Op-ed:
Smoking, Vaping, and COVID-19
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots
Coronavirus...COVID-19...call
it what you will but whatever name it goes by know that self-imposed
quarantine works only up to a point especially when word gets out that
the newest research is showing that COVID-19 does not spread...I repeat
it does not spread...as easily as many experts first thought. So how is
it
spread...simply stated, the rate of infection is actually based upon the
type of contact one has with an infected individual and for how long
said contact occurred. In fact, these newest reports are saying that
even if you do come in contact with someone actually ill or with someone
being a carrier of this particular coronavirus that you have only a 1%
to 5% chance of catching said virus or becoming a carrier yourself.
Now
for some important medical facts with the first being that most viral
infections are passed when one has prolonged exposure while in a
confined space with an infected individual...basically meaning that
direct person-to-person and surface to person contact is the most common
way one gets infected. Second, most viral infections occur within
families via airborne or surface droplets especially when a now formally
well person has close bodily proximity with an infected person. Third,
and this is something not spoken about in the important way that it
should be...that is the relationship between cigarette smoking, vaping,
and the increase in COVID-19 cases.
Vaping
for those unfamiliar with that word is otherwise known as E-cigarettes,
with said cigarettes producing a water vapor that's inhaled through
cartridges that contain either nicotine, flavorings, or cannabis products
along with other assorted chemicals. And when the number of those
vaping is added to both the number and the severity of cases regarding
COVID-19...more specifically to the across the board number of new
cases...we are finding that more and more younger people are being
infected by the virus as opposed to the elderly or chronically ill.
But,
let's start with the smokers first and the fact that while most of the
countries in Europe as well as here in the U.S. might not have the
highest number of smokers in the world...that dubious honor goes to the
nation of Bhutan...it remains an established fact that more younger
people take up smoking than older people do, and that they continue to
smoke for more years than those who have stopped smoking due to health
concerns. Younger people tend to think they're invincible no matter the
fact that tobacco use increases the chances of developing lung cancer,
oral cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease, and blood clots as well
as it increasing the risk of having a heart attack and/or a
stroke...which sadly more and more younger people are having earlier in
life.
And
with so many countries now seeing a sharp rise in younger people coming down with
COVID-19, certain key factors do shed light as to why those countries are
seeing such a dramatic increase not only in the overall number of
coronavirus cases, but in new cases among younger people who do not fit into the
normal pattern of expected victims...victims as in the elderly and those
with chronic preexisting conditions such as high blood pressure, heart
disease or diabetes.
As
of right now three European countries...Italy, France, and Spain...are
seeing a rise in both those presenting with and dying from
COVID-19...especially among those under the age of forty. And smoking
plays a huge part in that particular number where in Spain for example
approximately 29.20% of the population smokes; while 27.70% of those in
France smoke; and 24% of those in Italy smoke; with younger smokers
outnumbering older smokers in said countries. And while here in the
United States that number is smaller with roughly 17% of our population
being smokers, that still translates into about 50 million Americans who
puff away on a daily basis...50 million Americans with those younger
than 40 growing in number.
Now
add in those who vape...and know that vaping is more popular here than
in Europe...a number that has doubled in less than three years...seeing
that number, as per a University of Michigan study, going from 11% to
25% among America's 12th graders; up from 8% to 20% among 10th graders; and
from 4% to 9% among 8th graders; with these stated age groups not so
surprisingly also seeing an increase in those infected with COVID-19.
So
is smoking and vaping the real reason for the continued uptick in
coronavirus case numbers especially here in our country as well as in
younger victims? I believe it is as the very nature of these two acts
and the affects both have on the lungs would see logic dictating that
those who smoke and/or vape would be more affected by this virus than
those who don't. Remember, COVID-19 manifests three ways...either in a
milder upper respiratory form being not that unlike a bad cold, in a
more severe and quite possibly life threatening form that invades the lungs causing more serious forms of pneumonia, and in some showing no outward symptoms but still being carriers.
