Thread by @StillDelvingH

Ok let’s talk Nicotine and #Covid19.
Serious French study showing smokers’ proportion is lower among sick people than it statistically should, and tobacco might keep people from falling sick?
True.
Don’t stop here that’s not the whole story!
1/n

To sum up, researchers think *maybe* it’s harder for the virus to infect cells as the path it uses to get into cells is “squatted“/blocked by (possibly) nicotine.
It DOESN’T mean you should start smoking if you’re not.
For the following reason:
2/n

-smoking kills.
-it’s a study on 350 ppl, no certainty. A biggest study has been launched and shall it show nicotine has positive effects, nicotine patches not lethal cigarettes would be used. Knowing that non-intoxicated non-smokers can’t get that much nicotine -makes them sick.

So there is a lot of maybe/no certainty for now.
Also: more serious cases among infected smokers.
2 hypothesis:
1/ harmed lungs resist less well
2/ hospitalised patients stop smoking so nicotine isn’t blocking receptors/virus entry in cells anymore -and smokers have more of them.

To sum up:
Don’t start smoking -even if validated that would translate as (supervised) patch treatment.
If you are smoking &want to stop now (like me) looks like patches are mandatory -or it’s more complicated.
I think I’ll keep not succeeding that well until doctors’ conclusions

And please let’s not claim “a miracle cure has been found!”, it needs further investigation, even if useful it needs careful therapeutic protocols and let’s not forget some smokers do get sick and die.
If you need a source: Article in French here 👇
google.fr/amp/s/www.scie…

(If you see people like this Allison something woman pretending that this study is about smokers having ”tougher lungs” take it as a hint not to trust anything they say. It is so NOT what French scientists said).