Covid-19 and Carbon Monoxide

[Paddy]

They drink lots of vodka. So lots of smoking and drinking is the way to fight the virus- excellent!

There is less cross infection between towns and cities in Russia due to the distance. It's the equivalent of Glasgow being the nearest city to Southampton with one pothole road joining them.

[Old Greg]

There is less cross infection between towns and cities in Russia due to the distance. It's the equivalent of Glasgow being the nearest city to Southampton with one pothole road joining them.

Give it 10 years...

[Paddy]

So smoking is a risk factor... in any event, an interesting video.

[CheeseSlice]

< unsubstantiated nonsense >

[NotAllThere]

If truth is spelt "TRUTH", you know it's bollox.

[Paddy]

WHO statement: Tobacco use and COVID-19

Tobacco smoking is a known risk factor for many respiratory infections and increases the severity of respiratory diseases. A review of studies by public health experts convened by WHO on 29 April 2020 found that smokers are more likely to develop severe disease with COVID-19, compared to non-smokers.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease that primarily attacks the lungs. Smoking impairs lung function making it harder for the body to fight off coronaviruses and other diseases. Tobacco is also a major risk factor for noncommunicable diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease and diabetes which put people with these conditions at higher risk for developing severe illness when affected by COVID-19. Available research suggests that smokers are at higher risk of developing severe disease and death.

WHO is constantly evaluating new research, including research that examines the link between tobacco use, nicotine use, and COVID-19. WHO urges researchers, scientists and the media to be cautious about amplifying unproven claims that tobacco or nicotine could reduce the risk of COVID-19. There is currently insufficient information to confirm any link between tobacco or nicotine in the prevention or treatment of COVID-19.

[OwlHoot]

2020-06-02 More evidence smokers are at less risk of Covid-19: Scientists discover adults who are hooked on cigarettes are 50% less likely to test positive for the illness

* Israel researchers looked at 3 million people, of which 4,500 had coronavirus
* They found 10 per cent of patients who had tested positive were smokers
* But in the general population, 19 per cent had the habit
* The researchers reported a seemingly 'genuine' protective effect of smoking
:::

[DealorNoDeal]

Perhaps smokers are more fearful of catching cv19, so are more mindful of social distancing.

Or, perhaps it's just because smoking is so bloody anti-social.

(I'm a pariah smoker btw)

[OwlHoot]

2020-04-06 COVID-19 morbidity and mortality caused by endogenous carbon monoxide poisoning, with recommendations for testing and treatment

Abstract

To test our hypothesis that abnormal levels of endogenous carbon monoxide (CO) produced naturally by heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in response to infections of all kinds may be contributing to the morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19, we searched PubMed for peer-reviewed literature on carbon monoxide and each of eleven abnormal blood tests, fourteen signs and symptoms, and five fatal complications of COVID-19 infection reported in a case series from a hospital in Wuhan, China: acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), acute kidney injury, acute cardiac injury, arrhythmia, and shock.

We found reports of acute exogenous CO poisoning causing all the same signs, symptoms and complications, and all the abnormal blood tests except D-dimer and procalcitonin. Our search also found endogenous HO-1 and CO levels correlated with these complications, independent of any inhaled CO exposure.

In sharp contrast to the CO poisoning literature, most studies of endogenous CO interpret its close positive correlation with these acute conditions as protective, with some going so far as to recommend treating ARDS with inhaled CO. We conclude with new recommendations for testing endogenous CO poisoning in COVID-19 cases using devices approved by the US Food and Drug Administration that can distinguish CO coming from the lungs, arteries, veins, and average of all tissues, unlike current protocols for CO poisoning that only measure CO in arteries or veins but not both.

Based on these findings, we appeal to clinicians to start testing CO levels in COVID-19 patients and to stop monitoring oxygen saturation with conventional pulse oximeters that overestimate oxygen saturation by the sum of carboxyhemoglobin and methemoglobin. We conclude by reviewing FDA-approved treatments that may help COVID-19 patients with endogenous CO poisoning. These include zinc-based drugs that lower the rate of endogenous CO production by inhibiting HO-1, and drug-free devices and methods that reduce the total body burden of CO after exogenous CO poisoning.

Glad to see someone is on the case

P.S. "Endogenous" means "produced internally by the body", just as I surmised, as opposed to "exogenous".

[Paddy]

2020-06-02 More evidence smokers are at less risk of Covid-19: Scientists discover adults who are hooked on cigarettes are 50% less likely to test positive for the illness

But you conveniently missed out from the same article

But British scientists have previously debunked the theory, finding the opposite