French researchers may have discovered that nicotine has a protective effect - but there are many arguments against it. Now the state is responding with a decree.
- Corona researchers have observed startling disease history in some Covid-19 patients.
- The corona virus * attacks the airways massively. With a Covid-19 infection, smokers belong to the risk group *.
- Scientists now suspect that nicotine could possibly have a positive effect.
- Here you can find current numbers of cases in Germany as a map *
Update of April 25, 9.45 p.m .: Although it is generally known that smokers can expect severe cases of a corona infection * and belong to the risk group, the opposite is now claimed in France . More specifically, it is a study that attributes nicotine to a potentially protective effect . This assumption is based on the small number of smokers among the Covid 19 patients * . Based on this thesis, the government must now even intervene.
Coronavirus: Nicotine patch trial planned in France
A real rush for nicotine replacement products was the result of the study, which was well received in the French media. The government must now restrict sales to prevent hamster purchases as much as possible. Minister of Health Olivier Veran called on the population not to cover himself with plasters and commemorated the annual "70,000 deaths from tobacco in France".
The public decree was therefore published in an Official Journal on Friday. The state officially prohibits the hoarding of nicotine substitutes due to "health risks from excessive consumption or abuse according to media reports about a possible protective effect of nicotine against the lung disease Covid-19 * ."
Coronavirus: Nicotine patch trial planned in France
The decree also prohibits the sale of such products, such as nicotine patches or chewing gums. Even pharmacies are only allowed to supply quantities for one month of treatment until May 11th .
The French Society for Addiction Research is convinced of a higher risk for smokers. "We know with certainty that smokers develop a severe form of Covid-19 * twice as often and the risk of developing a very severe form (until death) is increased by 133 percent."
Coronavirus: Nicotine patch trial planned in France
Strange: The sensational study is based primarily on the observations in a Paris hospital, where out of 500 Covid-19 patients * only five percent were smokers. According to the study leader Zahir Anmoura , that is 80 percent fewer smokers among the Covid 19 * patients than among the population in the same age and gender cohort. The Addiction Research expects a 28-percent share of smokers in the population.
First report: French scientists suspect that nicotine may have a protective effect against a coronavirus infection. The assumption is based on the low number of smokers among the Covid 19 patients . According to several studies, the rate worldwide is between 1.4 and 12.5 percent.
In Paris's La Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital, the preventive and therapeutic effects of nicotine patches will soon be examined.
Coronavirus: Nicotine patch trial planned in France
A new study from France provides a more precise picture: Of the 500 Covid-19 patients - including 350 people treated in hospital and 150 patients with an easier course of the disease - only five percent were smokers, explained the study leader and professor of internal medicine, Zahir Amoura , the AFP news agency. That is 80 percent fewer smokers among Covid patients than in the general population in the same age and gender cohort.
"The hypothesis is that nicotine adheres to cell receptors that are used by the corona virus and thus prevents the virus from attaching ," says Professor Jean-Pierre Changeux from the Pasteur Institute and the Collège de France. This means that the virus cannot penetrate the cells and spread in the organism.
Research on Covid-19: does nicotine block the path of the coronavirus?
According to Professor Amoura, the study should use nicotine patches of different doses to investigate whether, for example, nurses can be given preventive protection with a plaster and whether patients can be treated with it. However, France's Minister of Health Olivier Véran has yet to give the green light for the study.
The fact that the cell receptor in question plays a role in the spread of the virus could also explain the variety of symptoms of Covid-19 , including odor loss and neurological disorders , according to researchers . However, people should not storm into the tobacco shop now, because smoking is a health hazard, warn the scientists.
Virologist Christian Drosten also commented on the loss of the sense of smell in the NDR podcast (April 22).
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* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
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List of rubric lists: © picture alliance / dpa / Marcus Brandt