7 ms·

I know this sounds like a joke but it's not. Didn't a study say that smokers where less likely to catch COVID or get affected by it for whatever reason. I swear

I know this sounds like a joke but it's not. Didn't a study say that smokers where less likely to catch COVID or get affected by it for whatever reason. I swear I read that here in HN. Too lazy to Google it. Edit: I googled it, because someone downvoted it me so I guess they didn't appreciate me being lazy. https://www.healthing.ca/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus/nicotine-could-stave-off-covid-19-should-i-start-smoking https://www.healthing.ca/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus... https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200430/smokers-hospitalized-less-often-for-covid-19 https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200430/smokers-hospitalize... > "One hypothesis is that nicotine, which has anti-inflammatory properties, may interfere with the way that COVID-19 causes an overreaction of the immune system."

cutty 6y ago
I remember seeing similar articles. While I don't understand the science behind these findings, my understanding is that smokers are less likely to catch COVID, but if they do, then their symptoms are significantly more severe than those of nonsmokers.
- numpad0 6y ago
  Makes me wonder if tobacco in eras of tuberculosis improved chances of individual survival...
  - sudosysgen 6y ago
    Almost certainly not. Nicotine is known to downregulate the recptor that SARS-CoV-2 uses for entry.
- metrokoi 6y ago
  Smoking decreases the amount of certain enzymes that COVID binds to in order to infect the lungs. Less enzymes means a lesser chance of catching the virus, but if caught, the person will likely have a more severe case due to the decreased lung capability.[0][1] The figures that I have seen previously did show a very significantly decreased risk of catching COVID, and I'm surprised it hasn't been investigated far more. Edit: I had that wrong, it seems nicotine increases ACE2, but also binds with ACE2 decreasing the amount of available enzymes overall that COVID could bind to.[2] [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiotensin-converting_enzyme_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiotensin-converting_enzyme_... [1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7191112/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7191112/ [2]https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.14943 https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.14943
- nyolfen 6y ago
  incorrect; smokers are shown to be substantially less susceptible to both catching covid and developing severe symptoms, a finding that has been demonstrated independently in (at least) france, china, and the USA: > Conclusions and relevance: Our cross sectional study in both COVID-19 out- and inpatients strongly suggests that daily smokers have a very much lower probability of developing symptomatic or severe SARS-CoV-2 infection as compared to the general population. > Very recently, the US Center of Disease Control reported an analysis of current smoker rate among US COVID-19 patients which was found to be 1.3% for the whole population of COVID-19 patients, 1% for outpatients, 2% for patients, not hospitalized in an ICU, and 1% in intensive care unit (ICU)-admitted patients https://www.qeios.com/read/WPP19W.3 https://www.qeios.com/read/WPP19W.3 in all of the mentioned countries, only about 1% of ICU cases are smokers. this has (perhaps unsurprisingly) not been widely reported.
  - titzer 6y ago
    Maybe they just drop dead immediately in their homes? /s Seriously though, it's baffling because smoking causes so many underlying health problems that don't go well with COVID. Also, smokers have a depressed immune system compared to nonsmokers, so it would seem to suggest they'd be less likely to fight off an infection like this.
    - zaarn 6y ago
      In a lot of cases, COVID-19 symptoms involve an immunesystem overreaction, which causes massive inflammation and organ damage all over, so having a depressed immunesystem might help there.
  - antognini 6y ago
    Both SARS-Cov-2 and nicotine bind to the ACE2 receptor. One hypothesis is that because SARS-Cov-2 has to compete with nicotine for the receptor it ends up being less effective. Another hypothesis is that smokers tend to do better because of nicotine's effect of reducing inflammation.
  - hwillis 6y ago
