Vaping links to COVID19 risk are becoming clear | via nytimes
Twenty-year-old Janan Moein vaped his first pen a year ago. By late fall, he was blowing through several THC-laced cartridges a week — more, he said, than most people can handle.
When he contracted a mild case of COVID-19 during a family barbecue 3 months ago, he knew he had quit not a moment too soon. “If I had caught COVID-19 within the week before I got really ill, I probably would have died,” he said. “It is quite clear that smoking and vaping are bad for the lungs, and the predominant symptoms of COVID are respiratory. Those 2 things are going to be bad in combination.”
These and other lingering questions have made the risks of smoking and vaping during the pandemic tough to communicate. “Lungs aren’t designed to regularly breathe in smoke and vape,” said Dr. Drew Harris, a pulmonologist at UVA Health in Virginia. These products, he added, “do just about everything bad you can think of.”
A body hamstrung by a smoking habit can struggle to rouse a sufficient defense against viruses — but has little trouble turning its arsenal of weapons inward. Eventually, deteriorating lungs can become chronically inflamed and awash with mucus, narrowing the airways and stymieing the flow of oxygen into the blood. Certain patients may end up with lungs pockmarked by scar tissue, further impeding the movement of air.
Less is known about vaping, a relative newcomer. But similar trends have been noted for e-cigarettes and vape pens. Several studies have shown that vaping makes mice more vulnerable to bacteria and viruses, and sends surges of inflammation throughout the body, beyond the boundaries of the lungs. “Just because he feels 100 percent recovered doesn’t mean his lung function returned to 100 percent,” she said.
“If you have higher expression, you’re going to have more virus entering cells,” Crotty Alexander said. “I’m now seeing the same sort of data come out on the vaping side.” Still unclear are the long-term consequences of COVID’s effects on those who smoked or vaped. Accumulating evidence suggests that the coronavirus can wreak havoc on blood vessels, seeding clots that suffocate and warp tissues, including the lungs — most likely making any smoking or vaping after COVID even more dangerous than before.
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
QC partners with private companies, NGOs in fight vs COVID-19 - Manila BulletinQuezon City has partnered with private companies and non-government organizations (NGOs) in handling the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic through promoting proper hygiene to curb its spread and helping residents affected by the crisis. One of the city and its partners’ efforts in fight against COVID-19 was the launching of Manila Water Foundation’s (MWF) […]
Read more »
DFA: 18 more Filipinos abroad catch COVID-19; no new fatalities reported
Read more »
New Zealand records first COVID-19 death in over 3 monthsThe death at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital takes New Zealand's death toll from the virus to 23, with the most recent previous fatality on May 24
Read more »
'The Batman' production shut down due to COVID-19Production on 'The Batman,' the forthcoming film starring Robert Pattinson, has been halted after a member of the production tested positive for coronavirus, according to Warner Bros. Pictures.
Read more »
DOH: No new COVID-19 strain targeting young to middle-aged adultsThere is no new strain of the coronavirus that is infecting young to middle-aged adults in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) said...
Read more »
Cebu City logs 5 new COVID-19 casesCDNTopStories Cebu City logged its lowest number of new coronavirus cases on Thursday, September 3, 2020, data from the regional health office showed. Read more: CDNDigital
Read more »