ABU DHABI // Health experts are urging smokers to take advantage of Ramadan and give up the habit for good.
Doctors say the holy month is the perfect time of the year to stub out cigarettes completely, as Muslims are not allowed to smoke between sunrise and sunset.
"Ramadan is a challenge and a chance for smokers," said Dr Hanan Obaid, head of community health at Dubai Health Authority.
"It is a challenge because the hours of fasting are long - between 14 and 15 hours - and they are fasting from everything including smoking.
"However, it is also a chance for smokers to quit as during these long hours the nicotine level in the blood reduces, and can help smokers stop completely."
Dr Obaid said it was common for Muslim smokers to chain-smoke after breaking the fast.
Doctors say this can have serious medical consequences and is more unhealthy than regular smoking.
"For many, when they break the fast, they are taking a lot of smoke at once," she said. "This is more harmful because they are taking several cigarettes over a short period."
Dr Obaid said shisha, which was traditionally smoked during Ramadan and popular in iftar tents, was more unhealthy than cigarettes.
"Sitting with shisha for an hour is like taking in 100 cigarettes," she said. It also affected non-smokers in iftar tents.
Tobacco kills nearly six million people each year, of which 600,000 are non-smokers who inhale second-hand smoke, the World Health Organisation says.
About 700 million children, almost half the world's youngsters, are exposed to second-hand smoke, the WHO says.
Dr Obaid said smokers should use aids such as nicotine patches to help stop smoking for good during the holy month.
Patches help to stop withdrawal symptoms and do not qualify as breaking the fast.
Those who need more support in kicking the habit should visit a clinic.
Smokers will begin to notice the benefits of stopping in the first 10 days, Dr Obaid said.
Dr Shuker Fares, a thoracic surgeon and pulmonologist at Al Noor Hospital, agreed nicotine patches are a good tool for quitting in Ramadan.
"We know that nicotine patches are not breaking the fast," Dr Fares said.
"These patches will give the nicotine that the smoker is craving but in reduced levels."
He said it was important that smokers reduced their nicotine levels slowly over time to help reduce signs and symptoms such as headaches and heart palpations.
Dr Saicharan Bodi, a pulmonologist at Abu Dhabi's Burjeel Hospital, said Ramadan was a "golden chance" for smokers to end their addiction.
Some of his patients who smoke more than 40 a day give up for the month, Dr Bodi said.
"They say they are not going to smoke during the whole month of Ramadan but unfortunately, after Ramadan they smoke again," he said.
"Some of them are willing to stop for the whole month - not only during the fasting hours, even during the night.
"It's not good when they have so much control of the mind for one month and later on they are not able to have the motivation to do it."
Smoking is the biggest risk factor for developing lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cardiovascular disease, and the sooner someone gives up, the better.
"If you quit smoking before 40, you have a much better chance of avoiding all of the possible future risks," Dr Bodi said.
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Ramadan a 'golden opportunity' for UAE smokers to kick the habit
Doctors say the holy month is the perfect time of year to stub cigarettes out as Muslims abiding by the rules of the holy month are not allowed to smoke between sunrise and sunset.
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