    Seems more likely to me they're just lying about being smokers- 60% admit to being former smokers. Inpatient hospitalizations also almost all suffer from serious comorbid conditions like hypertension or diabetes, which probably causes many to smoke less. Less so with the outpatients (<20%) but I would not be surprised if it was because unhealthy people getting sick, and those unhealthy people don't smoke because it would be bad for them.
- xwolfi 6y ago
  They are just as likely to catch it, but the symtoms are less severe in more cases than non-smoker. They give nicotine patches to nurses in pilot studies, how ironical :D
  - jnkl 6y ago
    Do you have source?
- Gibbon1 6y ago
  I saw an analysis from a epidemiologist who said the result is due to naive over adjustment for confounding variables. Specifically if you treat related confounding variables as if they are independent you end up with garbage. They also said elsewhere that a lot of researchers from outside epidemiology are running really bad studies and publishing papers.
  - himinlomax 6y ago
    He's almost certainly wrong, the effect size on this one is astounding. See for example this: https://www.qeios.com/read/WPP19W.3 https://www.qeios.com/read/WPP19W.3 Even with conservative assumptions, smokers in this French study were 4 to 5 times less likely to be infected. Keep in mind that drugs being tested are considered good when they reduce mortality by 10%. We're talking 75% reduction in infection rate here, and no increased mortality in those who are infected. It's really really hard to imagine what sort of confounding factor that could be at play here that would make the effect insignificant.
    - sharken 6y ago
      If the facts speak against what an epidemiologist says, then perhaps we should also use critical thinking there.
aksss 6y ago
Well I do remember seeing that in the news cycle earlier in the year and I think it was a loose correlation of interest during the early days of the spread - that smokers seemed to either be catching it in lower numbers or that smokers were seeing fewer symptoms. Of course correlation != causation, and many odd rumors from March have since been debunked.
superkuh 6y ago
I quit vaping back in mid-Feb when it was obvious things were going down. But then I took it back up in May because the studies with very large N (ie, millions) had started coming out of the UK showing even literal smoking did not increase your covid-19 risk after infection. And you can bet if it did, at all, there'd be big news about it. But instead study after study shows nothing of significance either way.
- tripletao 6y ago
  Not to imply you suggested otherwise, but smoking costs far more life years than the coronavirus. Anyone quitting is doing a good thing for the wrong reason. Vaping is less clear--I do think there's some non-negligible chance that for the next couple years, it will be a net benefit to public health. That would be funny, considering how hard the public health authorities worked to smear nicotine vaping with the deaths from adulterated (vitamin E acetate) marijuana cartridges last summer.
  - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
    > Vaping is less clear--I do think there's some non-negligible chance that for the next couple years, it will be a net benefit to public health. By "net benefit", you mean because it can help people quit actual smoking, right?
    - tripletao 6y ago
      I mean because nicotine might be protective against the coronavirus, and that protective effect might outweigh the harm of vaping. Certainly not proven (and please nobody start vaping because of that), but there's some weak evidence and it's funny. Of course vaping's real benefit to public health comes from smoking cessation as you say, since smoking is (per my comment above) really deadly. I was disturbed to see the public health authorities blaming nicotine vaping for the lung injuries last summer, given (a) the ample evidence for vitamin E acetate as the cause; and (b) the cost in mortality from smokers who got scared by their misleading warnings and either didn't switch to vaping or switched back to cigarettes.
scubbo 6y ago
...there are downvotes in HN!?
- 1123581321 6y ago
  You’ll get the ability to downvote when you reach about 500 karma.
- d0100 6y ago
  Only for the 1%
- whoisjuan 6y ago
  Yeah. Once you’re above a certain level of karma points you can downvote. I can downvote but rarely do it. Also a comment can only be downvoted 4 times. After that downvotes are not counted anymore if I remember correctly.
