Millions with common lung condition have ‘60% greater risk of dying from coronavirus’

MILLIONS of Brits with a common lung condition have a 60 per cent increased risk of dying from coronavirus, a new study shows.

Researchers found that people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are more likely to develop severe complications or die from Covid-19.

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The scientists, from the University College London, also discovered that current smokers are nearly twice as likely to suffer life-threatening complications compared to those who have never smoked or had quit.

An estimated 1.2 million people are living with diagnosed COPD in the UK, with an estimated 251 million people globally affected by the disease.

COPD causes inflammation in the lungs and a narrowing of the airways – which makes it harder to move air in and out as you breathe.

It usually develops because of long-term damage to your lungs from breathing in a harmful substance, usually cigarette smoke, as well as smoke from other sources and air pollution.

And given the impact coronavirus has on respiratory function, the scientists wanted to understand how a history of COPD – or a history of smoking – correlated with Covid-19 patients.

They collected as many previous studies that assessed Covid-19 and the presence of COPD in patients as they could.

The team narrowed down 123 potential papers to 15 studies with a total of 2,473 confirmed Covid-19 patients.

Their findings, published on Monday in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, revealed that out of that sample, 58 patients – or 2.3 per cent – also had COPD and 221 patients, or nine per cent, also were smokers.

In particular, the data showed critically ill Covid-19 patients who had COPD had a 63 per cent risk of developing a severe illness, and a 60 per cent risk of dying from the deadly bug.

On the other hand, critically ill patients without COPD had only a 33.4 per cent risk of severe disease, and 55 per cent risk of mortality, the researchers said.

Prognosis concerns

“Despite the small number of patients that were analysed, this increases concerns about the prognosis of this vulnerable population,” the study said.

Current smokers were also 1.45 times more likely to have severe complications compared to former and never smokers, they said.

The overall crude mortality rate of the 2,473 cases looked at across the 15 studies was 7.4 per cent.

However, the mortality rate for current smokers was 38.5 per cent, the new study found.

The percentage of smokers in the sample studied (9 per cent) is lower than the “reported prevalence of smoking in China” – the country most studies were pulled from – which is around 25 per cent, but the study found that smokers still had a worse outcome than non-smokers.

The study pointed out that previous research into other respiratory illnesses have “shown that inhaled tobacco smoke raises the transmission rate and severity of viral respiratory tract infections.”

The researchers noted that the results are limited by the fact that few studies were available to review, as well as the diverse locations, settings, and designs of the included studies.

However, the study is the first to specifically investigate the risks posed to Covid-19 patients with a history of COPD.

“Despite the low prevalence of COPD and smoking in Covid-19 cases, COPD and current smokers were associated with greater Covid-19 severity and mortality,” the researchers added.

They recommended that health bosses use telemedicine to help those with COPD be aware of the risks and receive the best possible care.

“We strongly advocate public awareness campaigns concentrating on ways to achieve smoking cessation among smokers, and it is possible that an improvement in cessation rates will help to reduce the spread of [the novel coronavirus],” the study also stated.

The impact of smoking on coronavirus patients is one that researchers have been looking into for months.

The majority of studies have revealed that smoking increases the risk of catching the coronavirus because smokers’ lungs are already damaged.

Although some preliminary studies have discovered that nicotine could be a protective factor against the virus.

Researchers from Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris indicated that smokers were statistically less likely to be admitted for treatment for Covid-19.

Despite this, the World Health Organization (WHO) reiterated Monday in a statement that “tobacco smoking is a known risk factor for many respiratory infections and increases the severity of respiratory diseases.”