French researchers are set to test nicotine patches on coronavirus patients and frontline health workers after a study suggested smokers may be much less at risk of contracting the virus.
The study at a major Paris hospital suggests that nicotine may be stopping patients who smoke from catching coronavirus.
Clinical trials of nicotine patches are awaiting the approval of the country’s health authorities.
However, while it’s possible that nicotine may protect people from the virus, the team say smokers who have caught the virus are considered at higher risk of developing complications due to the toxic effect of tobacco smoke on the lungs.
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Paris researchers questioned 480 patients who tested positive, including 350 who had been hospitalised and 130 who had less serious symptoms and were permitted to go home.
According to their analysis, those admitted to the hospital, whose average age was 65, only 4.4% were regular smokers. Among those released home, with a median age of 44, 5.3% smoked.
French neurobiologist Jean-Pierre Changeux, who reviewed the study, has suggested the nicotine may stop coronavirus from reaching cells in the body and prevent its spread, the Guardian reports. The chemical may also lessen the overreaction of the body’s immune system that has been seen in the most severe cases.