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French study suggests smokers at lower risk of getting coronavirus

French researchers are planning to test nicotine patches on coronavirus patients and frontline health workers after a study suggested smokers may be much less at risk of contracting the virus.

The study at a major Paris hospital suggests a substance in tobacco – possibly nicotine – may be stopping patients who smoke from catching Covid-19. Clinical trials of nicotine patches are awaiting the approval of the country’s health authorities.

However, the researchers insisted they were not encouraging the population to take up smoking, which carries other potentially fatal health risks and kills 50% of those who take it up. While nicotine may protect those from the virus, smokers who have caught it often develop more serious symptoms because of the toxic effect of tobacco smoke on the lungs, they say.

The team at Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital questioned 480 patients who tested positive for the virus, 350 of whom were hospitalised while the rest with less serious symptoms were allowed home.

It found that of those admitted to hospital, whose median age was 65, only 4.4% were regular smokers. Among those released home, with a median age of 44, 5.3% smoked.

Taking into account the age and sex of the patients, the researchers discovered the number of smokers was much lower than that in the general population estimated by the French health authority Santé Publique France at about 40% for those aged 44-53 and between 8.8% and 11.3% for those aged 65-75.

The renowned French neurobiologist Jean-Pierre Changeux, who reviewed the study, suggested the nicotine might stop the virus from reaching cells in the body preventing its spread. Nicotine may also lessen the overreaction of the body’s immune system that has been found in the most severe cases of Covid-19 infection.

The findings are to be verified in a clinical study in which frontline health workers, hospital patients with the Covid-19 virus and those in intensive care will be given nicotine patches.

The results confirm a Chinese study published at the end of March in the New England Journal of Medicine that suggested only 12.6% of 1,000 people infected with the virus were smokers while the number of smokers in China is around 28%.

In France, figures from Paris hospitals showed that of 11,000 patients admitted to hospital with Covid-19, 8.5% were smokers. The total number of smokers in France is estimated at around 25.4%.

“Our cross-sectional study strongly suggests that those who smoke every day are much less likely to develop a symptomatic or severe infection with Sars-CoV-2 compared with the general population,” the Pitié-Salpêtrière report authors wrote.

“The effect is significant. It divides the risk by five for ambulatory patients and by four for those admitted to hospital. We rarely see this in medicine,” it added.

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by Anonymousreply 57May 1, 2021 1:38 PM

Light me up!

by Anonymousreply 1April 22, 2020 4:58 PM

If that was the case then NO ONE in China would have got it!

by Anonymousreply 2April 22, 2020 5:03 PM

I thought the same thing, R2. It also seems really strange that lung damage would protect you from a lung infection.

by Anonymousreply 3April 22, 2020 5:09 PM

Russia too r2/r3

by Anonymousreply 4April 22, 2020 5:12 PM

Gee, I wonder what sort of company would sponsor such a study.

by Anonymousreply 5April 22, 2020 5:15 PM

French researchers and their study to promote smoking? I'm not surprised at all.

by Anonymousreply 6April 22, 2020 5:16 PM

I don’t think it’s the nicotine that’s helping.

If anything is helping smokers, maybe it’s the tar or the additives or the stretched lungs leading to a different mechanical reaction but personally I don’t think it’s the nicotine.

Furthermore, I don’t trust this study.

by Anonymousreply 7April 22, 2020 5:16 PM

Great news. I'm going to start smoking again, and have a lunch cocktail and wait for the bars to reopen.

by Anonymousreply 8April 22, 2020 5:16 PM

Shitty study. Cross-sectional studies are the lowest level of evidence in scientific research. It's the next rung up from expert opinion, which is to say it's crap. Yeah, we're going to base our evidence-based practice on results from cross-sectional studies, says no healthcare/ medical expert ever.

by Anonymousreply 9April 22, 2020 5:27 PM

So there.

by Anonymousreply 10April 22, 2020 5:40 PM

What the research (inconclusive as it may be) suggests is that nicotine may downregulate ACE2, which seems to play a role in triggering the dreaded cytokine storm. A blood pressure drug called losartan (Cozaar) seems to have the same beneficial effect.

by Anonymousreply 11April 22, 2020 5:42 PM

Someone mentioned this to me the other day in passing and I thought he was nuts.

