Smoking during Ramadan can be more harmful than at other times of the year. This is because of the sudden exposure of a person’s body to smoke after several hours of fasting, some experts have warned.
“We usually see that people start smoking aggressively after not doing so for 12 to 16 hours,” said Dr Mutaz Labib, consultant pulmonary and critical care disease at Clemenceau Medical Center Hospital. “So, there is massive exposure all at once as people smoke three or four cigarettes back-to-back. There is no adaptation period.”
Dr Labib’s comments were supported by Dr Raiza Hameed KH, specialist pulmonology at Aster Clinic in Bur Dubai. “Many smokers try to compensate for the abstinence during the fasting period by chain-smoking after iftar,” she said.
Deprivation of nicotine, which is the addictive factor in cigarettes, causes the smoker to chain-smoke because they need to maintain a certain level of nicotine to feed the addiction. The sudden intense introduction of toxic substances puts the respiratory, cardiovascular and nervous systems at high risk.”
During the holy month, Muslims must abstain from eating, drinking water, and smoking, among other things, from dawn to dusk.
How vaping and shisha is more harmful
According to Dr Mutaz, people who vape are at a higher risk of facing health complications when they smoke after iftar.
“Due to the huge amount of the smoke that they get with each puff of vaping, especially after iftar, there is a study done with spectrography methodology which showed that in one minute, the brain may get intoxicated,” he said. “So, there are cases of people losing consciousness and developing stroke, heart attack and other serious problems. I ask patients why they want to subject themselves to such critical risk and try to convince them to pursue smoke cessation.”
Dr Raiza Hameed
Dr Raiza said that the use of shishas is found to be “particularly increased” during the month, even among non-smokers, due to an increase in family gatherings and eating out at suhoor tents.
“Smoke inhaled in one hour of shisha can equal up to 100 cigarettes,” she said. “The effects of smoking shisha are much worse during Ramadan due to dehydration caused by daily fasting periods. Blood pressure increases, and heart beats become irregular, which can sometimes lead to life threatening arrhythmias. Nicotine induces coronary spasms, which can trigger heart attacks. There is a high risk of infectious diseases associated as the shisha pipes are not always properly cleaned.”
Dr Mutaz Labib
Kicking the habit
For many, this month is a springboard to quit the habit. Last Ramadan, Omer Khan, the CEO of mental health platform Helply, stopped smoking after 23 years, calling the month “the perfect opportunity” to take the “first big step” towards quitting.
“I wanted to stop smoking before I turned 40 and since I was already fasting for long hours, I figured — why not push through and extend that discipline beyond iftar,” he said. “The first few days were tough, especially when the cravings hit in the evening. But I reminded myself that if I could go all day without smoking, I could go a little longer. And then a little longer after that.”
Omer Khan
He said it was the hardest mental battle he had ever fought in his life. “It was about breaking a habit that had been part of my daily routine for more than two decades,” he said. “I had trained my brain to associate smoking with stress relief, coffee breaks, driving, and even socialising. So, the real fight was convincing myself that I didn’t need it anymore.”
He said he was already enjoying the benefits of quitting and urged others to use Ramadan to kick the habit. “I have better breathing, more energy and fresher lungs—these are things I don’t want to trade for a cigarette,” he said. “Ramadan gives people the push to quit. If you manage to quit smoking during the month, you have already proven to have the discipline to do it. The key now is to keep that momentum going.”
Dr Raiza added that several studies have shown that the severity of withdrawal symptoms linked to smoking is minimised during Ramadan fasting. “Many smokers and vapers successfully quit during the month,” she said. “By quitting, people not only improve their health but also demonstrate their commitment to self-improvement during this holy month.”
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