Mind-boggling study says smoking might prevent coronavirus infections

[Chris Smith]

• Doctors in France think that smoking can be both good and bad for people who are at risk of contracting the novel coronavirus infection.
• Smoking is a risk factor for COVID-19 patients, but one particular substance in cigarettes — nicotine — might prevent infection in some people, or improve COVID-19 prognosis.
• The French doctors will use patches in a clinical study to see if nicotine might prevent coronavirus infections and help existing patients.
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Smoking is terrible for you, as any physician on the planet will tell you. Smoking is a risk factor for various medical conditions and can worsen the outcome for COVID-19 patients. Smoking regular cigarettes is bad for patients who contract the novel coronavirus, as is smoking weed. That’s because the lungs are where the primary battle between the virus and the immune system takes place. COVID-19 complications include shortness of breath and some people end up requiring oxygen therapy and ventilators. But it turns out that smoking may have a beneficial side effect: it might actually help prevent a novel coronavirus infection altogether. That doesn’t mean you should take up smoking, but a substance in cigarettes could prevent some people from getting the new disease, and French doctors now want to test nicotine patches against COVID-19.

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Mind-boggling study says smoking might prevent coronavirus infections originally appeared on BGR.com on Thu, 23 Apr 2020 at 14:40:34 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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