COVID-19 and Smoking: Is There a Connection?

With COVID-19 burning through the United States, it is beginning to take hold in smaller, more rural areas of the country. More than 138,000 people have died, and the virus does not appear to be going away. Infection rates in Nevada, California, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Florida, and Texas are still spiking. For many smokers, there is one looming question: Is there a connection between COVID-19 and smoking?

As you read this article, keep in mind that there are more resources out there than ever before, to help you on your journey to quitting smoking if you choose to do so. Smokefree.gov and other international sites have free and comprehensive tools to help you make a reasonable plan for smoking cessation.

Quit Tracker: Stop Smoking and Stop Smoking - EasyQuit free are highly rated smartphone apps that will help you make a plan that is tailored to your needs. They will send you inspirational thoughts, give you strategies to confront triggers, and track how much money you are saving while you break your habit. The applications even have rewards for reaching the goals you set for yourself.

Tobacco-free products, like https://blackbuffalo.com, are an alternative to smoking or an aid to stepping down your habit. For people 21 and older, they deliver the ritual that you love about smoking and pharmaceutical-grade nicotine, without exposing you to smoke inhalation or tobacco.

Smoking Tobacco

All national and international health organizations stress the damage that COVID-19 may deliver to your lungs. Currently, there are no peer-reviewed studies that outline how smoking affects the risk of infection and complications from COVID-19. However, both can damage the same parts of your lungs, especially the small air sacs called alveoli.

Alveoli are at the end of the small air passageways in the lungs called bronchioles. They are the workhorses of the lungs. Alveoli are responsible for the exchange of carbon dioxide for oxygen in the body. They also pump air into the lungs and blood through them.

Smoking causes severe damage to these tiny air sacs, and that damage causes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, and COPD. Each time you inhale the smoke from a cigarette, it bombards those air sacs with toxic particles and damaging gas.

The inhaled toxic particles and gases from each cigarette you smoke are deposited on the delicate thin sac linings, and they never get a chance to heal themselves until you quit smoking. As the linings thicken from damage, the alveoli become less efficient in providing oxygen for the body.

COVID-19 and Lungs

COVID-19 has a similar effect on alveoli as smoking does. While many people infected are asymptomatic or have a mild illness as a result, some are not as lucky. COVID-19 can cause a syndrome called ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome).

ARDS damages the walls and lining cells of those tiny air sacs, reducing their ability to diffuse oxygen and carbon dioxide.  This effectively prevents the lungs from doing one of their most important jobs: providing oxygen to the rest of the body.

The virus causes debris to be deposited on those important thin walls, making them thicker. This is similar to the toxins deposited by smoking. When the walls of the alveoli thicken, they cannot exchange the carbon dioxide for oxygen efficiently. Eventually, many with ARDS are placed onto ventilators so that machines can help them get that critical oxygen. People who survive often have permanent lung damage.

Quitting Smoking

It is easier said than done. The majority of smokers try to quit 8 to 10 times before they are successful, and many try up to 30 times. The best way to ensure a successful campaign is to make a plan, gather resources and support, establish a quit date, and follow-through. 

Gather Resources and Support Before You Quit

When preparing to quit, tell your friends and family. Explain what your plan is and ask for their support. Describe how relapse can be part of the process of quitting, but outline the steps you will take to be successful.

Analyze your triggers and ask your support system to help confront temptation when it rears its ugly head. If you have smoking buddies, explain your focused goal and ask for their support. Most smokers have tried to quit before and will be there for you during this process. Make sure you instruct them never to give you a cigarette, even if you are begging.

Often, smoking friends and socializing are triggers for those of us trying to quit. Alcohol reduces your impulse control, so staying away from it is sometimes necessary for a period of time after you give up cigarettes. When out with friends, grab a mocktail. It enables you to enjoy your friends and still focus on your goals.

Mark Your Quit Date

Visualize your life after quitting and mark your calendar. Setting this date in the future allows you to clean out your car of all smoking materials, walk through your home and remove lighters and ashtrays, and repeatedly visualize life after you quit.

While waiting for your date to come, establish a simple, but regular exercise habit. Practicing an exercise routine allows you to incorporate healthy new patterns into your daily life. Make this a special day, and look forward to celebrating annually for the rest of your smoke-free life.