Smoking and Angiotensin-converting Enzyme Inhibitor/Angiotensin Receptor Blocker Cessation to Limit Coronavirus Disease 2019.

Abstract

We read with interest the paper by Komiyama and Hasegawa on the need for smoking cessation as a public health measure to limit the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It seems obvious to reiterate that smoking cessation is advisable to reduce many other severe conditions, such as chronic lung and cardiovascular diseases and some types of cancer, which are leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Cigarette smoking kills more than 8 million people each year worldwide, with more than 7 million of those deaths being the result of direct tobacco use and around 1 million occurring in non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke.