Does nicotine protect against coronavirus infection?

Scientists suspect nicotine has a protective effect

Smokers are particularly at risk of developing the novel corona virus – at least so far, it was said. French scientists now suspect that nicotine consumption can even protect against infection with the virus. Because: There are very few smokers among those previously suffering from Covid-19.

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Nicotine is said to slow down the proliferation of virus cells

According to several studies, the rate of smoking Covid-19 patients worldwide is between 1.4 and 12.5 percent.

A study from France also confirms this picture: Of the 500 Covid-19 patients – including 350 hospitalized and 150 patients with a more mild course of the disease – only five percent were smokers, according to Zahir Amoura, study leader and professor of internal medicine. That is 80 percent fewer smokers among Covid patients than in the general population in the same age and gender group.

It is suspected that nicotine adheres to cell receptors used by the coronavirus. This prevents the virus from adhering, explains Professor Jean-Pierre Changeux from the Pasteur Institute and the Collège de France. The virus cannot penetrate the cells and spread in the organism. The fact that the cell receptor in question plays a role in the spread of the virus could also explain the variety of symptoms of Covid-19, according to researchers.

Nicotine patches as protection for caregivers?

The new scientific conjectures are now to be examined in the Paris hospital La Pitié-Salpêtrière – using nicotine patches.

According to Professor Amoura, the study will investigate whether, for example, nurses can be given preventive protection with a nicotine patch and whether patients can be treated with it. For this purpose, different patches should be used for testing. France’s Health Minister Olivier Véran has yet to give the study the green light.

But does nicotine really help? Read what experts from Germany and Austria think of the study here.

Smoking: addiction with dangerous consequences

Nevertheless, smoking is and remains extremely unhealthy. The burden of smoking, for example, limits the immune system of the bronchial system. Viruses and Co. have an easier game. “Smokers generally have a higher risk of developing viral infections,” said Professor Michael Pfeifer, President of the German Society for Pneumology. That is why smokers also contract the corona virus faster. In addition, the body ingests countless pollutants every cigarette and they have to be broken down again. Smoking can lead to serious complications. Heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer or smoking legs – the list of sufferings is long. Conventional medical research has shown that heavy smokers – statistically speaking – lose ten years of their life expectancy.

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