Now I see there are two studies so at least I know where he heard it and didn’t make it up out of thin air.

by Anonymousreply 12April 22, 2020 5:46 PM

Then why can't we just give them immunosuppressive drugs as we take over the infection fighting via anti malaria drugs? R11

by Anonymousreply 13April 22, 2020 5:46 PM

Then why can't we just give them immunosuppressive drugs as we take over the infection fighting via anti malaria drugs? R11

by Anonymousreply 14April 22, 2020 5:46 PM

What a bunch of bull…are they trying to kill more people by advocating smoking?

by Anonymousreply 15April 22, 2020 5:48 PM

And DL's anti-smoking troll's head just exploded.

by Anonymousreply 16April 22, 2020 5:51 PM

I don’t think it’s the nicotine, either, though, nicotine has many legit, medicinal uses, including suppressions of lung spasms caused by asthma, memory enhancement in those with dementia/Alzheimer’s and mitigation of Parkinson’s symptoms. The therapeutic painkilling and anti-depressant benefits of the short-acting MAOIS in tobacco are often overlooked, but I don’t think it’s them, either. If could simply be that the lungs already being coated in tar that is preventing the virus from being able to penetrate the tissue.

by Anonymousreply 17April 22, 2020 6:08 PM

So basically lungs Are such a mess that the virus won't even touch them anymore. R17

by Anonymousreply 18April 22, 2020 6:18 PM

#FakeNews

by Anonymousreply 19April 22, 2020 6:22 PM

Well then.

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by Anonymousreply 20April 22, 2020 6:22 PM

R18 A link to the actual study was posted in another thread and looking at their stats, one thing that was obvious but not mentioned (of course) in the article above is that FORMER smokers fared much worse than people who'd never smoked. But there's no clickbaity headline to be gleaned from that.

by Anonymousreply 21April 22, 2020 6:22 PM

🇫🇷

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by Anonymousreply 22April 22, 2020 6:24 PM

Extra-Special immunity if you've only smoked Gauloises (2 packs a day) for at least 50 years.

by Anonymousreply 23April 22, 2020 6:28 PM

OP, you're going to trigger a lot of people with that post.

by Anonymousreply 24April 22, 2020 7:38 PM

R18, can’t, not ‘won’t’, obviously. Unfortunately, that would mean the findings are non-reproducible. It, also, raises the question as to whether the high rates of smoking in China have decreased the ill effects normally expected high rates of urban air pollution, including the pollution-induced asthma seen in so many children who grow up in NYC. Unless there’s some other factor at play with this virus that no one has noticed or reported on yet, it simply doesn’t follow that nicotine, a memory-enhancing muscle relaxer, or the handful of painkilling, anti-depressant MAOIs would, alone in or in concert, protect from a primarily respiratory virus — unless (!), the coughing fits, themselves, allow the virus to further penetrate and destroy the lungs and thus aid in viral replication and nicotine is suppressing the coughing fits. If that’s the case, any muscle relaxer should do the same, right?

by Anonymousreply 25April 22, 2020 8:26 PM

[quote] unless (!), the coughing fits, themselves, allow the virus to further penetrate and destroy the lungs and thus aid in viral replication and nicotine is suppressing the coughing fits. If that’s the case, any muscle relaxer should do the same, right?

I may sound very stupid here, but it won’t be the first time so fuck it:

I was thinking perhaps BECAUSE smokers generally cough more than the average person, the virus doesn’t have a chance to “seat” itself and start boring in before being expelled out by a cough.

Just my non professional thought.

by Anonymousreply 26April 22, 2020 8:45 PM

[quote]I may sound very stupid here

This makes it much easier for me to tell you how stupid you sound.

by Anonymousreply 27April 23, 2020 6:30 AM

R17 you are very bright. I think you are right.

by Anonymousreply 28April 23, 2020 6:40 AM

And Italy says that the highest rates of death from Covid are among smokers.

by Anonymousreply 29April 23, 2020 8:11 AM

The problem with studies is that you can rig them to get the conclusion that you want. Was this study backed by a Tobacco company? Probably, despite whatever the authors may say.

by Anonymousreply 30April 23, 2020 8:18 AM

Well, that seems rather counterintuitive.

