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Time To Quit? For Smokers, Ramadan Is An Ordeal - And Opportunity

During the month-long Ramadan fast, Muslims have to refrain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to dusk. A look in Morocco, when an extra burden for those who can't indulge in their nicotine habit. But there may be a silver lining.

Puffing away in the medina (USAFE public affairs)
Puffing away in the medina (USAFE public affairs)
Elimane Sembene

RABAT - Mustapha started smoking when he was 11. He smokes about 30 cigarettes a day. It is a habit that makes it impossible for him to fast regularly during the month of Ramadan.

"I fast, but sometimes I just can't," says *Mustapha. "I miss the nicotine or the morning coffee too much. When I'm fasting, since I can't smoke, I try to sleep all day until the fast-breaking hour."

He isn't alone. Many smokers have enormous difficulties during Ramadan. Most of them abstain from smoking to follow religious obligations because they aren't in Mustapha's situation. Less addicted to nicotine, they don't feel the negative effects of fasting as strongly.

Omar*, for instance, has been a smoker for eight years. "To me it's like any other day, as though it wasn't Ramadan. I don't feel any withdrawal symptoms because after a while, you get used to it."

Some smokers storm drugstores and tobacconists after the fast to catch up on their smoking. Mustapha isn't one of them. "No, I'm not in that kind of logic. I don't smoke a lot at night. You know, I don't think it's mathematics. You can't smoke the same number of cigarettes you usually do after breaking fast. It isn't like sleep that you can catch up on."

For Omar, it is a question of taste. "Personally, it's not about catching up. I smoke if I feel the need to, that's all," he says.

Despite their addiction to nicotine, the two smokers would like to quit for good. It is a hard but not impossible challenge. "Cigarettes are obviously toxic and costly," says Mustapha.

Omar agrees. "Breaking the habit is a question of willpower. If you want to, you can. Cigarettes take too high a toll on the body and the wallet."

The holy month of Ramadan can be a positive gateway for smokers who want to break the habit. But does it work? "Maybe for some, but I think quitting depends on the smoker's will. Humans are naturally resistant to change. When the change is forced, like quitting cigarettes because of a religious obligation, I don't think the human brain favorably processes this request. And during Ramadan, stimulants like caffeine or coffee are more attractive. In fact, hookah (waterpipes) cafes are more full during Ramadan than the rest of the year," says Mustapha.

*Real names were modified for this article.

3 Questions for: Mohamed Ali Anwar, lung specialist

Does addiction to nicotine decrease during Ramadan?
The addiction to nicotine during Ramadan doesn't change. Except that as Muslim, the smoker is even more constrained by a religious obligation.

So is it a good time to stop smoking?
It's an ideal time to start withdrawing. In fact I often tell my patients they should choose events like the birth of their children or Ramadan to stop smoking.

What are the consequences of nicotine?
Nicotine is part of the 4,000 ingredients present in a cigarette. It makes the smoker addicted. There are several therapeutic methods, but willpower is the best remedy.

Read the original article from in French.

Photo - USAFE public affairs

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Forest Networks? Revisiting The Science Of Trees And Funghi "Reaching Out"

A compelling story about how forest fungal networks communicate has garnered much public interest. Is any of it true?

Thomas Brail films the roots of a cut tree with his smartphone.

Arborist and conservationist Thomas Brail at a clearcutting near his hometown of Mazamet in the Tarn, France.

Melanie Jones, Jason Hoeksema, & Justine Karst

Over the past few years, a fascinating narrative about forests and fungi has captured the public imagination. It holds that the roots of neighboring trees can be connected by fungal filaments, forming massive underground networks that can span entire forests — a so-called wood-wide web. Through this web, the story goes, trees share carbon, water, and other nutrients, and even send chemical warnings of dangers such as insect attacks. The narrative — recounted in books, podcasts, TV series, documentaries, and news articles — has prompted some experts to rethink not only forest management but the relationships between self-interest and altruism in human society.

But is any of it true?

The three of us have studied forest fungi for our whole careers, and even we were surprised by some of the more extraordinary claims surfacing in the media about the wood-wide web. Thinking we had missed something, we thoroughly reviewed 26 field studies, including several of our own, that looked at the role fungal networks play in resource transfer in forests. What we found shows how easily confirmation bias, unchecked claims, and credulous news reporting can, over time, distort research findings beyond recognition. It should serve as a cautionary tale for scientists and journalists alike.

First, let’s be clear: Fungi do grow inside and on tree roots, forming a symbiosis called a mycorrhiza, or fungus-root. Mycorrhizae are essential for the normal growth of trees. Among other things, the fungi can take up from the soil, and transfer to the tree, nutrients that roots could not otherwise access. In return, fungi receive from the roots sugars they need to grow.

As fungal filaments spread out through forest soil, they will often, at least temporarily, physically connect the roots of two neighboring trees. The resulting system of interconnected tree roots is called a common mycorrhizal network, or CMN.

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