France testing if nicotine can protect people from contracting Covid-19

Nicotine could protect people from contracting the coronavirus, as claimed by new research in France, where further trials are planned to check whether the substance may be wont to prevent or treat the deadly illness.

The findings come after researchers at a top Paris hospital, examined 343 coronavirus patients, together with 139 people infected with the illness with milder symptoms. They found that a low number of them smoked, compared to smoking rates of around 35 per cent in France's general population.

Zahir Amoura, the study's co-author and a professor of general medicine, said, "Among these patients, only five per cent were smokers."

The research echoed similar findings published within the New England Journal of Medicine last month that suggested that 12.6 per cent of 1,000 people infected in China were smokers. According to the World Health Organization (WHO). That was a far lower figure than the number of normal smokers in China's general population, about 26%.

The theory is that nicotine could adhere to cell receptors, therefore blocking the virus from entering cells and spreading within the body, as stated by renown neurobiologist Jean-Pierre Changeux from France's Pasteur Institut who also co-authored the study.

The researchers are awaiting approval from health authorities in France to hold out further clinical trials.

They decide to use nicotine patches on medical experts at the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris where the initial research was conducted to work out if it protects them against contracting the virus.

They have also applied to use the patches on hospitalised patients to work out whether it helps reduce symptoms and even on more medical severe aid patients, Amoura said.

The researchers are looking into whether nicotine could help to stop "cytokine storms", a rapid overreaction of the system that scientists think could play a key role in fatal COVID-19 cases.

But with further research needed, experts aren't encouraging people to choose up smoking or use nicotine patches as a protective measure against the virus.

"We must not forget the harmful effects of nicotine," said Jerome Salomon, France's top health official.

"Those who don't smoke should not use nicotine substitutes", which cause side effects and addiction, he warned.

Tobacco is the best killer in France, with an estimated 75,000 deaths per annum linked to smoking.

France is one in every of the most robust hit countries by the coronavirus in Europe, with over 21,000 deaths and over 155,000 recorded infections.