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SvennoJ on 24 April 2020
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JRPGfan said:

This is really weird:

http://www.rfi.fr/en/science-and-technology/20200423-french-researchers-suggest-nicotine-could-protect-against-covid-19

"Researchers from several institutions saw that of the 11,000 or so patients hospitalised in Paris public hospitals for Covid-19 at the start of April, only 8.5 percent were smokers, compared to 25.4 percent of the general public."

"tested positive for Covid-19 and found a similar phenomeon: the 343 hospitalised for serious complications had a smoking rate of 4.4 percent, and 5.3 percent of the 139 who were sent home with less serious symptoms smoked. Upon further investigation, accounting for age and sex, the researchers found that the small number of smokers appeared to have had some kind of protection against the virus."

"The findings were in line with a study on Covid-19 in China," (so china found the same corrolation that france now found)

The French study “confirms that active smokers are protected against the SARS-Cov-2 infection,”.
“The reasons for this protection are not established, but nicotine could be a candidate.”

Basically they suspect the virus doesnt like nicotine.

“Although the chemistry of tobacco smoke is complex, these data are consistent with the hypothesis that its protective role takes place through direct action on various types of nAChRs [nicotine receptors] expressed in neurons, immune cells (including macrophages), cardiac tissue, lungs, and blood vessels.”

"In other words, nicotine could block the virus from entering the body through neurons in the olfactory system or through lung cells.
The hypothesis remains to be proven. The researchers are looking to organise a clinical study using nicotine patches, pending approval from French health authorities."

reminds me of this:

"The chief spokesperson and lobbyist Nick Naylor is the Vice President of the Academy of Tobacco Studies. He is talented in speaking and spins arguments to defend the cigarette industry in the most difficult situations. His best friends are Polly Bailey that works in the Moderation Council in alcohol business, and Bobby Jay Bliss of the gun business own advisory group SAFETY. They frequently meet each other in a bar and they self-title the M.O.D. Squad, a.k.a. Merchants of Death, disputing which industry has killed more people. Nick's greatest enemy is Vermont's Senator Ortolan Finistirre, who defends in the Senate the use of a skull and crossbones on cigarette packs. Nick's son Joey Naylor lives with his mother, and has the chance to know his father in a business trip. When the ambitious reporter Heather Holloway betrays Nick disclosing confidences he had in bed with her, his life turns upside-down. But Nick is good in what he does for the mortgage."

Like one of my favorite movies of all time.

That is weird since so far smoking was blamed for the much higher ratio of male deaths vs female deaths in China:

When reading these numbers, it must be taken into account that smoking in China is much more prevalent among males. Smoking increases the risks of respiratory complications.


However males being more vulnerable turned out to be a theme


New York the same 63% of deaths are males, no difference with China yet

USA:

  • Nearly 16 of every 100 adult men (15.6%)
  • About 12 of every 100 adult women (12.0%)

China: 50% of males smoke vs 2% of females.

Is there something else going on?