GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Smoking is a destructive addiction and is often triggered by stress. Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Americans that smoke could be putting themselves at a higher risk for surviving the virus.
Regardless of its relationship to coronavirus, Spectrum Health tobacco treatment specialist Libby Stern says that smoking is dangerous for your overall health. She recognizes how nicotine provides a suppressant in highly stressful environments.
"Nicotine in the brain produces a feeling of 'phew,' you know? Kind of like contentment, satisfaction, safety," she says.
Beginning Tuesday May 6, Stern will host Quit 101 with Spectrum Health, a free virtual class for tobacco and nicotine cessation of four weekly session starting at 6:30 p.m. Stern says being at home in quarantine is a great opportunity to commit to quitting. Register for the class here.
"A lot of times when people are at home they're not exposed to a lot of their usual routines," she says. "They're not going to work they're not seeing certain people or trigger situations they can also take more time to focus on what's going to work for me, what have I tried before, what didn't work and how can I navigate that a little more successfully."
During the pandemic, Stern says there's a great incentive to quit now. She added that no matter how long a person has been smoking, he or she will benefit from quitting.
The CDC warns that "older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions might be at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19."
Dr. Ranelle Brew is the program director and an associate professor for the Public Health program at Grand Valley State University. She ties smoking to those underlying health conditions the CDC says is high risk for fighting coronavirus.
"I think what we do know is that underlying health conditions are an issue and when we think about smoking as it ties to lung disease and chronic diseases including heart disease and we have seen that being an issue across the board in the United States," she said.
Data collected by French scientists suggest that "among epidemiological risk factors, the role of smoking, to date, is unclear." And earlier this week, the New York Times reported that "French researchers are preparing to launch a human trial to test their hypothesis that nicotine can help the body combat the COVID-19 infection."
However, experts tell 13 ON YOUR SIDE that this study does not reflect the data collected about the link between smoking and high risk factors for coronavirus.
"Its crazy," says Stern. "It makes absolutely no sense and its certainly not what pulmonologists and what we are seeing over here."
To register to attend 'Quit 101 Spectrum Health' or to learn more about ways to quit smoking, reach out to Libby Stern at Spectrum Health at elizabeth.stern@spectrumhealth.org
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