COVID and Vaping

As Covid19 is still around us, we are getting more concerned about our health and how to stay safe. Of course, our minds are going to run away with us and get us all paranoid asking questions, like can I use my vape for treating Covid or are covid and vaping related enough so I have a higher risk of contamination because I vape?

First, getting yourself worked up is not going to make the virus disappear so take a deep breath, get comfortable, and read on.

Is there a correlation between nicotine usage and COVID19?

There is currently not enough information to confirm if vaping nicotine or tobacco can treat or prevent COVID-19. WHO urges researchers, scientists, and the media to be cautious about amplifying unproven claims that tobacco or nicotine could reduce the risk of COVID-19. WHO is constantly evaluating new research, including that which examines the link between tobacco use, nicotine use, and COVID-19.

Is Covid and vaping related enough so we have a higher risk of contamination because of vaping?

There is no evidence about the relationship between e-cigarette use and COVID-19 as of yet.

What can COVID19 do to your lungs?

COVID-19 is a respiratory disease, it especially reaches into your respiratory tract and this includes your lungs.

According to the https://www.webmd.com/lung/what-does-covid-do-to-your-lungs “COVID-19 can cause a range of breathing problems, from mild to critical. Older adults and people who have other health conditions like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes may have more serious symptoms.”

Let us Have a look at what COVID-19 can do to our lungs:

Coronavirus and Your Lungs

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is part of the coronavirus family.

When the virus gets into your body it meets the mucous membranes that line your nose, mouth, and eyes. The virus enters a healthy cell and uses the cell to make new virus parts. You can almost think of it as it takes a new healthy cell and then makes its home inside of it. It multiplies, and the new viruses infect the cells that are close to it.

In the life science class, we learned that our respiratory tract can be seen as an upside-down tree. The trunk of the tree represents the trachea or windpipe and then it splits into smaller branches in your lungs. Now we get to the leaves of the tree or let me rather say the end of the branch, this is air sacs which are called alveoli. This is where oxygen goes into your blood and carbon dioxide comes out.

The coronavirus can infect the upper or lower part of your respiratory tract. It travels down your airways. The lining can then become irritated and inflamed. It can sometimes even go as far as the infection reaching your alveoli.

As the infection travels your respiratory tract, your immune system is there to fight back. This is when your lungs and airways swell and become inflamed.

About 80% of people who have the virus get symptoms that are mild to moderate symptoms may include a dry cough or sore throat. Some people have pneumonia, a lung infection in which the alveoli are inflamed.

Doctors can see signs of respiratory inflammation on a chest X-ray or a CT scan. On a chest CT, they may see something they call “ground-glass opacity” because it looks like the frosted glass of the shower door.

Is Hydroxychloroquine approved to treat the COVID 19 disease?

President Trump and even President Bolsonaro of Brazil used this as a preventive measure. But later studies have proven it not effective as a treatment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has stopped its trials because they say that the drug does not reduce the death rate in patients with the virus.

What is hydroxychloroquine for?

Hydroxychloroquine has been used to treat malaria for a long time now as well as other conditions like lupus and arthritis.

It’s used to reduce fever and inflammation, and the hope that it can also prevent the virus.

Early studies that were done showed that it shortens the duration of the symptoms that the patients experienced but later studies indicated no positive effect.

“One of the world’s largest studies – the Recovery trial run by Oxford University – has involved 11,000 patients with coronavirus in hospitals across the UK and included testing hydroxychloroquine’s effectiveness against the disease, along with other potential treatments.”

It concluded that “there is no beneficial effect of hydroxychloroquine in patients hospitalized with Covid-19” and the drug has now been pulled from the trial.”

There are more than 200 trials currently being done over the world to see if it can prevent the virus or treat it.

I hoped you guys found this article interesting and helpful. Stay Safe!