Coronavirus: Your COVID symptoms will be worse if you have this lifestyle habit

The COVID infection-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus has a reputation for being unpredictable. From very severe ones to no symptoms at all, the virus had impacted people differently. While some people were hospitalised due to the severity of their condition, there were others who were asymptomatic - and maybe didn't even know about their infection.

The scientists have been trying hard to find out what makes people fall on different sides of the scale. And it turns out, there are a few groups who are more at risk of developing severe illness from COVID. From elderly to people with pre-existing medical conditions, scientists have found out there is another group which is at risk of developing serious complications.

According to a new study, smokers are even more vulnerable to COVID 19. The study was conducted by King's College London and published in the journal Thorax. It examined the data from March to April which included 2.4 million people. Out of these, 11 per cent of people were smokers. As per the study analysis, smokers were 14 per cent more at risk of developing common COVID symptoms. These people were 29 per cent more likely to report more than five symptoms and 50 per cent more likely to report more than 10 symptoms.

All these findings clearly show that smokers are more at risk of suffering from a wide range of COVID-19 symptoms than non-smokers.

More symptoms are related to more severe illness.

As per the study, smokers are two times more likely to be hospitalised than non-smokers and need ICU care and mechanical ventilation. These people might even face long term breathing issues, cough and shortness of breath even after recovering from the infection.

Not just one, multiple studies have found evidence that smokers are at increased risk of severe illness due to COVID. A study conducted in November at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) found that direct cigarette smoke exposure increases the number of cells infected with COVID and the smoke also reduces the immune response when faced with COVID infection.

Smoking creates holes in airways. It reduces the natural defence that allows the virus to set it.

Smokers are not just vulnerable to COVID but many more respiratory illnesses. This is because smoking destroys the cilia in your lungs which are the tiny hair-like structures that trap viruses and foreign substances that sweep them out of the airways.

Smoking makes your produce more mucus, which makes it difficult for the lungs to clear out the mucus due to damaged cilia. These effects of smoking increase a smoker's risk of various respiratory illnesses.