So how and why does COVID-19 affect different people differently? We have what is called the mucociliary system that lies within our respiratory system and it's this mucociliary
system...a system comprised of thousands upon thousands of hair like
particles called cilia...particles whose primary function is to remove all
the little so-called “dirties” and “nasties”
that always are present in our atmosphere on a day-to-day basis. The problem
with smokers is that depending on how much they smoke and for how many
years they’ve been doing so, their mucociliary
system becomes compromised due to the continuous deposit of nicotine in
their airways. This is turn does not and will not allow for the removal of the
ordinary mundane so-called infectious agents let along the more severe
ones like the virus that causes COVID-19. And to make matters worse,
there is no medication nor treatment available that can rebuild a
compromised mucociliary system.
This
also applies to those who vape as their lungs not only are compromised
by small amounts of nicotine but also by the other assorted unnatural ingredients
present in E-cigarettes...compromised to such a degree that lung
infections in general are increasing in those who vape.
So when the virus presents itself to non-smokers and to non-vapers, those with a totally uncompromised mucociliary
system, see the cilia being able to remove and clean their lungs as nature
intended. And with as previously stated more young people now
contracting COVID-19, both the milder and the more serious lung invading
form, it would be interesting to note how many of those younger folk
now presenting themselves to the ER’s and to other testing areas are
actually smokers and vapers as opposed to non-smokers and non-vapers.
And a similar study could be done in Europe as well most especially in
regards to the age of cigarette smokers newly diagnosed with COVID-19.
And
the all-important bottom line to this is that perhaps smokers in both
young and older age groups as well as those using E-cigarettes should be
added to the list of those in any given population who are considered
more predisposed to the COVID-19 virus. This addition could help head
off an unexpected rush by younger people on hospital beds because
hospitals would have time to prepare. Simply, smoking of any kind should
be added to the list of maladies that contribute to chronic health
problems and thus raising the risk factor for contracting this virus...a
virus that has now proven not to age discriminate.
But
cigarette smoking and vaping aside, none of this negates the fact that
the now worldwide outbreak of COVID-19, along with the outright panic it
has created, could have been if not halted at least quite drastically reduced
if China’s government had not only acted sooner to contain the virus,
but if they had been honest about the outbreak's true date of origin itself.
In fact, a recent study out of Great Britain suggests that if the
Chinese had been forthcoming even by a few weeks, that the virus'
worldwide spread could have been reduced by between sixty-six to
ninety-five percent.
Remember,
the first case officially announcing the ground zero emergence of this
new strain of coronavirus...and know that coronaviruses are naturally
occurring not some man-made concoction created in a mad scientist's
bio-weapons lab...wasn't publicly reported on by Chinese authorities
until last November 17th when in actually 266 people had already been
infected and were sick weeks before said date. In fact, numerous
epidemiologists familiar with current COVID-19 case data believe that
the virus made the jump...the cross-species contamination...from animals
(it's believed from bats) to humans as early as October, and that
Chinese officials knew this and deliberately kept it mum for they knew
the panic and the fallout it would create.
And
it was this very silence by the Chinese government that allowed unnecessary fear
to seep into the public domain as rumors and innuendo became facts which
in turn then morphed into conspiracy theories all of which helped sound the
panic alarm that our beloved America was now in trouble. And with that
alarm being sounded partisan politics was again allowed to rear its ugly head with
those on the left hoping said panic would help to destroy America's economy
thus sending us into a recession so deep that escalating inflation would
force us to see that only socialism could save us. And all over a virus
that kills far less people than the ordinary flu does.
So
while COVID-19 cases have yet to level off here in this country, I do
hope that if nothing else is learned from all this that medical
professionals at least add smoking of all kinds to the list of major
contributing factors that makes one more susceptible to the virus out of
China that has us all currently still sequestered at home...with the
cigarette lobby be damned.
Copyright @ 2020 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved.
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For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article, The Pandemic Panic in Proper Perspective.
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Knowing what we do about Iran’s torture of prisoners, it’s amazing he
lived this long. Democrats shill for these bloodthirsty barbarians.
But
cigarette smoking and vaping aside, none of this negates the fact that
the now worldwide outbreak of COVID-19, along with the outright panic it
has created, could have been if not halted at least quite drastically reduced
if China’s government had not only acted sooner to contain the virus,
but if they had been honest about the outbreak's true date of origin itself.
In fact, a recent study out of Great Britain suggests that if the
Chinese had been forthcoming even by a few weeks, that the virus'
worldwide spread could have been reduced by between sixty-six to
ninety-five percent. 
RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS 