Tobacco and SARS-Cov-2 virus: dangerous relationships

2020/05/01 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Medikuntza
• Mikrobiologia
• Osasuna

Pitié Salpêtrière, a study conducted at the hospital in Paris, states that smoking tobacco is a protective variable against covid-19. The research, published on April 21, has largely spread thanks to the momentum of several smokers. In the middle of jokes, some seriously, others have considered as true what they want to believe. This mechanism is called “sent to confirmation” in psychology, so it is not surprising that what is currently a hypothesis has been considered valid.

Like most research related to COVID-19, the research has been published before being confirmed by other people and the title itself indicates that it is a hypothesis. Precision: the title does not refer to tobacco, but to nicotine. They also suggest possible effects on prevention and treatment.

130 patients treated in ambulatory by COVID-19 and another 350 admitted. Among other things, they saw that only 5% were smokers. Considering the percentage of smokers in the French population as a whole, it is estimated that there should be more smokers among patients. It follows that smoking protects against the symptoms of covid-19.

Researchers believe the key may be in nicotine. In fact, many cells attacked by the SARS-COV-2 virus have nicotine receptors: neurons, immune system cells (macrophages, for example), heart, lungs, and blood vessels. Therefore, nicotine may compete with the virus, making it difficult for it to attach to the cells.

This influence of nicotine is demonstrated with other agents. Now, Parisian researchers propose testing to protect themselves from SARS-COV2. To begin with, they will experiment with cell cultures and animals, and have advanced that nicotine could be administered by patches or otherwise. At the end of the article it is recalled that nicotine generates addiction and that smoking is bad for health.

This research is not the only one published on the incidence of tobacco in covid-19. On the contrary, dozens of investigations have been conducted in different countries and studies have been conducted on these investigations (Review). The conclusions of these studies are usually stronger than those of individual studies, since they only consider studies comparable to each other and that meet the quality criteria.

Two studies of this type have been carried out, for example at the University of California (twelve studies, with a total of 9,025 patients) and at Harvard and Crete (five studies, 1,549 patients), which have concluded that smoking is harmful, that is, the evolution of covid-19 in smokers is worse. For example, in one of the researches analyzed in the second, the one published in the Chinese Medical Journal, the difference was significant: Of the 78 patients, the percentage of smokers in patients who worsened was 27.3%, while only 3% of those who successfully evolved.

They have not seen that tobacco protects from the SARS-Cov-2 virus. Yes, however, that smoking worsens the evolution of covid-19. Other infections have shown that smokers are more vulnerable, such as the flu and MERS (also by a coronavirus). Therefore, it has been concluded that, even knowing that more and deeper studies are going to be needed to ratify, combustion is harmful.

On the other hand, other researchers have warned that the gesture of smoking itself (holding the cigarette with your hands and even bringing it back to your mouth) increases the risk of infection. It is also not convenient to lower the roasting mask to the chin. However, all this is independent of the possible nicotine protective effect. In this case we will also have to wait to know the results of the research.