Smoking can increase the risk of serious health effects from COVID-19. Local news story

This study is the strongest link between smoking and COVID-19 in terms of risk of serious complications, including death.

Doctors and researchers are also increasingly concerned about coronavirus, an airborne virus that attacks the respiratory system, using hookah and smoking marijuana can pose the same risks as smoking cigarettes. ..

According to the American Lung Association, the findings are highly associated with South Dakota, leading smoking rates in all neighboring states in 2019, with 19.3% of adults currently smoking. The rate is 18% higher than the national average of 16.4% and more than 25% higher than the smoking rate in Nebraska (15.4%) or Minnesota (14.5%).

The use of tobacco and steam products by young people in South Dakota is also a concern for health authorities. In 2017, 10.1% of South Dakota high school students reported smoking at least once in the past month, and 17.3% of high school students and 2.5% of middle school students reported vacant seats in the past month.

In 2020, the American Lung Association awarded an “F” grade for four of the five measures South Dakota uses to evaluate state and national tobacco control efforts.

Health professionals in South Dakota and across the country not only emphasize the dangers of smoking and vaping to inform the public and improve overall public health, but also increase health risks in a pandemic And send a message that you need to provide another reason to stop.

“Since we think we need to use the common sense that smoking and vaping cause inflammation in the lungs and COVID-19 attacks the lungs, smoking and vaping just add fuel to the fire,” said Respiratory Therapy. Darcy Ellefson said. Program Specialist at Sanford Wellness Center in Sioux Falls. “If you’re worried about COVID-19 and you’ve become infected or have a serious infection, there’s one thing you can do right away: stop smoking and stop vaping.”

“Smoking and vaping cause inflammation in the lungs and COVID-19 attacks the lungs, so I think we need to use common sense. Smoking and vaping just add fuel to the fire,” says Sanford Wellness Center. Darcy Elfson said. ..

The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists smoking among 12 conditions that may increase the risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

A New England Journal of Medicine report in April and May found that smokers were 2.4 times more likely to have severe COVID-19 symptoms and 1.79 times more likely than nonsmokers. In May 2020, the Nicotine & Tobacco Research group said an analysis of 19 peer-reviewed studies showed that progression of COVID-19 symptoms occurred in nearly twice as many smokers as compared to nonsmokers. Reported

According to state epidemiologist Joshua Clayton, about 22% of the approximately 9,000 cases of COVID-19 reported as of August 3 were smokers or former smokers in South Dakota. About half of the ongoing chronic conditions reported by COVID-19 patients in South Dakota are associated with smoking, Clayton said.

When the data were categorized by sex, males with COVID-19 had a higher smoking prevalence or ex-smokers (23.7%) than females (16.2%). Among those who report that they are currently smokers, the highest smoking rates were in the age range of 20-29 years (12.4%) and 30-39 years (12.8%).

A newswatch analysis of COVID-19 cases across the Great Plains does not show a clear association between smoking prevalence and coronavirus infection rates. Reviews have shown that South Dakota has no disproportionate number of cases compared to neighboring states with low smoking rates.

Still, Clayton said smokers should do their best to quit as soon as possible.

“Being a current or former smoker can increase the risk of serious illness from COVID-19,” Clayton wrote in News Watch. “If you are currently smoking, stop. If you were previously smoking, do not start again. If you have never smoked, do not start.”

Clayton demanded that people who wanted to quit visit the Quitline, South Dakota website sdquitline.com Or call 1-866-737-8487.

Smoking cigarettes or marijuana, smoking nicotine or nicotine-free gels, or using hookah may increase the risks associated with COVID-19.

First, inhaling or inhaling chemicals into the lungs can damage or kill the lung cilia, and when healthy, act like a brush, removing dirt and viruses from sensitive lung tissue and infecting. Reduce the possibility of. Ciliary damage can make the lung more susceptible to any virus, including coronavirus.

“I call them the brooms of the lungs that are supposed to wipe out the soil and bacteria we inhale,” Ellefson said. “If those cilia are paralyzed, the bacteria stay there and the longer they stay in the lungs, the more likely they are [there is] Connect and cause problems. “

Smokers also tend to have more sputum in their lungs, which can grab the virus and increase the chances of getting infected, Elleson said.

Cigarette smoking is also associated with other serious health problems, such as a host of respiratory diseases known as the comorbidity of coronaviruses, and pre-existing conditions that increase the risk of serious complications from COVID-19. ..

According to Ellefson, smokers and smokers tend to make more hand-to-mouth movements each day, which increases the chances of coronaviruses entering the body.

One of the risk factors emerging from nicotine taken by smoking or vaping is an increase in the bronchial angiotensin converting enzyme-2, or ACE2, also known as epithelial cells. The ACE2 enzyme is part of what allows the virus to attach or lodge in the lungs, making smokers and sometimes blood donors more likely to get the virus.

One unique feature of the SARS CoV-2 virus, the coronavirus that is currently sweeping the globe, is that it is much more likely to bind to ACE2 cells than other viruses. According to a May 2020 article in the European Respiratory Journal, smokers and arc plasma users may be more susceptible to COVID-19 than non-nicotine users.

The clearest association at this time is associated with an increased presence of the ACE2 receptor in smokers, mentioning articles that include reviews of other recent research studies.

“The importance of such ACE2 overexpression in smokers should not be neglected. COVID-19 and severe pneumonia progression can occur in smokers, especially those with comorbidities associated with smoking Will be more likely.”

These comorbidities are the same for smokers and nonsmokers if there is a high risk of complications from COVID-19, such as diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and other respiratory disorders. However, increasing evidence indicates that those comorbidities are especially dangerous when combined with smoking and, in some cases, vaping.

“Tobacco smoke has been identified and is associated with increased expression of the binding site responsible for the 2020 pandemic through the nicotine receptor,” the May article said. “This has created an avoidable and potentially significant risk factor for COVID-19 as the pandemic continues its final grasp in 2020.”

The same article points out that lung inflammation caused by vaping is more likely to be associated with complications such as pneumonia due to COVID-19.

“We found that these products were toxic to cells. This is evidenced by the loss of cell viability and integrity. Even more devastating, vaping is also the energetics of cells, or cells. Has impaired the ability to extract oxygen, the study concludes: “Now scientific evidence has increased, confirming the fear of electronic cigarettes strongly associated with the onset and progression of debilitating lung disease. It could be a great opportunity to include all electronic nicotine delivery systems in raising concerns about tobacco-related death and illness.”

Other data indirectly point to smoking as a potential factor in the early contraction of COVID-19. In an April 2020 article by the National Institute on Substance Abuse, Dr. Nora Volkow is believed to have developed the coronavirus, which kills 52.9% of men in China, where viral mortality is much higher among men. In just 2.4% of women.

Volkow also noted that people who abuse drugs ranging from marijuana to opioids to methamphetamine may also be at increased risk of COVID-19 complications due to poor lung function and lack of health care.