or whether other factors are decisive.

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Smoking increases the risk of severe COVID-19 by 80%.

Now an analysis has emerged that allowed us to draw specific conclusions. Dr. Ashley Clift of the University of Oxford and his team looked at information collected by UK GPs, COVID-19 test results, as well as hospitalization and death data to see links between smoking and COVID-19.

The analysis covered data concerning 421 thous. 469 people (55% women and 45% men) gathered from January to August 2020 in a British biobank.

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In this group, the PCR test for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 coranavirus was performed in 13. 446 people. U 1 thous. 649 people were diagnosed with an infection, 968 patients required hospital treatment, and 444 died.

Of those tested for the presence of the virus, 52,6 percent. people have never smoked a cigarette, 42,3 percent were former smokers, 1 percent. smoked less than 10 cigarettes a day, 1,8 percent smoked 10-19 cigarettes, and 0,9 percent smoked. smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day.

It turned out that out of 251 440 people were hospitalized for non-smokers, while among 13,6 thous. 51 were required for hospitalization of smokers. The number of deaths in the non-smoking group was 159, and in the smoking group – 43.

It was calculated that compared to people who had never smoked, smokers were 80 percent. more likely to be hospitalized and die from the coronavirus.

The smoker gene and the risk of COVID-19 infection

Clift and his team also used the so-called Mendel’s randomization, which uses genetic factors as indicators for a specific risk. In this case, it was about genetic factors that make someone more prone to moderate smoking or heavy smoking.

In this case, the data of 281 thousand were taken into account. 105 patients.

‘This study increases our confidence that smoking does not protect against COVID-19 because Mendel’s randomization analysis is less error-prone than previous observational studies,’ wrote Dr.Anthony Laverty and Prof. Christopher Millett of Imperial College London.

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Mendel’s randomization analysis confirmed a link between smoking and a more severe course of COVID-19. It showed that the genetic predisposition to moderate smoking affected 45% of people. higher risk of infection and 60 percent. higher risk of being admitted to hospital due to coronavirus.

In turn, the genetic predisposition to heavy smoking was associated with a more than twofold increase in the risk of infection, a five-fold increase in the risk of hospitalization, and a ten-fold increase in the risk of death from COVID-19..

“ Our results strongly suggest that smoking is associated with a risk of severe COVID-19, just as smoking contributes to a greater risk of heart disease, cancer, and other conditions that we know are associated with smoking. And it’s the same with the coronavirus, said Clift. – So maybe now is a good time, as well as any other time to quit smoking – added the scientist.

Also read:

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3. In Israel, a record high number of patients on respirators
4. Record number of infections in highly vaccinated Singapore
5. Geneticist: we can expect up to another 40. deaths due to COVID-19

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