  - marcosdumay 6y ago
    I've had comments voted lower than -3 (you start at 1) plenty of times. My favorite one is one comment criticizing Microsoft that oscillated from 25 to -10 a few years back (yeah, I refreshed this one quite a lot to see how it changed, that was fun). But I don't remember anything lower than that recently, so it can be a new change.
  - saagarjha 6y ago
    5 times, the lowest you can go is -4.
- stjo 6y ago
  There are tons of hidden HN features unlocked at different thresholds. https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented 501 karma for downvoting
  - scubbo 6y ago
    Oh wow. I lurk 99% of the time, so I doubt I'll ever reach those heady heights. Thanks for the link, though!
wobbly_bush 6y ago
There is also this study which says smoking in young adult increases the risk of Covid progression - https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/07/418081/1-3-young-adults-may-face-severe-covid-19-ucsf-study-shows https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/07/418081/1-3-young-adults-ma...
- argonaut 6y ago
  Have you actually read the article? The study's methodology is super confusing and just plain doesn't make sense. From what I can decipher, they conflated obesity, diabetes, smoking, immune disorders, and several other factors all together into a single variable ("vulnerability") and made no attempt to look at the contribution of smoking alone. They also lumped e-cigarettes together with tobacco and cigar smoking.
rriepe 6y ago
Hospitalization is one of the good outcomes. The people dropping dead in the streets, like we saw so much of in Wuhan (smoking population ~50%)-- those are the smokers. Smoking opens up more ACE2 receptors which is like opening more lanes for COVID traffic.
- anoncareer0212 6y ago
  opposite (seriously). it clogs them, causing you to produce more, complex adaptive cycle. I'm reluctant to recommend quitting
  - Sudophysics 6y ago
    Citations?!
  - rriepe 6y ago
    To the virus, the ACE2 sites are just a recognizable external feature to latch onto. The clogged sites might be less of a liability than the unclogged sites, but having more overall makes your cells way more virus-friendly. Quit now!
monkeypizza 6y ago
Gwern's page on positive/negative effects of nicotine considered independently of smoking: https://www.gwern.net/Nicotine https://www.gwern.net/Nicotine
wolco 6y ago
It makes sense and something that goes against another agenda so something that couldn't be spread by mainstream news widely.
toomanybeersies 6y ago
One of the causes of the second wave in Victoria was apparently staff at a quarantine facility sharing a lighter, alongside a security guard having sex with quarantined arrivals.
- xwolfi 6y ago
  You can just say idiocy :D
jron 6y ago
"Once someone is infected with SARS-CoV-2, the immune system is mobilized. As the virus replicates, cell and viral debris or virions may interact with the nAChRs blocking the action of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. If the initial immune response is not enough to combat the viral invasion at an early stage, the extensive and prolonged replication of the virus will eventually disrupt the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway seriously compromising its ability to control and regulate the immune response. The uncontrolled action of pro-inflammatory cytokines will result in the development of cytokine storm, with acute lung injury leading to ARDS, coagulation disturbances and multiorgan failure. Based on this hypothesis, COVID-19 appears to eventually become a disease of the nicotinic cholinergic system." "Nicotine could maintain or restore the function of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory system and thus control the release and activity of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This could prevent or suppress the cytokine storm. This hypothesis needs to be examined in the laboratory and the clinical setting." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7192087/#!po=22.7273 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7192087/#!po=22...
- disabled 6y ago
