Smoking is sexual suicide, comes the resounding statement from world-renowned author and sex therapist, Dr Rosie King, with shisha smoking being the root cause of impotency in men in the Middle East.

In a country where the shisha culture is embedded in its social makeup, the news that excessive usage of the water pipe causes impotency in men has seen many a heavy smoker cross his legs in a seemingly protective move.

Dr King's bombshell simply draws attention to the long discovered medical fact that excessive smoking causes erectile dysfunction in men.

"If you are man in your 40s and a heavy smoker, the chances of you suffering from erectile dysfunction is 25 per cent higher," the good doctor told Emirates 24|7. "Smoking contributes to the narrowing of the arteries in the penis, thus leading to a limited blood flow to the male organ, hence making it difficult for the man to show his pleasure towards his partner."

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and governments across the Middle East are upping the efforts to kick the butt. The Egyptian Ministry of Health took a drastic step earlier this year and unveiled a graphic warning label of a drooping cigarette, symbolising the potential for tobacco-induced impotence, plastered on every pack sold throughout the country.

Next to the picture of the limp butt, a statement in Arabic warned, "long-term smoking will affect marital relations."

Similarly, the governments of Oman and Pakistan have issued warnings on smoking and impotency over the past year, linking it to the growing fondness for shisha, which, according to consumer surveys, is looked upon as a national pastime in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.

The UAE has already upped the efforts to curb the health risks that come with excessive shisha smoking by banning its use outdoors in residential areas and near schools, in December last year, where data indicated that some 54 per cent of shisha smokers indulge in the water pipe in cafes, while the remaining smoke shisha at home.

"Let's face it, shisha is delicious, with its exotic flavours and its ability to disguise itself as such a harmless thing to do," says Dr King. "But data from the World Health Organisation has revealed the harmful nature of this seemingly innocent act."

Indeed, shisha, the water pipe that burns flavored tobacco, can expose users to the smoke equivalent to five packs of cigarettes, according to statistics from the WHO.

"The health risks are catastrophic, but for men especially, this high amount of tobacco in the body can only lead result in a downward trend," says Dr King, adding: "I always give my patients this advice, but it is up to them if the want to adhere."

And what advice is that, you wonder?

"The more you smoke, the less you poke," she states.