Council of Scientific and Industrial Research recently conducted a pan India survey which found that vegetarians and smokers were found at lesser risk of covid infection as compared to others.
Smoking, needless to say, is one of the most aggravating factors for varied types of health disorders. Diseases like pulmonary damage, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Lung damage, etc. get severely aggravated due to smoking.
However, the nationwide survey calls the act of smoking to be a savior against Covid-19. The research mentioned studies based on Italy, France, China, and New York which also reported fewer incidences of seropositivity in smokers. The research also presented data about which type of lifestyle reported the maximum cases. It was found that the individuals who avail public transport facility and those who belong to the working class of occupations such as housekeeping personnel and security had the highest toll of the victims. Along with this, it was observed that nonvegetarians and non-smokers had more incidents of suffering from the virus.
It was stated by the authors of the study that ‘Smokers and Vegetarians are less likely to suffer from the Covid virus’. This was clarified to diminish the growing mis concepts that developed for smoking. Smokers are not safe from contracting a viral infection. Rather they stand at a higher risk of encountering the infection because they puff the cigarette through their mouth which makes them susceptible because transmission also takes place through the mouth. This susceptibility gets increased manifold since their respiratory pathway is deteriorated due to the cigarette smoke.
However, infected smokers are less likely to develop symptoms and even if they do develop, they are minor symptoms. This benefit is accounted to the fact that cigarette contains nicotine which binds to the ACE-2 receptors in our body, which is also the site of attachment for coronavirus. Nicotine blocks the attachment site for coronavirus and thus prevents it from showing symptoms.
Although many campaigners and Medical firms have risen against this study pointing the ill-effects of smoking and that is no excuse to pick up the habit of smoking at this stage, the results of this study can in no scenario be neglected.
As for the current situation, intense researches need to be carried out on the effects of nicotine and smoking, because after all, smoking kills!
