Around 30 per cent of Dubai population are smokers, half of whom smoke shisha or hookah, said leading doctors on Friday night in a medical briefing as part of the daily activities of the 11th session of the Ramadan Forum, organised by the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in Dubai.

“Most of the smokers here in Dubai are 20 to 30 years old whereas the average daily consumption hit 15 cigarettes per person,” said Dr Bassam Mahboob, consultant respiratory physician at the Rashid Hospital.

Dr Yusuf Al Badri, consultant respiratory care physician at the Rashid Hospital, said smoking a hookah is three times more harmful than smoking a single cigarette.

“Every cigarette contains 4,000 chemicals, of which 30 are carcinogenic,” he said, noting that official international statistics show that smoking kills a person every six seconds.

Both Dr Mahboob and Badri then wondered why a man or woman would not give up smoking despite they do know about its fatal impact.

“This is really disappointing, but we shall keep urging people to quit smoking. We do know how grave this epidemic is as we see more patients suffering from serious diseases everyday due to smoking,” they said.

Further, the two consultants advised the audience about psychological health in Ramadan and how vital fasting is for all organs of the body, particularly the lungs, and for sleeping disorders.

“A man normally needs six to eight hours sleep daily for all organs to rest, relax and start anew,” they said, adding that “the human brains need at least four hours rest everyday and these are only obtainable during night, particularly from midnight to the dawn.”

ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com