(STUDY FINDS) — BARCELONA — Researchers in Spain, one of the countries hit the hardest by COVID-19, have just released new research offering up an explanation as to why more men are dying from the deadly coronavirus than women: cigarettes.
Scientists from Universitat Oberta de Catalunya in Barcelona have found overwhelming evidence that tobacco use makes one much more vulnerable to COVID-19. This, combined with the fact that 25% of men in Spain smoke cigarettes in comparison to only 18% of women, led the research team to conclude that tobacco use is a major contributing factor to the high death rate among Spanish men.
Cigarettes and tobacco weaken the cardiovascular system, and over 30% of Spaniards who passed away from COVID-19 already had some form of cardiovascular disease. Male and female COVID-19 patients in Spain are about equal, but the mortality rate for women in early April was 4%. Among men it was 8%.
