COVID-19 / Coronavirus and Smoking or Vaping
COVID-19 is an infectious disease that primarily attacks the lungs. Not inhaling chemicals of any kind is the best way to protect lung health. There are many resources here on Tobacco-Free Me that can help you quit.The Resources We Offer
Our FREE Online Quit Course could be a great place to start!
No matter where you are in the process of quitting, we are here to help. We offer a 100% free 6 part course to help you quit and stay quit. Once you register you can go through the course as many times as you need to. Whether its just a refresher to keep you on the right track or if you slipped and are starting from scratch, our online course will help you achieve your quit goal and make sure you keep it up for the rest of your life.Register Now And Start When You Are Ready
Join our LIVE Breathe Well, Live Well group classes via Zoom!
Our class facilitators lead discussions, teach you tips and tricks, and provide support to help you be successful. The classes are similar to the online modules but are with other people going through the same challenges. Also get expert guidance on how to navigate the quit journey with our trained tobacco treatment specialists. These classes are 100% free to the public and no information other than your contact info is obtained.Only Offered 4 Times A Year Reserve Your Spot Today
The bottom line:
- Smoking increases your risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19. If you smoke, you should absolutely quit.
- The data about vaping and COVID-19 are less clear. Here’s what is known:
- Vaping harms lung and heart health
- Vaping weakens the immune system.
- The vapor from e-cigarettes decreases the ability of the lungs to respond to infection.
- If you’ve used e-cigarettes to quit smoking, you should not go back to smoking.
Association of smoking with non-communicable airway diseases
Tobacco smoke, a complex mixture of about 5000 chemicals, carcinogens, and poison, is one of the most common sources of chemically-mediated illness exposure in humans and maybe other living species. Smoking is a risk factor for the onset and progression of many respiratory disorders, including infections.
Tobacco smoking, in particular, is one of the leading causes of respiratory disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. As smoking disrupts the healing of the respiratory epithelium and reduces bacteria clearance from the airways, it is also an independent risk factor for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).
According to epidemiological research, Smoking has also been linked to the development of active tuberculosis (TB), a decline in anti-TB immunity, and TB-related mortality.
According to the World Health Organization, lung-related deaths from smoking, including secondhand smoke, totaled 3.3 million in 2017, with 1.5 million people dying from chronic respiratory diseases and 1.2 million dying from cancer (tracheal, bronchus, and lung).
COVID-19 and smoking
Several meta-analyses have already examined the effect of smoking on COVID-19 severity. Due to damage to the upper airways and a decline in pulmonary immune function, smoking and e-cigarette use increase the incidence and severity of lung infections. Smokers, in particular, are at a higher risk of infection and death from Cov-MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome).
Two assessments of the first five studies with smoking and COVID-19 data came to varied findings. Another analysis looked at six published case studies that included data on smoking among COVID-19 patients, but it didn't come to any conclusions about the link between COVID-19 severity and smoking.
There are numerous research papers published on the link between smoking and COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but the findings drawn are uncertain.
Smoking prevalence may be lower in the general community, according to evidence from hospital COVID-19 cases in China, Padova, Italy, and New York City. The link between smoking and COVID-19 is even more confusing when one considers that smoking is linked to an increased risk of lung cancer and is known to cause a variety of respiratory ailments. The patient's smoking history is one risk linked to the advancement of COVID-19 pneumonia.