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Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,845
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: If You Do This...You are Twice as likely to develop severe Covid 19


@SeaMaiden wrote:

@millieshops    I foolishly smoked for several years  and quit cold turkey one day  in 1980. and never looked back.I understand the addiction for those who smoke..... 

 

M y quiting smoking was a decision based on my health and wanting to LIVE. 

 

It was  one really good decision I made in my life that I feel saved my life as I was pretty addicted.

 

 


@SeaMaiden I quit cold turkey too in 1981!...just before I got married.

 

It was hard and I wanted to quit for several years.  I finally decided when I happened to have a bad sore throat. 

 

It was too painful to smoke so I didn't for that day....next day I felt the same and I didn't smoke due to my illness for several days.  I figured it was now or never since I had the opportunity to stop right then.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 21,733
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: If You Do This...You are Twice as likely to develop severe Covid 19


@haddon9 wrote:

@SeaMaiden wrote:

@millieshops    I foolishly smoked for several years  and quit cold turkey one day  in 1980. and never looked back.I understand the addiction for those who smoke..... 

 

M y quiting smoking was a decision based on my health and wanting to LIVE. 

 

It was  one really good decision I made in my life that I feel saved my life as I was pretty addicted.

 

 


@SeaMaiden I quit cold turkey too in 1981!...just before I got married.

 

It was hard and I wanted to quit for several years.  I finally decided when I happened to have a bad sore throat. 

 

It was too painful to smoke so I didn't for that day....next day I felt the same and I didn't smoke due to my illness for several days.  I figured it was now or never since I had the opportunity to stop right then.


@haddon9, my parents were big smokers. I vividly recall that when my mother had a cold, she would switch to menthol cigs. :-)

 

Congrats to you and all who have quit. It can be hellish to accomplish.


~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,845
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: If You Do This...You are Twice as likely to develop severe Covid 19


@suzyQ3 wrote:

@haddon9 wrote:

@SeaMaiden wrote:

@millieshops    I foolishly smoked for several years  and quit cold turkey one day  in 1980. and never looked back.I understand the addiction for those who smoke..... 

 

M y quiting smoking was a decision based on my health and wanting to LIVE. 

 

It was  one really good decision I made in my life that I feel saved my life as I was pretty addicted.

 

 


@SeaMaiden I quit cold turkey too in 1981!...just before I got married.

 

It was hard and I wanted to quit for several years.  I finally decided when I happened to have a bad sore throat. 

 

It was too painful to smoke so I didn't for that day....next day I felt the same and I didn't smoke due to my illness for several days.  I figured it was now or never since I had the opportunity to stop right then.


@haddon9, my parents were big smokers. I vividly recall that when my mother had a cold, she would switch to menthol cigs. :-)

 

Congrats to you and all who have quit. It can be hellish to accomplish.


@suzyQ3 Thanks!  It was very hard and I can remember wanting to smoke so badly particularly when out socializing or at a bar or restaurant. 

 

Now though thank goodness smoking has been banned at indoor public places.  It's been a long time since I had that desire.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 21,733
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: If You Do This...You are Twice as likely to develop severe Covid 19


@haddon9 wrote:

@suzyQ3 wrote:

@haddon9 wrote:

@SeaMaiden wrote:

@millieshops    I foolishly smoked for several years  and quit cold turkey one day  in 1980. and never looked back.I understand the addiction for those who smoke..... 

 

M y quiting smoking was a decision based on my health and wanting to LIVE. 

 

It was  one really good decision I made in my life that I feel saved my life as I was pretty addicted.

 

 


@SeaMaiden I quit cold turkey too in 1981!...just before I got married.

 

It was hard and I wanted to quit for several years.  I finally decided when I happened to have a bad sore throat. 

 

It was too painful to smoke so I didn't for that day....next day I felt the same and I didn't smoke due to my illness for several days.  I figured it was now or never since I had the opportunity to stop right then.


@haddon9, my parents were big smokers. I vividly recall that when my mother had a cold, she would switch to menthol cigs. :-)

 

Congrats to you and all who have quit. It can be hellish to accomplish.


@suzyQ3 Thanks!  It was very hard and I can remember wanting to smoke so badly particularly when out socializing or at a bar or restaurant. 

 

Now though thank goodness smoking has been banned at indoor public places.  It's been a long time since I had that desire.


@haddon9. a bit of topic. When I had pneumonia a couple years ago, I was so miserable that I couldn't enjoy our nightly wine with dinner. I couldn't even eat dinner.

 

That lasted for at least two or three weeks, during which I thought why not stop this habit? I haven't had a drop since, of any alcoholic drink. For several months, though, it was tricky because it was an ingrained habit that I looked forward to. I was most definitely not physically addicted but just addicted to the routine.

 

Now? Nada. No desire at all. I think it's better for my health, especially because I am so thin. It's actually very comforting not to have that habit anymore.


~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,845
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: If You Do This...You are Twice as likely to develop severe Covid 19

@suzyQ3 Good for you!  Sometimes when we're not feeling well, it's a good time to reevaluate and take steps to make positive health changes.

 

I enjoy a nice glass of wine or a cocktail occasionally.  I only have it when we go out or for special occasions.  Last time I had wine was Christmas.  NYE was kind of boring & low key so I didn't even bother.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,401
Registered: ‎07-15-2016

Re: If You Do This...You are Twice as likely to develop severe Covid 19

I  saw an article recently from ABC News, that in SF, more people died from drug overdose vs. Covid.  This is from Dec. 2020:

 

A record 621 people died of drug overdoses in San Francisco so far this year, a staggering number that far outpaces the 173 deaths from COVID-19 the city has seen thus far.

 

 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,213
Registered: ‎03-30-2014

Re: If You Do This...You are Twice as likely to develop severe Covid 19

But some states will let you move up the vaccine line.  Maybe we should take it up?

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,309
Registered: ‎12-01-2012

Re: If You Do This...You are Twice as likely to develop severe Covid 19

Early on, statistics from Italy and then China found that smokers were actually "under-represented" in hospitalized Covid cases and surprisingly not in the majority of fatalities.

 

Articles on this were hard to find, being mixed in with articles that said the opposite, that smokers were at greater risk.

 

It was speculated in a couple of these articles that smoking might alter the cells of the lungs enough to where the spikes of the virus could not attach as easily.

 

Not recommending anyone goes out and smokes to prevent being infected, just saying that there have been early studies that were showing the opposite. 

 

 

 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 19,347
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: If You Do This...You are Twice as likely to develop severe Covid 19

Most of us probably assumed that. Smoking is such a bad habit.

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,309
Registered: ‎12-01-2012

Re: If You Do This...You are Twice as likely to develop severe Covid 19

Here is a snip from an Italian study:

 

"At the University-Hospital of Padova, located in the Veneto Region, one of the areas in Italy most affected by COVID-19, between 15 March and 10 April, 2020, 132 patients were assessed in our clinic for SARS-CoV-2 related pneumonia. The analysis of patients' smoking history showed that no-one was a current smoker, with 112 patients (84.8%) who had never smoked and 20 (15.2%) who were former smokers. These data are in agreement with those from China [36]. Furthermore, there was no difference in the disease severity between patients who never smoked and former smokers. These data are even more striking if we consider that the percentage of current smokers in Italy and in the Veneto Region is 25.7% and 22.7%, respectively (www.epicentro.iss.it/passi/dati/fumo).

Thus, the conclusions of Leung et al. [1] to consider cigarette smoking as a severe risk factor for COVID-19 pneumonia are in contrast with the strong and consolidated epidemiological data coming from China [36] that have been confirmed also in our patients."

 

https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/55/6/2001290