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Anxious times — like a pandemic — can lead to unhealthy but self-soothing habits, whether it’s reaching for a bag of potato chips, more chocolate or another glass of wine. But some stress-reducing behaviors are alarming to medical experts right now — namely vaping and smoking of tobacco or marijuana. Because the coronavirus attacks the lungs, this is exactly the moment, they say, when people should be tapering — or better yet, stopping — their use of such products, not escalating them. (Hoffman, 4/9)

The increased risk for COVID-19 pneumonia in people who smoke cigarettes or have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be at least partly explained by increased levels of an enzyme that enables the virus to more easily enter their lungs, according to a research letter published today in the European Respiratory Journal. (Van Beusekom, 4/9)

Attorney General Maura Healey and Massachusetts General Hospital warned that smoking and vaping may increase the risk of severe illness from COVID-19, in an advisory sent Thursday to medical professionals, educators, and parent and advocacy groups. Healey and Mass. General assert that smoking and vaping damage the lungs and weaken the immune system, putting people at greater risk of needing hospitalization and advanced life support if they become infected. (Freyer, 4/9)