Hookah Kills Sooner than Cigarettes

Though there is little information concerning the risks of electronic tobacco products, studies claim that smoking them brings much more harm than we could even contemplate.

Scientists state that puffing hookahs for just 30 minutes a day leads to the risk of cardiovascular diseases, based on the results of recent research, and is much more harmful to health than smoking usual cigarettes. This contradicts the marketing claims of most manufacturers reassuring consumers that water pipes produce fewer negative consequences than traditional cigarettes. The researchers measured the blood pressure, heart rate, blood nicotine, carbon monoxide exhaled by 48 young and healthy participants of the study before and after they smoked hookah. The results were shocking: every single 30-minute smoking session increased the blood pressure and heart rate by 16 beats per minute. The measures of arterial stiffness, the crucial risk factor that influences the development of cardiovascular diseases, also increased significantly. Other studies have concluded that the use of traditional cigarettes is declining while more and more people turn to smoking hookah assuming it to be a “healthier alternative”.

Quick Facts

• Hookah use by college students and young people is increasing every year;
• New forms of smoking electronic hookahs have been brought in, among which are pens and steam stones;
• Charcoal that heats tobacco produces big amounts of metals, carbon monoxide and chemicals responsible for the development of cancer, heart diseases, and clogged arteries;
• Hookah tobacco juices tend to irritate the mouth;
• Babies born to women who smoked hookah either weigh less when born or have an increased risk of suffering from respiratory conditions;
• Passive hookah smoking is as dangerous as puffing the pipe.

Popular Hookah Myth Debunked

Myth #1: Inhaling smoke won’t burn the lungs.

Truth: The water pipe smoke won’t burn the lungs because it’s cooled by the water in the base. However, it isn’t free from carcinogens.

Myth #2: Hookah smoke is filtered through water that’s why harmful ingredients do not enter the body.

Truth: Even being filtered through water, hookah smoke still contains a plethora of chemicals that damage the heart and lungs, leading to shorter life expectancy just like traditional cigarettes. Another fact is that hookah contains 36 times more tar, 15 times more carbon monoxide and much higher levels of lead, arsenic, and nickel.

Myth #3: There is no nicotine in hookah, so smoking it isn’t addictive.

Truth: Shisha does contain nicotine. When smoking a water pipe for about an hour, smokers inhale 100-200 times the volume of smoke than smoking cigarettes.

Myth #4: Shisha is healthier than tobacco because it contains fruit.

Truth: Tobacco still remains tobacco, no matter what additives it contains. Usually, shisha is soaked in honey or molasses and gets mixed with fruit, but it does contain nicotine and all those harmful chemicals. Moreover, smokers should mind the dangers of sharing hookah mouthpieces with others, as they may be the breeding ground for a variety of communicable diseases. Those include but aren’t limited to flu, herpes, hepatitis, and tuberculosis.

With the dangers associated with water pipes, it’s no wonder why many states have started banning them. So if you feel you’ve become addicted to hookah, try your hardest to quit by changing your attitude to smoking, joining a support group, keeping to a healthy diet, going in for sports and avoiding the triggers of smoking.