It’s interesting to read anything positive about smoking or nicotine, so this thread has been enjoyable.

by Anonymousreply 31April 23, 2020 10:02 AM

Malignant lung tumor stops gooey stuff from clogging up smokers' lungs? Not sure if I should laugh or cry.

by Anonymousreply 32April 23, 2020 10:20 AM

r29, how old were they, though? Wasn’t more than half of Italy’s population senior citizens, when this began? The statistics can’t be ripped out of context, if they’re to be of any use.

by Anonymousreply 33April 23, 2020 10:20 AM

Most were over 60 so long term smokers.

by Anonymousreply 34April 23, 2020 10:24 AM

r34, ok, so, we can’t divorce entropy from the disease. Human tissue breaks down over time, whether someone smokes or catches CV19 or not. The findings would then suggest that for non-seniors a protective lung coating shows the ability to thwart the deathly action of the disease. The point is that it doesn’t have to be tar — someone, in theory, could create an inhaler of a temporary coating that offers similar protection.

by Anonymousreply 35April 23, 2020 10:30 AM

Other studies are finding that smoking is not a risk for coronavirus.

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by Anonymousreply 36April 23, 2020 10:44 AM

Right.

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by Anonymousreply 37April 23, 2020 10:50 AM

Funny that French scientists came up with it. It would be like American scientists saying that hamburgers help with Corona virus

by Anonymousreply 38April 23, 2020 11:09 AM

Thank you, r27. I feel better now.

by Anonymousreply 39April 23, 2020 11:55 AM

29, those old greasers don't menthol. Thats why.

by Anonymousreply 40April 23, 2020 4:57 PM

^^.

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by Anonymousreply 41April 23, 2020 5:00 PM

It is interesting how people pick and choose what they believe. There is clearly a correlation here, which isn't the same as causation, but for people (non-scientists) to post "bullshit!" "fake news", and "I don't believe it" makes you as bad as the people denying the virus exists.

That said, I wonder what the smoking rate is in Italy and if they saw the same stats.

by Anonymousreply 42April 23, 2020 5:04 PM

As a former smoker, current vaper and heavy drinker -I'm fucking loving my prognosis with this disease!

by Anonymousreply 43April 23, 2020 5:08 PM

[quote]those old greasers don't menthol. Thats why.

Lots of older women love the menthols.

by Anonymousreply 44April 23, 2020 5:16 PM

R42, I agree. They remind me of the anti-abortion people, allowing their personal biases to completely fog with fabulism all of their capacity for appreciating facts, reason, science and decency.

by Anonymousreply 45April 23, 2020 5:22 PM

R42, I said the same thing about the hydrochloroquine articles. Correlation is not causation, but as long as it makes Trump wrong, people are running with it.

This is why we are where we are.

by Anonymousreply 46April 24, 2020 2:35 AM

The study got withdrawn because of links to the tobacco industry.

[quote] A scientific paper claiming current smokers are 23% less likely to be diagnosed with Covid-19 compared to non-smokers has been retracted by a medical journal, after it was discovered some of the paper’s authors had financial links to the tobacco industry

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by Anonymousreply 47May 1, 2021 7:39 AM

Sounds like junk science bullshit to me.

by Anonymousreply 48May 1, 2021 7:45 AM

the built up tar traps the virus before it can get into the bloodstream?

by Anonymousreply 49May 1, 2021 8:26 AM

Thanks for the update r47

by Anonymousreply 50May 1, 2021 8:31 AM

Smokers immune? I could have easily walked through this pandemic with no mask, no vaccine—just hanging with you bunch of Addison Dewitts.

by Anonymousreply 51May 1, 2021 8:39 AM

Not even COVID can survive burning nicotine’s toxic and noxious fumes.

by Anonymousreply 52May 1, 2021 8:42 AM

This is not new and is valid for all viral infections. Whatever's in cigarettes clog up the ACE2 receptors. However people who stop smoking will get every infection under the sun the following year after quitting, making them at risk for pneumonia/pulmonary embolism if they're >65 yo.

It would be nice to have detailed studies to understand exactly what's going on.

In any case a coronavirus pandemic in NOT the time to quit smoking. Do it afterwards.

by Anonymousreply 53May 1, 2021 11:59 AM

[quote] suggests smokers at lower risk of getting coronavirus

So you get LUNG CANCER instead of COVID. There is a plan, tRump!

by Anonymousreply 54May 1, 2021 12:41 PM

Skinny, nicotine stained whores rejoice!

by Anonymousreply 55May 1, 2021 1:31 PM

[quote]some of the paper’s authors had financial links to the tobacco industry

Thank you FRANCE. Weren't the reports that ibuprofen can make COVID worse also from France? Turned out to not be true.

by Anonymousreply 56May 1, 2021 1:37 PM

Is nicotine not addictive?

by Anonymousreply 57May 1, 2021 1:38 PM
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