A hookah costs 40 cigarettes

The Abu Dhabi Center for Public Health has identified 15 clinics in Abu Dhabi to help those wishing to quit smoking, stressing that “tobacco control is a top priority among the Centre’s priorities, as part of its efforts towards a smoke-free environment and community awareness”, highlighting the annual launch of a tobacco control awareness campaign, under the slogan “Together towards a tobacco-free Abu Dhabi”.

He warned that children of smokers are three times more likely than children of non-smokers to become smokers.

In detail, the Abu Dhabi Public Health Center has warned that tobacco is one of the most preventable causes of death in the world, as its use leads to many diseases that affect the heart, liver and lungs. Smoking is also a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cancer (particularly lung cancer), indicating that nine out of ten cases of lung cancer are caused by tobacco, because tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 substances. chemicals, including hundreds of toxic substances, and about 70 substances that can cause cancer, as well as vascular disease and high blood pressure.

The center stressed that all types of tobacco consumption, whether cigars, cigarettes, medwakhs or electronic cigarettes, are harmful to health and that smoking hookah is not a safe alternative to cigarettes, because smoking hookah is a great health hazard. Recent studies have proven that smoking hookah is equivalent to no less than 40 cigarettes, and recent research has shown that dowakh contains a high nicotine content, up to five times that of regular cigarettes. E-cigarettes can also pose several health risks, which the US Food and Drug Administration and other international health agencies have warned against.

The center pointed out that quitting smoking is not an easy thing, but it has many benefits, represented by reduced risk of illness, disability or death from cancer, heart disease and pulmonary or peripheral vascular diseases, which can lead to the amputation of organs, and protect the health of those around them, by not exposing them to involuntary smoking, improving the level of fertility, and therefore a safe pregnancy and healthy children, improving breathing and physical condition in general, better appreciating the taste of food, improving the appearance of skin and teeth and eliminating the foul smell of tobacco, in addition to reducing risk of fires in homes, recalling that the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal are multiple, including irritability, nervousness, impatience, hostility, anxiety, frustration, difficulty concentrating n, insomnia, decreased heart rate, increased appetite or weight gain.

The Abu Dhabi Public Health Center has identified 15 clinics for smokers, in which doctors offer strategies to enable smokers to quit, and they include: Al Bateen Health Center for outpatient treatment services, Baniyas Health Center for outpatient treatment services, Khalifa City Health Center, Al Mushrif Specialist Center for Children and Al Maqta Health Center. , Al Jahili Health Center in Al Ain, Al Muwaiji Health Center for Outpatient Treatment Services, Tawam Smoking Cessation Clinic – Tawam Hospital, Oud Al Tawbah Center for Diagnostic, Comprehensive Examination and Outpatient Treatment Services, Al Qu’a Health Center, Center Al Dhafra Family Medicine (Al Dhafra region), Al Fouad Medical Center in Abu Dhabi, Health Plus Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Mohammed bin Zayed Municipal Health Center, in addition to Sweihan Health Center in Al-Ain.

7 common symptoms

Although the experience of quitting smoking varies from person to person, anyone who decides to quit smoking will experience some nicotine withdrawal symptoms. It may not be comfortable, but nicotine withdrawal doesn’t hurt unless you give up and have a cigarette.

When you decide to stop picking up and lighting cigarettes, your body and mind have to get used to not having nicotine.

There are seven common symptoms associated with quitting smoking:

■ Craving to smoke.

■ Feeling angry or upset.

■ Feeling stressed and anxious.

■ Difficulty concentrating.

■ Sleep disorder.

■ Being hungry or gaining weight.

■ Feeling anxious, sad or depressed.