Painter, David Hockney: smoking cigarettes protects you from coronavirus

[silver sea]

“
 

“I USED to joke that being a smoker in Malibu was the equivalent of being a non-smoker in Pasadena. They used to have very bad pollution there. Could it not be that smokers have developed an immune system to this virus? With all these figures coming out, it’s beginning to look like that to me. I’m serious — and remember cigars and cigarettes are vegan.”

David Hockney, Normandy.

 

The article below includes the following from a scientific study which seems to support Hockney’s belief::

 

“A study published earlier this month by scientists in New York and Athens .... looked at 13 Chinese studies that had registered smoking as a precondition and found that the number of smokers across the whole sample of 5,300 patients was 6.5 per cent. An astonishingly small number in country where half of all men still smoke. 
 

'This preliminary analysis does not support the argument that current smoking is a risk factor for hospitalization for COVID-19,' it reads.

 

'Instead, these consistent observations, which are further emphasized by the low prevalence of current smoking among COVID-19 patients in the US (1.3 per cent), raises the hypothesis that nicotine may have beneficial effects on COVID-19.'”

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8214749/David-Hockney-claims-smoking-cigarettes-PROTECT-against-coronavirus.html
 

 

There is another thread on this forum about warnings against smoking marijuana, because it may inflame your lungs:

 

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1159624-smoking-marijuana-even-occasionally-inflames-the-lungs-so-risks-complications-from-coronavirus/

 

(I am a non smoker and have no intention of changing)

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by silver sea

[Lacessit]

Success in one field of endeavor does not prevent one from being a total d###head in another.

[Puccini]

The Daily Mail of the UK is, of course, always good for a catchy headline. Personally, I would have preferred this text from the penultimate paragraph of their news article as the headline:

Smoking makes the impact of a coronavirus worse

 

As the article says, that is a quote from British Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

Quote

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock last month said: 'It is abundantly clear from the research into previous coronaviruses that smoking makes the impact of a coronavirus worse.'

 

I was curious to know in what context the British Health Secretary made that comment and found this, posted on a website on 18 March 2020:

Quote

 

Speaking in the Commons yesterday, in response to a question from Bob Blackman MP Chair of the APPG on Smoking and Health, Secretary of State for Health Matt Hancock said:

“It is abundantly clear from the research into previous coronaviruses that smoking makes the impact of a coronavirus worse.”

 

Source: https://ash.org.uk/media-and-news/press-releases-media-and-news/health-secretary-it-is-abundantly-clear-that-smoking-makes-the-impact-of-a-coronavirus-worse/

 

[ThomasThBKK]

https://www.qeios.com/read/article/561

 

There's a bunch of papers that suggest due to nicotine changing the ACE2 receptors that covid might have a harder time.

 

 

Not enough sample data, we don't know yet - but that also goes in the other direction, everyone who spouted that smokers have more risk just talked out of their ass.

 

 

[rabas]

18 minutes ago, ThomasThBKK said:

https://www.qeios.com/read/article/561

There's a bunch of papers that suggest due to nicotine changing the ACE2 receptors that covid might have a harder time.

 

Not enough sample data, we don't know yet - but that also goes in the other direction, everyone who spouted that smokers have more risk just talked out of their ass.

I thought it was the other way around. Smoking increases the expression of ACE2 receptors (as does high blood pressure) so it can increase the virus's ability to attack lung cells.

 

Conclusions: ACE2 expression in lower airways is increased in patients with COPD and with current smoking. These data suggest that these two subgroups are at increased risk of serious COVID19 infection and highlight the importance of smoking cessation in reducing the risk.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.18.20038455v1

[cornishcarlos]

If you smoke, less people will come near you...

Therefore less chance to catch it !!

[Moonlover]

For every claim in this world there's bound to be a counter claim:

 

https://fortune.com/2020/02/19/coronavirus-china-smoking-rate-men/

[ThailandRyan]

It does not matter in the long run up to who gets the virus and who doesn't.  Its an equal opportunity virus, that kills people who had no underlying conditions and were young, while a00 year old lad who drank and smoked and had heart issues, walked out of the hospital healed after a few weeks.  So in other words...your damned if you do and damned if you don't......Daughters a surgical ICU nurse.  Has a friend who is a nurse and is married to a nurse.  She drinks and smokes and he does neither, in their 30's, he got Covid and almost died and she had it for 1 week and walked out of the hospital with no issues.  He has transitioned home after a month in the hospital, and is still having breathing problems....so go figure.

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

It does not matter in the long run up to who gets the virus and who doesn't.  Its an equal opportunity virus, that kills people who had no underlying conditions and were young, while a00 year old lad who drank and smoked and had heart issues, walked out of the hospital healed after a few weeks.  So in other words...your damned if you do and damned if you don't......Daughters a surgical ICU nurse.  Has a friend who is a nurse and is married to a nurse.  She drinks and smokes and he does neither, in their 30's, he got Covid and almost died and she had it for 1 week and walked out of the hospital with no issues.  He has transitioned home after a month in the hospital, and is still having breathing problems....so go figure.

