Various symptoms can be signs or illness from tobacco use

Combining the two could be a recipe for disaster

When someone coughs in public it is no longer perceived as just a bystander with a dry throat, asthma or a smoker choking on a cigarette. A cough in 2020 could mean millions of tiny 

COVID-19 contaminated particles floating into the air and then falling on you or a surface that you touch, causing you to become ill or possibly die.

A cough has also been a simple sign that more serious health issues may soon follow. This is true for both smokers and those that have COVID-19. Smoking leads to disease and disability and harms nearly every organ of the body. Couple that with COVID-19 and the chances of becoming ill or dying increase significantly.

“The COVID-19 pandemic represents the greatest medical and public health challenge in decades,” said Amy Winter, Director of the Office of Tobacco Control for the Mississippi State Department of Health. “Scientists are still learning about the disease, but we know that "https://smokefree.gov/quit-smoking/why-you-should-quit/health-effects"smoking weakens the immune system, which makes it harder for your body to fight disease. If you continue to smoke, you also have a greater risk for respiratory infections.”

More than 16 million Americans are living with a disease caused by smoking. For every person who dies because of smoking, at least 30 people live with a serious smoking-related illness. Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. 

Smoking also increases risk for tuberculosis, certain eye diseases, and problems of the immune system, including rheumatoid arthritis. And for those with heart or lung disease caused by smoking, you may be at higher risk of having severe illness from COVID-19. 

“Tobacco use remains the number one cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S.,” said Beverly Knox, Director of the Mississippi Tobacco-Free Coalition of Noxubee, Neshoba, and Kemper Counties.  “Tobacco kills more than 480,000 people per year and sadly that’s still more than COVID-19. You have to protect yourself from COVID-19, but if you need help quitting smoking, we have free tools. ”  

For more information and resources about the dangers of e-cigarettes or tobacco products, visit  ww.healthyms.com/tobacco.