  This article is actually spot on, and is a pretty good cheat sheet. I have a very rare immune mediated neurological disease affecting nicotinic receptors in my peripheral nervous system called autoimmune autonomic gangliopathy. I am ganglionic nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antibody (nAChR, α3 subunit) positive, at high and abnormal levels, which means this antibody blocks signals at the ion channel level, in my neurons of my autonomic ganglia, which is supposed to control bodily functions—but it malfunctions in my body. Some people with the disease I have, (supposedly ~22% according to this PMC article on PUBMED: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2536520/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2536520/) have alpha7 subunit nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antibodies (α7 nAChR antibodies), which effectively block signals in general, affecting transmission of signals via the ion channels of neurons in the central nervous system. This type of central nervous system blockade of the autonomic nervous system causes inflammation. The article that the above poster linked is an ominous warning for people like me, who have the same very rare disease I have, even if one is just alpha3 nAChR antibody positive only—and is not also alpha7 nAChR antibody positive. I am glad I have been taking extreme steps to protect myself. Also, some people that never recovered from COVID-19 have sympathetic nervous activity have similarities to the condition I have. Researchers may want to search for autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathy on PUBMED: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Autoimmune+autonomic+ganglionopathy+&sort=date https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Autoimmune+autonomic+g... You also may want to search for autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathy and the alpha7 nAChR on PUBMED: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Autoimmune+autonomic+ganglionopathy+alpha7&sort=date https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Autoimmune+autonomic+g... Or α7 nAChR antibodies, which in theory would have a similar but different effect as the stuff that the poster above me linked: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=%CE%B17+NAChR+antibodies&sort=date https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=%CE%B17+NAChR+antibodi... As for the people who have a post COVID-19 inflammatory syndrome affecting their sympathetic (as in autonomic nervous system) nervous system, as in sympathetic over activity, they very likely have a form of dysautonomia: Researchers may want to look into these antibodies/tests, in which there are several peer reviewed articles available to read. However, several of these tests are not commercially available in the US, but can be mailed/performed in Germany. See: https://www.celltrend.de/en/pots-cfs-me-crps.html https://www.celltrend.de/en/pots-cfs-me-crps.html There is an immune mediated dysautonomia panel available at the Mayo Clinic (which I was found to have one of the antibodies), but one is far less likely to test positive for something in these screens. See this panel: https://www.mayocliniclabs.com/test-catalog/Overview/92121 https://www.mayocliniclabs.com/test-catalog/Overview/92121 A lot of this immune mediated autonomic nervous system stuff is just starting to emerge and come to fruition.
Ma8ee 6y ago
> “At the time of this review, the available evidence suggests that smoking is associated with increased severity of disease and death in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Although likely related to severity, there is no evidence to quantify the risk to smokers of hospitalization with COVID-19 or of infection by SARS-CoV-2 was found in the peer-reviewed literature. Population-based studies are needed to address these questions.“ https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/smoking-and-covid-19 https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/smoking-an...
seesawtron 6y ago
I was perplexed by this study as well and in a dilemma. I had to choose between a couple of new studies showing smoking might reduce my risk of Covid vs decades of studies showing smoking causes cancer. So I aimed to quit smoking and get healthy to reduce my risk of cancer and Covid.
lazyasciiart 6y ago
Perhaps the article has been updated since you read it. It now includes this (with a link to the studies) > smokers with a positive Covid-19 test were more than twice as likely as non-smokers with coronavirus to be hospitalised. >This aligns with research from the US which found hospitalised smokers with coronavirus were 1.8 times more likely to die.

