Predicting the Connection between Smoking Habits & Severe COVID-19
Publishing inaccurate information and uninformed messaging tactics can wreak havoc on a population; here’s what COVID-19 and smoking have to teach us about health behavior during a pandemic
Remember the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic? Scientists around the world were racing to identify factors that were linked to risk of COVID-19. There was a great deal of uncertainty. The haste with which COVID studies were conducted brought to light invalid findings, often as a result of the use of biased samples and flawed analytic procedures.
This paper looks beyond the devastating effects of COVID-19, if the “smoker’s paradox” has taught us anything, it is to question everything, just as science does because there is always probability and uncertainty that must be weighed before coming to an understanding. Extraordinary claims must be put to the test with the help of grounded theories and expert-backed human understanding; thankfully we live in an era where we have as many tools as we have excuses to do a better job.
