@Spartacus
I have seen some literature about how Nicotine stops other things from bonding to ACE receptors and that it could be a good counter to Covid..
Would you have any comments about that?
What about alcohol? As in recreational alcohol consumption.. What if any effect could you see that having on a Covid infection?
I am curious because I personally went through having Covid just a couple months ago, and I smoke, and I drink more than most people I suppose..
When I caught Covid I did not stop smoking or even smoke less, I took a Bayer aspirin a few times a day (thought it might help against heart troubles, and general soreness), and I bought a couple gallons of Merlot wine to quarantine with..
I smoked as usual and basically drank the wine all day every day in quarantine..
I had a headache for a day and body aches for about 2-3 days, and felt like I didn’t have a lot of energy for a couple days after that..
I also lost my taste and smell for about a week which then gradually came back..
I caught Covid along with 4-5 other coworkers at the same time of exposure..
I had the LEAST severe case out of all of us..
Some younger than me, some older, some in better shape (non-smoker/younger/non-drinker), some in worse shape (fatter)..
I had the least severe case of all..
Could it have had to do with me sipping wine and smoking the whole time? Nicotine and wine antioxidants?
Idk..
Btw we all caught it from someone who had both doses of the Pfizer vax, and he had almost no symptoms..
Ok so maybe he had less symptoms than me, but he was basically an unknowing spreader, who infected almost our entire crew..
I personally know well that vaccinated people can run around spreading Covid and no paper in the world will convince me otherwise..
Am I just super lucky and have good (French/German) genetics, or did I do something right?
Btw gave merits to both of you because I am enjoying your conversation..
A good debate is best to bring out truth, thanks both of you..
(Though I will remain skeptical that both of you could be paid shills, can’t trust anything these days)
There were some papers that indicated that smoking might be protective against COVID-19. This was based on an observation, early on, that smokers were underrepresented in severe COVID-19 cases in China, a country with a lot of dudes who smoke.
They wrote a paper on it that speculated that it was the nicotine:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7436654/However, cigarette smoke itself also contains nitric oxide, and upregulates NOS expression, essentially acting as pulsed inhaled nitric oxide therapy:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10462035/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12215243/See also:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7276137/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8117664/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7754882/There are other ways to raise systemic nitric oxide, like the enterosalivary dietary nitrate pathway, where intake of foods high in dietary nitrates (leafy greens and beets and the like) increases endothelial nitric oxide release.
Raising systemic nitric oxide levels actually makes it harder for SARS-like viruses to infect cells. In order for SARS-CoV-2 Spike to fuse with ACE2, it has to undergo a processing step called palmitoylation where fatty acids are attached to it. Nitric oxide cockblocks this. This is why fat, diabetic, hypertensive, old, and/or black people suffer from COVID-19 the worst. Their intrinsic endothelial dysfunction causes a shift in the redox equilibrium of their blood vessels, leaving them with less nitric oxide to go around.
You might have seen a bunch of shit-stirring articles going on about African-Americans suffering more severe COVID-19 because of "systemic inequality" in access to healthcare. This is bullshit. The disparity remains when you correct for wealth. It's the lower nitric oxide levels that come with endothelial dysfunction that's killing them.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15159296/https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/86023https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/clinical-study-begins-for-the-first-oral-systemic-nitric-oxide-based-therapeutic-for-african-americans-with-covid-19/I am aware of entire studies that point to the possible benefits of CBD, in fact.
https://www.aging-us.com/article/202500/texthttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7907157/