New study finds smoking increased the risk of suffering from more symptoms of Covid-19.
Smokers more often develop frequent symptoms of Covid-19
Researchers from King’s College London have investigated the link between the severity of Covid-19 symptoms and smoking. To complete their study, they analyzed data from the ZOE COVID Symptom Study app. On this app, they noticed that smokers were 14% more likely to develop the most common symptoms in this coronavirus disease: fever, persistent cough, and shortness of breath.
The results of this study, published in the magazine Thorax, also show that smokers are more likely to go to hospital than non-smokers.
More than 10 symptoms for 50% of smokers
Smokers are more likely to suffer from important signs of the virus than non-smokers. Thus, smokers were 29% more likely to report more than 5 symptoms associated with Covid-19 and 50% more likely to report more than 10 including loss of smell, lack of hunger, diarrhea, fatigue. , confusion or muscle pain.
While other studies have highlighted the protective effects of nicotine, researchers at King’s College instead advocate a smoking cessation strategy to fight the virus: “Some reports have suggested a protective effect of smoking on the risk of Covid-19. However, studies in this area can easily be affected by sampling bias. Our results clearly show that smokers are at an increased risk of suffering from a wider range of COVID-19 symptoms than non-smokers ”, explains Mario Falchi, principal investigator of the study.
