Scientists have found a small percentage of smokers among COVID-2019 cases.
Doctors continue to look for the best way to treat coronavirus. French doctors are planning to include nicotine patches in their technique. They will be attached to patients with COVID-19 and health workers, writes the Daily Mail. This unusual step was prompted by a study by a group of Parisian scientists. They found that the percentage of smokers among those infected - hospitalized and undergoing treatment at home - was extremely small. Although earlier experts assumed the opposite.
The study involved 480 patients who tested positive for coronavirus. The average age of patients treated in the hospital was 65 years. Of these, only 4.4% were heavy smokers. Among those who were treated at home, only 5.3% were smokers, and their average age was 44 years.
For comparison, in France, between the ages of 44 and 53, about 40% smoke, and in the 65-75 age group, about 11%. Thus, a rather small number of smokers became infected with the coronavirus, and those who did become infected survived the disease quite easily.
After analyzing this relationship, scientists have put forward two theories. First, nicotine can prevent the body from contracting the coronavirus. Second, nicotine can protect the immune system from overreacting to the virus. In both cases, nicotine can have a beneficial effect on the body when infected with COVID-2019.
To test these versions, scientists decided to stick nicotine patches to infected patients who are in intensive care units and simple wards. Doctors will also wear plasters. This will help to understand if nicotine has an effect on preventing the spread of coronavirus.
Doctors, despite the beneficial effect of everyday smoking in a pandemic, urge people not to grab onto cigarettes, reminding them of serious harm to health.
This is not the first study. Earlier, scientists from the University of Pierre and Marie Curie came to similar conclusions. They claimed that only 8.5% of the 11,000 hospitalized patients turned out to be heavy smokers.
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And according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 12.6% of the 1,100 infected in China were current smokers, and 1.9% were former.
MARIA BURK