UAE: Shisha, cigarettes after iftar? Smoking during Ramadan poses higher health risks
Ramadhan: One month of the year in which smoking can be even more damaging than outside the fast But some experts warned that this is due to a person body being exposed to smoke after many hours of fasting.
According to Dr Mutaz Labib, consultant pulmonary and critical care disease at Clemenceau Medical Center Hospital, “after 12 to 16 hours of not smoking, we commonly observe that aggressive smoking behaviour reoccurs. So, huge exposure at one sitting when people smoke three or four cigarettes in quick succession. So there is no period of adaptation. ”
Dr Raiza Hameed KH, specialist pulmonology at Aster Clinic in Bur Dubai, backed up Dr Labib's remarks. She said: “Unfortunately, many smokers compensate with chain smoking after iftar during the fasting month.
It's the effect of cigarettes' addictive component, nicotine, being taken away from the smoker, so they smoke one cigarette after another to keep the required minimum level to satisfy. This rapid, aggressive introduction of mercury poses a serious risk to the respiratory, cardiovascular and nervous systems."
During the holy month, Muslims are expected to refrain from eating, drinking water, and smoking, among other things, from dawn to dusk.
Vaping and shisha is more dangerous, how
Dr Mutaz said that people who use e-cigarettes they are more exposed to health risks when they smoke after iftar.
The smoke that they inhale with every puff of vaping, particularly after iftar, is so massive that there is a research based on spectrography methodology which discovered that the brain could get high in one minute," he said. "So, there are incidences where a person faints and suffers stroke, heart attack and other medical emergencies. I have patients stating their reasons for putting themselves through such extreme risk and I do my best to persuade them to quit smoking.
The use of shishas is observed to be “especially heightened" during this month – even among non-smokers – as there is a spike in family visitation and out-of-home meals at what are known as suhoor tents, Dr Raiza mentioned.
She said: "The amount of smoke inhaled in one hour of shisha is equivalent to 100 cigarettes" The impact of shisha smoking is immensely higher during Ramadan as the fast periods lead to a loss of fluids during the day” The blood pressure rises and heart beats become not regular and some times fatal arrhythmia arise. Coronary spasms induced by nicotine can also lead to heart attacks. Some shisha pipes are not adequately cleaned, which raises the high risk of contagious disease correlations."
Kicking the habit
For lots of you, this month is that overall jump-board to preventing. Omer Khan, CEO and co-founder of mental health platform Helply, quit smoking after 23 years last Ramadan and stated that Ramadan was the "ideal time" to take the “most significant step” in the journey to quitting.
I had planned to quit cigarettes when I turned 40 and since I was fasting for 10-12 hours anyway, I thought — why not go further and take it off the iftar part? — he said. It was hard those first few days, particularly in the evenings when the cravings wracked me. Then I reminded myself that if I hadn't smoked all day I could hold off just a little longer. And then a little longer beyond that.”
He said he was reaping the rewards of giving up and encouraged others to quit over Ramadan. I breathe better, I have more energy, my lungs are clear—none of these things I want to exchange for a cigarette,' he said. It is an excuse that Ramadan runs as a spur to overcome; And if you can go a month without smoking, then you have already shown that you have the willpower to quit. Now we just need to build on that!"
The severity of withdrawal symptoms associated with smoking is reduced by conducting Ramadan fasting, as multiple studies have shown, said Dr Raiza. “February itself saw many smokers and vapers quit,” she added. “Not only does quitting make one healthy but also conveys the message of self-betterment in this temporary month,”
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