cutty 6y ago

I remember seeing similar articles. While I don't understand the science behind these findings, my understanding is that smokers are less likely to catch COVID, but if they do, then their symptoms are significantly more severe than those of nonsmokers.

numpad0 6y ago
Makes me wonder if tobacco in eras of tuberculosis improved chances of individual survival...
- sudosysgen 6y ago
  Almost certainly not. Nicotine is known to downregulate the recptor that SARS-CoV-2 uses for entry.
metrokoi 6y ago
Smoking decreases the amount of certain enzymes that COVID binds to in order to infect the lungs. Less enzymes means a lesser chance of catching the virus, but if caught, the person will likely have a more severe case due to the decreased lung capability.[0][1] The figures that I have seen previously did show a very significantly decreased risk of catching COVID, and I'm surprised it hasn't been investigated far more. Edit: I had that wrong, it seems nicotine increases ACE2, but also binds with ACE2 decreasing the amount of available enzymes overall that COVID could bind to.[2] [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiotensin-converting_enzyme_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiotensin-converting_enzyme_... [1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7191112/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7191112/ [2]https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.14943 https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.14943
nyolfen 6y ago
incorrect; smokers are shown to be substantially less susceptible to both catching covid and developing severe symptoms, a finding that has been demonstrated independently in (at least) france, china, and the USA: > Conclusions and relevance: Our cross sectional study in both COVID-19 out- and inpatients strongly suggests that daily smokers have a very much lower probability of developing symptomatic or severe SARS-CoV-2 infection as compared to the general population. > Very recently, the US Center of Disease Control reported an analysis of current smoker rate among US COVID-19 patients which was found to be 1.3% for the whole population of COVID-19 patients, 1% for outpatients, 2% for patients, not hospitalized in an ICU, and 1% in intensive care unit (ICU)-admitted patients https://www.qeios.com/read/WPP19W.3 https://www.qeios.com/read/WPP19W.3 in all of the mentioned countries, only about 1% of ICU cases are smokers. this has (perhaps unsurprisingly) not been widely reported.
- titzer 6y ago
  Maybe they just drop dead immediately in their homes? /s Seriously though, it's baffling because smoking causes so many underlying health problems that don't go well with COVID. Also, smokers have a depressed immune system compared to nonsmokers, so it would seem to suggest they'd be less likely to fight off an infection like this.
  - zaarn 6y ago
    In a lot of cases, COVID-19 symptoms involve an immunesystem overreaction, which causes massive inflammation and organ damage all over, so having a depressed immunesystem might help there.
- antognini 6y ago
  Both SARS-Cov-2 and nicotine bind to the ACE2 receptor. One hypothesis is that because SARS-Cov-2 has to compete with nicotine for the receptor it ends up being less effective. Another hypothesis is that smokers tend to do better because of nicotine's effect of reducing inflammation.
- hwillis 6y ago
  Seems more likely to me they're just lying about being smokers- 60% admit to being former smokers. Inpatient hospitalizations also almost all suffer from serious comorbid conditions like hypertension or diabetes, which probably causes many to smoke less. Less so with the outpatients (<20%) but I would not be surprised if it was because unhealthy people getting sick, and those unhealthy people don't smoke because it would be bad for them.
xwolfi 6y ago
They are just as likely to catch it, but the symtoms are less severe in more cases than non-smoker. They give nicotine patches to nurses in pilot studies, how ironical :D
- jnkl 6y ago
  Do you have source?
Gibbon1 6y ago
I saw an analysis from a epidemiologist who said the result is due to naive over adjustment for confounding variables. Specifically if you treat related confounding variables as if they are independent you end up with garbage. They also said elsewhere that a lot of researchers from outside epidemiology are running really bad studies and publishing papers.
- himinlomax 6y ago
  He's almost certainly wrong, the effect size on this one is astounding. See for example this: https://www.qeios.com/read/WPP19W.3 https://www.qeios.com/read/WPP19W.3 Even with conservative assumptions, smokers in this French study were 4 to 5 times less likely to be infected. Keep in mind that drugs being tested are considered good when they reduce mortality by 10%. We're talking 75% reduction in infection rate here, and no increased mortality in those who are infected. It's really really hard to imagine what sort of confounding factor that could be at play here that would make the effect insignificant.
  - sharken 6y ago
    If the facts speak against what an epidemiologist says, then perhaps we should also use critical thinking there.

aksss 6y ago

Well I do remember seeing that in the news cycle earlier in the year and I think it was a loose correlation of interest during the early days of the spread - that smokers seemed to either be catching it in lower numbers or that smokers were seeing fewer symptoms. Of course correlation != causation, and many odd rumors from March have since been debunked.

superkuh 6y ago

I quit vaping back in mid-Feb when it was obvious things were going down. But then I took it back up in May because the studies with very large N (ie, millions) had started coming out of the UK showing even literal smoking did not increase your covid-19 risk after infection. And you can bet if it did, at all, there'd be big news about it. But instead study after study shows nothing of significance either way.

