Current smokers have increased risk for hospitalization, mortality; genetically predicted propensity to start smoking also linked to risks<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
TUESDAY, Sept. 28, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Smoking seems to have a causal effect on the risk for severe COVID-19, according to a study published online Sept. 27 in Thorax<\/em>.<\/p>\n Ashley K. Clift, M.B.B.S., from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and colleagues conducted a large-scale observational analysis and Mendelian randomization analyses using U.K. Biobank data. The associations between smoking status and confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, COVID-19-related hospitalization, and COVID-19-related death were examined. Data were included for 421,469 participants and for 1,649 confirmed infections, 968 COVID-19-related hospitalizations, and 444 COVID-19-related deaths.<\/p>\n The researchers found that current smokers had elevated risks for hospitalization compared with never-smokers (odds ratio, 1.80) and for mortality (odds ratios, 2.14, 5.91, and 6.11 for smoking one to nine, 10 to 19, and 20+ cigarettes\/day). In Mendelian randomization analyses of 281,105 White British participants, the risks for infection and hospitalization were increased for a genetically predicted propensity to initiate smoking (odds ratios, 1.45 and 1.60, respectively). There was also an association for a genetically predicted higher number of cigarettes smoked per day with increased risks for all outcomes (odds ratios, 2.51, 5.08, and 10.02 for infection, hospitalization, and death, respectively).<\/p>\n “The congruence of observational analyses indicating associations with recent smoking behaviors and Mendelian randomization analyses indicating associations with lifelong predisposition to smoking and smoking heaviness support a causal effect of smoking on COVID-19 severity,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries.<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text<\/a><\/p>\n