Vaping, smoking, and drug use could heighten one’s chances
of suffering coronavirus complications, experts in the United States have
warned.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had
recently updated its report to include that older adults and those with
underlying medical conditions are at higher risk for COVID-19. They labeled
this group as “higher risk.”
However, there’s another group that’s at higher risk as
well: smokers, vapers and those with substance use disorders.
“[T]he research community should be alert to the possibility
that [Covid-19] could hit some populations with substance use disorders
particularly hard,” Nora Volkow, a doctor and director of the National
Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), wrote in a blog post published last week.
This, he said, was due to the fact that the COVID-19 attacks
the lungs — consequently, those who smoke tobacco or marijuana or who vape may
be at risk.
“Because it attacks the lungs, the coronavirus that causes
COVID-19 could be an especially serious threat to those who smoke tobacco or
marijuana or who vape,” he added.
In another blog post, Stanton Glantz, professor of medicine
at the University of California, said the adverse effect of smoking is much
more serious alongside lung infections like coronavirus.
According to him, some of his colleagues had long noted that
their under-30 COVID-19 patients, who ended up being hospitalized, were mostly
those who indulged in vaping or drugs.
“When someone’s lungs are exposed to flu or other infections,
the adverse effects of smoking or vaping are much more serious than among
people who do not smoke or vape,” he said.
On March 8, Reuters also quoted Bill de Blasio, New York
mayor, as saying that smoking or vaping makes people “more vulnerable” to suffering
severe illness once infected by Covid-19.
“If you are a smoker or a vaper that does make you more
vulnerable,” Blasio said during a press briefing.
“If you are a smoker or a vaper this is a very good time to
stop that habit and we will help you.”
The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has exploded to
over 1,100,000
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