When I feel masochistic, I'll take the time to explain the concept of statistical outliers to you.

[ThomasThBKK]

9 hours ago, Moonlover said:

For every claim in this world there's bound to be a counter claim:

 

https://fortune.com/2020/02/19/coronavirus-china-smoking-rate-men/

yeah and now china has less deathrate than many other places...

 

So not sure what your claim is, if you have any scientific studies post them here. 

 

But a fortune.com article from february behind a paywall isn't science.

 

 

9 hours ago, rabas said:

I thought it was the other way around. Smoking increases the expression of ACE2 receptors (as does high blood pressure) so it can increase the virus's ability to attack lung cells.

 

Conclusions: ACE2 expression in lower airways is increased in patients with COPD and with current smoking. These data suggest that these two subgroups are at increased risk of serious COVID19 infection and highlight the importance of smoking cessation in reducing the risk.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.18.20038455v1

 

to quote this from a researchgate comment: https://www.researchgate.net/post/COVID-19_and_angiotensin-converting_enzyme_inhibitros

 

 

Quote

ACE2 expression could influence the course of COVID19 in 2 different ways: increased expression leads to increased mortality (by promoting viral entry) or increased expression leads to decreased mortality (due to ACE2 anti-inflammatory effects that could prevent ARDS development)

 

In other words, we have no fakking clue - hence every comment about smoking being bad or good is pulled out of our asses right now and should not be made AT ALL.

 

If you would have read the linked paper it states: 

 

Quote

However experimental data suggest that infection with SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 leads to down-regulation of ACE2, and this downregulation is detrimental due to uncontrolled ACE and angiotensin II activity.^6,7 It has been observed that decreased ACE2 availability contributes to lung injury and ARDS development.^8,9 Therefore, higher ACE2 expression, while seemingly paradoxical, may protect against acute lung injury caused by COVID-19.¹⁰

 

it literally says more ACE2 espression is good for covid.

Edited April 16, 2020 by ThomasThBKK

[scaldedfummy]

Still smoking affects the lungs, and covid 19 virus primarily destroys the respiratory system of a person. So i think smoking contributes in lung failure concerning this virus.

[silver sea]

Someone willing to support Hockney:

 

“And here’s my point: it’s also far from abundantly clear that smokers are in greater danger than anyone else. On the contrary, as Hockney suggests, we may actually be safer — safer even than those infuriating health fanatics we see jogging around the park, panting and spreading their toxic droplets to anyone unfortunate enough to get in their way.”

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-8227613/TOM-UTLEY-David-Hockney-point-smoking-warding-coronavirus.html

[partington]

What could be better - when we are warned not to touch our faces as this is a major cause of infection with Covid-19 - than a habit which ensures you touch your face and lips every few seconds all day long?

[silver sea]

Zut alors! The French seem to agree with David Hockney. Maybe that’s why he now lives in France.

 

“A French study from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie found that just 8.5 percent of 11,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients were smokers compared to 25.4 percent of the country's population.

 

‘And a study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 12.6 percent of 1,100 Chinese patients were were current smokers and 1.9 percent were former smokers.”

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8246939/French-researchers-plan-nicotine-patches-coronavirus-patients-frontline-workers.html

 

[mauGR1]

On 4/17/2020 at 8:41 PM, partington said:

What could be better - when we are warned not to touch our faces as this is a major cause of infection with Covid-19 - than a habit which ensures you touch your face and lips every few seconds all day long?

The trick is not to touch other things ????

[silver sea]

The Grauniad newspaper disagrees with David Hockney’s views that smoking can help lessen or even prevent coronavirus and refused to publish his letter to them stating this opinion.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8333151/Why-did-Guardian-censor-David-Hockneys-view-smoking-protect-coronavirus.html

 

 

Edited May 19, 2020 by silver sea

[Why Me]

It's very likely smoking impacts the virus in some way because they both circulate in the lungs to begin with. Maybe tobacco hurts the virus. That 6.5% smokers among C-19 patients in China vs. 50% in the general population stat is certainly startling.

 

But you're going to have a hard time finding credible researchers to look into any positive effect of smoking. Not gonna happen.

Edited May 19, 2020 by Why Me

[Tarteso]

This guy got a stop smoking lecture !

[talahtnut]

As a smoker, I have observed that most

organism don't like smoke, so I'm hoping

that any decent, self respecting virus would

keep six feet away.

That combined with a healthy, varied diet,

exercise, and positive contact with nature

should increase immunity.

[Only joking about the smoking]

[mommysboy]

When you differentiate nicotine from smoking, you can understand that there may be some truth in this.  But bearing in mind that vaping gets a terrible rap, I can't see smoking ever being accepted as a preventative measure against covid19.  Incidentally, the same truly startling figures seem to apply to Parkinson's disease too.