Covid has devastated the world, no doubt about that. But somewhere on the sideline, a good thing here and there is blinking out of the covid scenario. According to doctors, a considerable number of smokers quit smoking during the covid.
Especially during the first and second waves of covid, people were very scared, says Dr Prakash, a pulmonologist in Bengaluru. “People would suspect covid infection if they had a cough. They would panic and call me asking if a severe cough means that they think that they are in the final stages of covid and will have to be rushed to the emergency section of the hospital. The isolation, quarantine and other covid protocols scared them to the core. That’s when doctors brought the main question forward: It’s time you quit smoking.”
“Not that I didn’t know the ill effects of smoking. But it was high time I quit. I have a 4-year-old kid and the day I started coughing, the first thing that crossed my mind was if I was covid positive and if I had infected my daughter as well. I had a chill down my spine. After a video consultation with the doctors and a negative covid report, I was relieved for the moment but was not very happy though. So with medication and other help, I finally quit smoking and I am thankful for that,” one smoker said.
But not everyone will be successful with this, says Dr Vishal Rao, head and neck cancer specialist. “Lockdown certainly created a shortage of tobacco products. But a very small population also increased smoking due to loneliness and boredom due to covid lockdown. I have seen a 30% reduction in smokers during the covid period, the ones that quit,” he said.
Nonetheless, let the covid scenario push more people to quit smoking and lead a healthier life, say doctors.
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment