www.womanthismonth.com May 2017 showcase 47 A patient once told me "I am not dependent on nicotine, I just love to have the cigarette between my fingers." There can be many ‘triggers’ that will make you to light up – happy, sad, stressed or when you’re in a particular situation. Not only are you addicted to nicotine in cigarettes, but also to the behaviour of smoking. Smoking harms nearly every organ in your body, as well as those around you. Apart from the well-known side effects here are some more scientifically proven, compelling – and often surprising – reasons to give up. Smokers have five times higher rates of mental decline. The long-lasting chemical changes in the brain due to nicotine are similar to heroin or cocaine – and can prevent you from thinking straight. So, you won’t smoke while pregnant as it can cause asthma in babies. But simply smoking around children causes ear infections, colds, bronchitis and other breathing problems, Pulmonology specialist Dr Sonal Jagtap explains why quitting smoking is important. BAHRAIN SPECIALIST HOSPITAL STUB IT OUT Dr Sonal Jagtap including sudden infant death. A study of nearly 5,000 male smokers found 60 per cent of them were more likely to suffer erectile dysfunction. Smokers are four times more likely to become blind due to hastening of age-related ocular degeneration. It also causes early wrinkling of skin and greying of hair. Smoking is linked to certain colon and breast cancers, lupus, increased risk of depression in young people, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid disease, gastric reflux disease and snoring problems. There are also financial incentives to be considered both for the cost of cigarettes as well as the medicines you won’t need to buy in the future. If these reasons have motivated you to break the habit, Bahrain Specialist Hospital has an established quit smoking clinic. For further information email sonal.jagtap@ bsh.com.bh Call 17 812-000. Rotary Club Meeting The Rotary Club of Sulmaniya held a meeting featuring guest speaker Dr Paula Fellingham, founder & CEO of the Women’s Information Network. Ameera Ismael & Dr Paula Fellingham Shaikh Abdulla bin Khaled Al Khalifa & Dema Siam Noor, Seema & Mahmood Top L to R: Mohamed Al Khaja, Virun Bhatia, Andrew Petty, Dr Dhafer Al Umran, Costas Demou, Rodolphe Melki, Shaikh Abdulla bin Khaled Al Khalifa, Faisal Juma & Khalid Al Turk. Bottom L to R: Sebahat Isik, Ameera Ismael, Dr Paula Fellingham, Seema Baqi & Iro Smith
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