tripletao 6y ago
Not to imply you suggested otherwise, but smoking costs far more life years than the coronavirus. Anyone quitting is doing a good thing for the wrong reason. Vaping is less clear--I do think there's some non-negligible chance that for the next couple years, it will be a net benefit to public health. That would be funny, considering how hard the public health authorities worked to smear nicotine vaping with the deaths from adulterated (vitamin E acetate) marijuana cartridges last summer.
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago
  > Vaping is less clear--I do think there's some non-negligible chance that for the next couple years, it will be a net benefit to public health. By "net benefit", you mean because it can help people quit actual smoking, right?
  - tripletao 6y ago
    I mean because nicotine might be protective against the coronavirus, and that protective effect might outweigh the harm of vaping. Certainly not proven (and please nobody start vaping because of that), but there's some weak evidence and it's funny. Of course vaping's real benefit to public health comes from smoking cessation as you say, since smoking is (per my comment above) really deadly. I was disturbed to see the public health authorities blaming nicotine vaping for the lung injuries last summer, given (a) the ample evidence for vitamin E acetate as the cause; and (b) the cost in mortality from smokers who got scared by their misleading warnings and either didn't switch to vaping or switched back to cigarettes.

scubbo 6y ago

...there are downvotes in HN!?

1123581321 6y ago
You’ll get the ability to downvote when you reach about 500 karma.
d0100 6y ago
Only for the 1%
whoisjuan 6y ago
Yeah. Once you’re above a certain level of karma points you can downvote. I can downvote but rarely do it. Also a comment can only be downvoted 4 times. After that downvotes are not counted anymore if I remember correctly.
- marcosdumay 6y ago
  I've had comments voted lower than -3 (you start at 1) plenty of times. My favorite one is one comment criticizing Microsoft that oscillated from 25 to -10 a few years back (yeah, I refreshed this one quite a lot to see how it changed, that was fun). But I don't remember anything lower than that recently, so it can be a new change.
- saagarjha 6y ago
  5 times, the lowest you can go is -4.
stjo 6y ago
There are tons of hidden HN features unlocked at different thresholds. https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented 501 karma for downvoting
- scubbo 6y ago
  Oh wow. I lurk 99% of the time, so I doubt I'll ever reach those heady heights. Thanks for the link, though!

wobbly_bush 6y ago

There is also this study which says smoking in young adult increases the risk of Covid progression - https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/07/418081/1-3-young-adults-may-face-severe-covid-19-ucsf-study-shows https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/07/418081/1-3-young-adults-ma...

argonaut 6y ago
Have you actually read the article? The study's methodology is super confusing and just plain doesn't make sense. From what I can decipher, they conflated obesity, diabetes, smoking, immune disorders, and several other factors all together into a single variable ("vulnerability") and made no attempt to look at the contribution of smoking alone. They also lumped e-cigarettes together with tobacco and cigar smoking.

rriepe 6y ago

Hospitalization is one of the good outcomes. The people dropping dead in the streets, like we saw so much of in Wuhan (smoking population ~50%)-- those are the smokers. Smoking opens up more ACE2 receptors which is like opening more lanes for COVID traffic.

anoncareer0212 6y ago
opposite (seriously). it clogs them, causing you to produce more, complex adaptive cycle. I'm reluctant to recommend quitting
- Sudophysics 6y ago
  Citations?!
- rriepe 6y ago
  To the virus, the ACE2 sites are just a recognizable external feature to latch onto. The clogged sites might be less of a liability than the unclogged sites, but having more overall makes your cells way more virus-friendly. Quit now!

monkeypizza 6y ago

Gwern's page on positive/negative effects of nicotine considered independently of smoking: https://www.gwern.net/Nicotine https://www.gwern.net/Nicotine

wolco 6y ago

It makes sense and something that goes against another agenda so something that couldn't be spread by mainstream news widely.

toomanybeersies 6y ago

One of the causes of the second wave in Victoria was apparently staff at a quarantine facility sharing a lighter, alongside a security guard having sex with quarantined arrivals.

xwolfi 6y ago
You can just say idiocy :D

jron 6y ago

"Once someone is infected with SARS-CoV-2, the immune system is mobilized. As the virus replicates, cell and viral debris or virions may interact with the nAChRs blocking the action of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. If the initial immune response is not enough to combat the viral invasion at an early stage, the extensive and prolonged replication of the virus will eventually disrupt the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway seriously compromising its ability to control and regulate the immune response. The uncontrolled action of pro-inflammatory cytokines will result in the development of cytokine storm, with acute lung injury leading to ARDS, coagulation disturbances and multiorgan failure. Based on this hypothesis, COVID-19 appears to eventually become a disease of the nicotinic cholinergic system." "Nicotine could maintain or restore the function of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory system and thus control the release and activity of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This could prevent or suppress the cytokine storm. This hypothesis needs to be examined in the laboratory and the clinical setting." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7192087/#!po=22.7273 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7192087/#!po=22...

