Constant disseminator of disinformation, and self-declared liar and chaos agent Andy Wigmore tweeted an article recently saying, quote, “Researchers uncover MORE evidence that smokers may be protected from the deadly coronavirus”.
The tweet points to an article in the Daily Mail, writing up a UCL literature review, aggregating results from 28 different studies looking into smoking and coronavirus. It claimed that only 5% of COVID-19 patients are active smokers.
This has led some people to conclude that smokers are somehow protected from COVID. And there are a number of theories claimed as to why:
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One is that nicotine reduces ACE-2 receptors, which are proteins in the body the virus binds to in order to infect cells
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Another is that exposure to cigarette smoke and its chemicals reduces the body’s immune system over time, measured by lower inflammatory markers. So then, when smokers are infected with COVID, their immune system is more ‘tolerant’ and does not overreact
However, there are a few caveats, and they’re really worth considering.
First, some of the studies quoted in the Daily Mail article are pre-print, meaning they haven’t been scrutinised or peer reviewed, a vital step in the validation process.
Also, half of infected and hospitalised smokers die, making the numbers less rosy. That, compared with ONE THIRD of the rest of patients who died.
And finally it’s worth noting that according to according to the NHS, as of 2018, only 14% of Brits are smokers.