Smokers are more likely to express the ACE2 protein that SARS-COV-2 uses to enter human cells. File photoTOKYO, Jan 20 The risk of severe coronavirus infection is up to two times higher in people who smoke for a long time, while this probability was higher for women, NHK reports citing the Japanese National Research Center for International Health. The study was conducted on the basis of data from 17.6 thousand hospitalized until February last year, aged 20 to 80 years. It turned out that the risk of a severe course of the disease, including the need to connect the patient to a ventilator, was 1.51 times higher in men with a history of smoking, and in women — 1.94 times. Specialists attribute these results to the fact that smokers are more likely to suffer from chronic diseases, have problems with the lungs and heart, which makes them more vulnerable to the virus. gave advice in the midst of an omicron-strain wave
