Nicotine as a Potential Therapy for COVID?

[McCamy Taylor]

22. 1985 study, nicotine cuts down apneic spells in sleep apnea

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3965253

Reduced upper airway muscle activity may contribute to the occurrence of obstructive apneas during sleep. There is no uniformly successful treatment of these apneas, and it is possible that agents which increase upper airway muscle activity could reduce the occurrence of obstruction during sleep. Nicotine, a known stimulant of breathing, also increases the activity of muscles which dilate the upper airway proportionally more than it does ventilation. Hence, we evaluated the effect of nicotine on apneas during the first two hours of sleep in eight patients with sleep apnea syndrome. It was concluded that nicotine reduces apneas during the early hours of sleep, and this effect may be caused by its stimulating action on upper airway muscles.

Unfortunately, since nicotine is like aspirin (not patented) it is very unlikely that any drug company will invest money in studies of its efficacy as a medicine. They are more likely to tweak it, make a new molecule that can then be patented and then do studies. At least, that is what I would have said before COVID.

Opium is one of nature's wonder drugs. So is willow bark (aspirin). So is foxglove (digitalis). Maybe the first Americans were on to something when they used tobacco in an unadulterated form for medicinal purposes.