Production: Pablo Cantudo
Respiratory diseases are a risk factor in patients with COVID-19 that worsen the prognosis, such as COPD or asthma, and also smoking. Dr. Roig Vázquez points out that, in the case of asthmatics, those who control the disease the worst are those who develop the worst prognosis.
The doctor also points out a characteristic in common between these asthma and COPD: they are chronic inflammatory diseases, with a series of peculiarities, with respect to other respiratory patients: they generate a lot of mucus, their microbiome is peculiar, and both asthmatic patients and patients COPD patients have an overexposure of ACE2 receptors, which are what ‘open the door to the virus’.
Regarding smoking, Roig recommends us to differentiate between smokers without respiratory pathologies, and smokers with pathologies. The former will not have a greater risk of suffering from the disease, but it does predispose them to have more infectious diseases. Therefore, the inflammation produced by COVID-19 worsens with smoking. A smoker develops pneumonia fourteen times more severe than a person who does not smoke; In addition, your risk of ending up in the ICU due to an infection by this coronavirus is multiplied by 2.5.
What is the typical severe COVID-19 patient like?
Roig Vázquez describes the four characteristics that define a typical severe COVID-19 patient: “They tend to be people over 65, men, obese and smokers.” In addition, there are other comorbidities that, combined or not with these factors, worsen a clinical case. “We will hardly see severe cases of COVID-19 among people with near-perfect tests.”
In severe cases, COVID-19 triggers a cytokine storm that, if left out of control, can lead the body to collapse. Cytokines are secreted by the body to defend itself against infection. This fact, combined with an aging or weakened immune system, plus other adjacent diseases, cause the serious pictures of COVID-19, as described by Dr. Roig.
Monoclonal anti-Img antibodies, the doctor describes, serve to stop or control this cytokine storm, which will largely depend on whether the patient lives or dies.
COPD, an underdiagnosed disease
It is paradoxical that, precisely, the number of people with COPD among patients admitted with COVID-19 is not too overrepresented compared to the general population. However, let’s not get confused: Dr. Roig points out that COPD may be an underrepresented disease.
