Sars-CoV-2 and smoking - it has long been puzzled as to what effects nicotine would have on an infection.
Now a study sheds light on the darkness.
The result is devastating.
Munich - Smoking is dangerous to your health - this warning has been on cigarette packs in Germany for more than two decades.
But never before was there so much truth in this slogan as during the corona pandemic *.
Because friends of the Glimmstängels live according to the latest findings with a significantly increased risk of getting seriously ill with Covid-19 * or even dying of lung disease as a result of an infection with the virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns of this connection after rumors had even surfaced last year that the inhaled nicotine could provide protection against Sars-CoV-2.
It is now clear: That was wishful thinking at best.
Corona and smoking: high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases can have serious consequences
The
Ärzteblatt,
for example, points out that smoking for many years not only damages the lungs, but also accelerates atherosclerosis.
This pathological hardening of blood vessels caused by the build-up of plaque leads to high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases.
In other words, weakenings that Covid-19 uses to rage in the body * with particularly serious consequences.
According to the magazine, the cumulative dose should be observed when smoking.
This can be determined by specifying the packaging year.
This is the number of packs smoked daily multiplied by the number of years as a smoker.
In a study by the “Cleveland Clinic”, the rate of Covid-19 patients treated in the hospital among current or former smokers was 4.65 times higher than among sick people who have never put a lit cigarette between their lips.
The risk of death is even 6.2 times higher.
Video: With these 10 tips it will be easier to quit smoking
Corona and smoking: the risk of death is almost twice as high - regardless of age or gender
It should be noted that part of the additional risk is also due to the significantly older age of long-term smokers.
But even taking age, gender and ethnic origin into account, the analysis for corona infected people with more than 30 packaging years spewed out a 2.25 times higher hospitalization rate, the risk of a fatal course of the disease is 1.89 times as high.
7,102 people took part in the study, the vast majority - 6020 - never smoked.
172 are current smokers, 910 were once addicted to nicotine.
The increased risk of death as a result of a corona infection also applies to the latter.
The internist and pulmonologist Prof. Stefan Andreas sees the pandemic as an occasion to give up smoking.
This applies regardless of how long the addiction has lasted.
Corona and smoking: cilia have to suffer - but have a particularly important function when infected
The cilia, which form a carpet of mucous membrane in the airways, are affected by smokers.
The expert explains: “They are sort of the garbage disposal of the lungs.
They carry mucus and bacterial residues upwards so that they can be coughed up. ”This is an important function, especially with regard to possible corona infestation of the lungs.
Those who no longer smoke can look forward to a fairly quick recovery of their cilia.
"Quitting smoking lowers the risk of severe Covid 19 disease relatively quickly," says Andreas courageously.
This improvement does not appear immediately, but it is noticeable from day to day.
That is why the head of the Immenhausen Lung Clinic in Hessen emphasizes: "You should definitely not continue smoking because you say to yourself: It's too late to stop anyway!"
Corona and smoking: Cancer researchers accuse German politics of failure in the fight against tobacco consumption
Sars-CoV-2 may now provoke a turnaround that has not materialized since the end of the past millennium despite the large-scale warning campaign.
Just a few weeks ago, the German Cancer Research Center presented the Federal Republic of Germany * as the European bottom in the fight against harmful tobacco consumption.
Dr.
Ute Mons, head of the Cancer Prevention Unit, grumbled: "Politicians have largely failed to control tobacco."
Currently, every fourth woman between the ages of 25 and 69 would suck nicotine into her lungs, and almost a third of men in this age group.
And there are also numerous smokers among young people: Here, six percent of boys and 5.2 percent of girls reach for the glowing stick.
It should also be noted that in 2018, 13 percent of deaths in the country were tobacco use.
According to the “Techniker Krankenkasse”, more deaths are caused by smoking each year than by AIDS, alcohol, illegal drugs, traffic accidents, suicides and murders combined.
Hence: Smoking is the most important preventable health risk.
That was true before the pandemic.
But even more so now.
(mg, dpa) * merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen digital editorial network
List of rubric lists: © Andrea Warnecke / dpa
