A Computational Analysis on Nicotine Withdrawal and Cardiac Arrhythmia and Their Effects on COVID-19

Abstract

Certain chronic conditions are becoming increasingly ignored due to the magnitude of COVID-19. However, continued research on these conditions, such as nicotine addiction and heart disease, and how they relate to COVID-19 will help researchers assess case severity more adequately. It has been commonly asserted that smoking cessation will reduce COVID-19 mortality rates for smokers due to how it damages the lungs. However, smoking cessation results in nicotine withdrawal, which is proven to cause side effects that could conversely increase the severity of COVID-19. This study aims to determine how nicotine withdrawal increases the probability of developing cardiac arrhythmia, and how that relationship increases COVID-19 mortality rates. To conduct our study, we compiled datasets from various health organizations, including the CDC and WHO, to find correlations between these three conditions. We first investigated the complications that result from nicotine withdrawal and how they may develop into cardiac arrhythmia. Following initial inquiries, we then calculated how cardiac arrhythmia increases COVID-19 mortality rates. To validate our conclusions, we compared smoking cessation rates with COVID-19 mortality rates in different states to isolate direct correlation between the two conditions. We determined that nicotine withdrawal has a 32.7% probability of causing cardiac arrhythmia, and that cardiac arrhythmia increases the chance of death from COVID-19 by 14.7%. Ultimately, we found that nicotine withdrawal increases the COVID-19 mortality rate by 4.8% compared to the general population, a significant and concerning finding.