Study confirms correlation


"Anyone who is still smoking these days should stop immediately," said the health spokesperson for the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), Dr. med. Peter Liese.  For weeks now, the doctor has been drawing attention to the correlation between smoking and a possibly severe course of corona disease. Now Liese's fears have been supported in a study published in the "European Respiratory Journal": "There are many indications that smoking is one of the major risk factors for being much more severely affected by the corona virus that could even lead to death".

The study examined patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and healthy people. A distinction was also made between smokers, former smokers and non-smokers. According to the researchers, smokers and people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have a significantly higher risk of being exposed to severe corona disease. Liese believes that anyone who still does not manage to quit smoking could use an e-cigarette as a last resort: "According to my information available, e-cigarettes are a good alternative for people who are not able to quit smoking. It is very unrealistic that the e-cigarette will cause deaths in Europe, as it did in the USA, because we banned the substance that led to the deaths in EU law years ago," Liese concluded.