disabled 6y ago
This article is actually spot on, and is a pretty good cheat sheet. I have a very rare immune mediated neurological disease affecting nicotinic receptors in my peripheral nervous system called autoimmune autonomic gangliopathy. I am ganglionic nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antibody (nAChR, α3 subunit) positive, at high and abnormal levels, which means this antibody blocks signals at the ion channel level, in my neurons of my autonomic ganglia, which is supposed to control bodily functions—but it malfunctions in my body. Some people with the disease I have, (supposedly ~22% according to this PMC article on PUBMED: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2536520/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2536520/) have alpha7 subunit nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antibodies (α7 nAChR antibodies), which effectively block signals in general, affecting transmission of signals via the ion channels of neurons in the central nervous system. This type of central nervous system blockade of the autonomic nervous system causes inflammation. The article that the above poster linked is an ominous warning for people like me, who have the same very rare disease I have, even if one is just alpha3 nAChR antibody positive only—and is not also alpha7 nAChR antibody positive. I am glad I have been taking extreme steps to protect myself. Also, some people that never recovered from COVID-19 have sympathetic nervous activity have similarities to the condition I have. Researchers may want to search for autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathy on PUBMED: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Autoimmune+autonomic+ganglionopathy+&sort=date https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Autoimmune+autonomic+g... You also may want to search for autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathy and the alpha7 nAChR on PUBMED: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Autoimmune+autonomic+ganglionopathy+alpha7&sort=date https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Autoimmune+autonomic+g... Or α7 nAChR antibodies, which in theory would have a similar but different effect as the stuff that the poster above me linked: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=%CE%B17+NAChR+antibodies&sort=date https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=%CE%B17+NAChR+antibodi... As for the people who have a post COVID-19 inflammatory syndrome affecting their sympathetic (as in autonomic nervous system) nervous system, as in sympathetic over activity, they very likely have a form of dysautonomia: Researchers may want to look into these antibodies/tests, in which there are several peer reviewed articles available to read. However, several of these tests are not commercially available in the US, but can be mailed/performed in Germany. See: https://www.celltrend.de/en/pots-cfs-me-crps.html https://www.celltrend.de/en/pots-cfs-me-crps.html There is an immune mediated dysautonomia panel available at the Mayo Clinic (which I was found to have one of the antibodies), but one is far less likely to test positive for something in these screens. See this panel: https://www.mayocliniclabs.com/test-catalog/Overview/92121 https://www.mayocliniclabs.com/test-catalog/Overview/92121 A lot of this immune mediated autonomic nervous system stuff is just starting to emerge and come to fruition.

Ma8ee 6y ago

> “At the time of this review, the available evidence suggests that smoking is associated with increased severity of disease and death in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Although likely related to severity, there is no evidence to quantify the risk to smokers of hospitalization with COVID-19 or of infection by SARS-CoV-2 was found in the peer-reviewed literature. Population-based studies are needed to address these questions.“ https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/smoking-and-covid-19 https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/smoking-an...

seesawtron 6y ago

I was perplexed by this study as well and in a dilemma. I had to choose between a couple of new studies showing smoking might reduce my risk of Covid vs decades of studies showing smoking causes cancer. So I aimed to quit smoking and get healthy to reduce my risk of cancer and Covid.

lazyasciiart 6y ago

Perhaps the article has been updated since you read it. It now includes this (with a link to the studies) > smokers with a positive Covid-19 test were more than twice as likely as non-smokers with coronavirus to be hospitalised. >This aligns with research from the US which found hospitalised smokers with coronavirus were 1.8 times more likely to die.