Common cold likely to affect smokers more than non-smokers, says new study

You don’t need any more reasons to quit smoking. But here’s one more anyway. A new research says that smokers tend to be more susceptible to rhinovirus infection or common cold than non-smokers.

Upneet Pansare | Updated: September 12, 2018 10:17 am

Smokers are more susceptible to common cold © Shutterstock

Do you suffer from common cold more frequently than some of your friends? Researchers from Yale have found out why some people are more susceptible to common cold. Their study revealed that smokers tend to get affected by the common virus more than non-smokers. According to them, the defence response of our bodies against oxidative stress in the form of cigarette smoke shut off antiviral defences. This makes the nasal cells more susceptible to the virus. Basically, your body concentrates all its efforts on fighting the ill effects of cigarette smoke but, in this process, fails to fight the virus as well which makes the common cold virus grow better.

According to Ellen Foxman, the lead researcher, ‘the airway lining protects against viruses but also other harmful substances that enter airways.’ When there are two different stressors, ‘your airway is trying to deal with another stress type, it can adapt but the cost is susceptibility to rhinovirus infection.’

Rhinovirus is a leading cause of common cold, acute respiratory infections and asthma attacks, but infections are also frequently cleared from the nasal mucosa without causing symptoms, says the study by Yale University. Some people, however, are prone to the infection caused by the common cold virus.

An earlier study by Yale had shown why the common cold and flu virus symptoms are more severe in smokers than non-smokers. Smoking puts you at risk of several diseases like cancer, lung diseases and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Lead author Jack A Elias, MD, the Waldermar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Medicine and chair of internal medicine at Yale School of Medicine was quoted on Yale News saying that the findings suggested that ‘smokers do not get in trouble because they can’t clear or fight off the virus; they get in trouble because they overreact to it.’

Published: September 12, 2018 10:12 am | Updated:September 12, 2018 10:17 am

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