Didn’t manage to quit smoking in the new year? World No Tobacco Day passed you by (May 31), and you barely even noticed? Before your resolve and self respect leaves you completely, we’ve gone and found you a new impetus to try again.
Pulmonology chief Dr Emad Kowalti, at the American Hospital Dubai, is pleased to see around 20 patients every month seeking support to give up smoking, but is frustrated that this figure has remained unchanged for the past 12 months. ‘It’s stayed the same, unfortunately, because smoking cessation is not a one-man job. To make a real impact, we need a big effort from the government, the media, physicians, even schools, because the problem starts at a young age.’
The most common cause of death in the world is heart disease, and the doctor underlines the fact that 90 percent of heart bypass surgery patients are smokers. ‘The second most common cause of death is
stroke, and 50 to 60 percent of people who have strokes are smokers,’ he noted. It’s hardly a coincidence.
When it comes to shisha, however, Dr Kowalti believes that addiction is becoming more widespread in the UAE. ‘It’s increasing because of all the shisha cafés that are opening and spreading around the streets,’ he explained. ‘That is a serious contributing factor.’ Think shisha isn’t as dangerous as cigarettes? Dr Kowalti addressed suggestions that shisha is not addictive with eloquent simplicity. ‘Shisha is tobacco. Tobacco contains nicotine. Nicotine is addictive.’
Discussing the unrestricted sale of shisha tobacco, as opposed to cigarettes, he called it ‘deceiving’ and noted that ‘shisha is worse than cigarettes’. It’s concerning when you consider you can walk into a supermarket at any age and buy as many boxes of shisha tobacco – and pipes – as you like, without being questioned.
‘[People] think that water in the shisha pipes will filter out all the bad and noxious gases – this isn’t true. One 45-minute session of shisha is the equivalent of smoking 20 cigarettes. This is well-documented,’ he explained. ‘When you smoke shisha, your heart rate and blood pressure go up, yet your respiratory rate goes down and your concentration and lung function decreases. You’ll be in a state of systemic inflammation, and that means inflammation of most of the organs as the body tries to defend itself. Caboxyhemoglobin levels [the amount of CO2 in the blood] may rise to toxic levels, and that is very serious.’ But damaging as it is, even shisha isn’t what Dr Kowatli describes as the worst culprit.
‘There is something much worse in this country, called midwakh.’ The name refers to a small pipe, through which dokha – a tobacco of Iranian origin, mixed with leaf and bark – is smoked. It’s popular among teenagers living across the country thanks to its dizzying effect when inhaled rapidly. ‘In five minutes, they inhale as much nicotine as possible, which is highly addictive. This process also causes the caboxyhemoglobin to rise above 20 percent, affecting the brain, which is where the dizzy effect comes from. And when you get dizzy, that means there is damage to the brain.’
Presenting him with the oft-recited claim that ‘it’s a herb, so it’s okay’, we ask why so many people think it’s safer than shisha or cigarettes. ‘Because these people who smoke midwakh never finish higher education,’ Dr Kowalti claimed. He went on to talk about the long-term effect of repeated midwakh use. ‘These young folks who keep giving themselves these dizziness attacks – it’s going to affect their brain big time,’ he said. He compared it to the impact of CO2 poisoning from suicide attempts he dealt with during a tenure in the US, where people left their car engines running in locked garages. ‘If we caught them early and brought them to hospital a bit dizzy, we could put them on hyperbaric oxygen – 100 percent oxygen – to prevent brain damage.’
So what can be done to educate the public? ‘I’m trying to get the attention of everyone, not just the physicians, but the scholars, the religious leaders, the media. Everyone should be talking about this, and schools who let students use midwakh inside their grounds should be punished,’ he concluded. ‘It’s a very serious issue.’
For information and advice on quitting smoking, contact the American Centre for Psychiatry and Neurology, Khalidiya (02 666 4866).
Quit now
The clinic
The American Centre for Psychiatry and Neurology, runs a Tobacco Cessation Programme that can give you the support you need to quit.
Khalidiya, Abu Dhabi (02 666 4866).
The self-help book
Thousands of people sing the praises of Alan Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking. One of the keys is to look at what you’re gaining, rather than giving up.
Dhs30 at www.amazon.com.
The alternative approach
Transformations Institute offers a hypnotherapy course based around three sessions with Dr Leila, with audio material provided for use at home. You’re entitled to a single back-up session during the three months after the course.
Dhs3,950. Al Wasl Road, info@transforminst.com (050 474 5612).
