Health experts say smokers and vapers are at greater risk for COVID-19

FOX 2 - We know COVID-19 thrives on those who have pre-existing health issues. One thing the president of the American Health Association wants Detroiters to know is this:

"if you smoke or if you Vape, that puts you at a greater risk for severe COVID-19 disease," said Dr. Susan Bailey. "Now could not be a better time to quit."

   
Dr. Bailey says the bottom line is this: Smoking damages your lung tissue even if you don't feel it or know it. That puts you at greater risk because the lungs are the biggest target of Covid. But it's not just cigarettes.

A recent study came out of Stanford University that showed that teens, kids that smoke E-cigarettes are more likely to get COVID-19 and have severe problems," she said. "You would not think that they would have much lung disease yet, but it does definitely seem to be a problem. It is very clear that smoking, Vaping, and COVID-19 are a terrible combination."

And if you don't quit for yourself think about second-hand smoke and your loved ones who have to be around it.

"We know that secondhand smoke can increase people's risk of lung cancer, of asthma and other types of lung problems," Bailey said. "Even though we don't have good data on this yet, we are still kind of new at this pandemic even though it seems like it has been around a long time, it makes sense that those that are exposed to secondhand smoke would be at increased risk for COVID-19 lung problems."

Matthew Myers, the President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids says it's not just the smokers, E-cigarettes are very harmful even diminishing your immune system.

"While they have not collected the data when they finally collected, I think there will be no doubt that it increases your risk just as smoking does," Myers said. "So we are at a crucial time, there is never been a more urgent and more immediate time were quitting is critical and if you haven't started don't start now."

If you want to talk to your kids, there's a step by step guide at Tobaccofree.org.

If you are having trouble quitting, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW.