In perhaps the greatest cosmic absurdity, it appears that tobacco use protects against infection by the Covid 19 virus.
Perhaps instead of "cosmic," the word should be "comic."
Obviously, medical professionals and laymen assumed the opposite.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/smokers-appear-to-be-at-higher-risk-from-coronavirus-expert/
But a closer examination reveals the truth.
I have been following this from the beginning. The most recent article that I saw, noting the bizarre inverse relationship between Covid and smoking, concludes by saying
Earlier intimations of this counterintuitive but empirical reality include this, from "The Lancet"
This sex predisposition might be associated with the much higher smoking rate in men than in women in China (288 million men vs 12·6 million women were smokers in 2018). Of note, one study (preprint)
found that although ACE2 expression was not significantly different between Asian and white people, men and women, or subgroups aged older and younger than 60 years, it was significantly higher in current smokers of Asian ethnicity than Asian non-smokers; although no difference was found between smokers and non-smokers who were white. Nonetheless, the current literature does not support smoking as a predisposing factor in men or any subgroup for infection with SARS-CoV-2. In the study by Zhang and colleagues,
only 1·4% of patients were current smokers, although this number was much higher at 12·6% in the study by Guan and colleagues.
The relatively small proportion of current smokers in each of these two studies compared with the proportion of male smokers in China (50·5%) are unlikely to be associated with incidence or severity of COVID-19. A trend towards an association was seen between smoking and severity of COVID-19 in the study by Zhang and colleagues
(11·8% of smokers had non-severe disease vs 16·9% of smokers with severe disease), but it was not significant. Without strong evidence of an association between smoking and prevalence or severity of COVID-19 in Asian men compared with other subgroups, no firm conclusions can be drawn. With more cases being examined from different ethnic and genetic backgrounds worldwide, ACE2 expression variation can be better analysed and compared to establish whether it contributes to susceptibility to COVID-19 across the different subgroups.
found that although ACE2 expression was not significantly different between Asian and white people, men and women, or subgroups aged older and younger than 60 years, it was significantly higher in current smokers of Asian ethnicity than Asian non-smokers; although no difference was found between smokers and non-smokers who were white. Nonetheless, the current literature does not support smoking as a predisposing factor in men or any subgroup for infection with SARS-CoV-2. In the study by Zhang and colleagues,
only 1·4% of patients were current smokers, although this number was much higher at 12·6% in the study by Guan and colleagues.
The relatively small proportion of current smokers in each of these two studies compared with the proportion of male smokers in China (50·5%) are unlikely to be associated with incidence or severity of COVID-19. A trend towards an association was seen between smoking and severity of COVID-19 in the study by Zhang and colleagues
(11·8% of smokers had non-severe disease vs 16·9% of smokers with severe disease), but it was not significant. Without strong evidence of an association between smoking and prevalence or severity of COVID-19 in Asian men compared with other subgroups, no firm conclusions can be drawn. With more cases being examined from different ethnic and genetic backgrounds worldwide, ACE2 expression variation can be better analysed and compared to establish whether it contributes to susceptibility to COVID-19 across the different subgroups.
The article referenced in note 2 is
- Zhang JJ
- Dong X
- Cao Y
- et al.
Clinical characteristics of 140 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan, China.
Note 5 is
Bulk and single-cell transcriptomics identify tobacco-use disparity in lung gene expression of ACE2, the receptor of 2019-nCov.
medRxiv. 2020; (published online Feb 28.)
I am not a doctor. I don't know if the consequence of widespread smoking would be positive because of the protection from Coronavirus, or negative, because of increased risk of cancer, heart disease, and emphysema.
But it's remarkable that with all the silly nostrums out there, nobody wants to talk about this one, which has such a strong scientific basis that it breaches the "it can't possibly be true" research barrier.
I personally don't want to take up smoking again, because I remember how much it impaired my daily functionality and how hard it was for me to quit. I'm sure that if I started again, I would rather risk some horrible disease than quit again. Even for the rest of you, only a fool would pick up on this and begin smoking. But vaping might be something to consider. Now we need a vape we can use on yomtov..... A Shabbos Vape. Come on, Tzomet!
I personally don't want to take up smoking again, because I remember how much it impaired my daily functionality and how hard it was for me to quit. I'm sure that if I started again, I would rather risk some horrible disease than quit again. Even for the rest of you, only a fool would pick up on this and begin smoking. But vaping might be something to consider. Now we need a vape we can use on yomtov..... A Shabbos Vape. Come on, Tzomet!
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