Is smoking Shisha safe? Think again!
Is shisha smoking safer than smoking cigarettes? Shisha smoking is not also safe as cigarette smoking. Smokers love and tend to smoke shisha because it often contains fruit pulp or honey and it has additional flavour added, such as coconut, fruit flavours, mint or coffee. Flavourings sweeten the taste and aroma of hookah tobacco, making it more appealing to people.
The charcoal used to heat tobacco in the hookah increases health risks by producing high levels of carbon monoxide, metals, and cancer-causing chemicals.
Irritation from exposure to tobacco juices increases the risks of developing oral cancers. The irritation by tobacco juice products is likely to be greater among shisha smokers than among pipe or cigar smokers because shisha smoking is typically practiced more often and used for a longer period of time.
Smokers who share mouthpiece on a hookah pipe have a risk catching contagious diseases from each other. The contagious diseases can be in a form of simple cold or even flu virus or it can be something more serious, such as herpes.
Many shisha smokers seem to think that the sweetened tobacco they smoke through water pipes is different than the regular tobacco found in cigarettes. But in fact smoking shisha is more harmful and risky than smoking regular cigarettes. The session last about an hour, therefore a shisha smoker can inhale as much smoke as the equivalent to 100 stick or more cigarettes.
Shisha also known as hookah, Hubble bubble and narghile is not safer as smoking cigarettes. Shisha usually contains tobacco and therefore linked to the same serious and life-threatening illnesses as cigarettes, such as heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease, problems in pregnancy and fertility.
If you were thinking that smoking shisha is far safer than smoking cigarette, think again. Cigarette or shisha smoking is not safe for any of us, whether you are a smoker or a non smoker. Everyone has a right to choose whether they smoke or not. If you are a smoker you are putting your health at risk.
Quit now!
Image by jesse (flickr)
3 Replies to “Is smoking Shisha safe? Think again!”
Volunteers, eight men and five women with a previous history of cigarette smoking, were asked to partake of the pipe for three sessions or 11 cigarettes per day. Individuals vary in how their bodies metabolize and excrete toxic substances, so for a better comparison, the researchers had the same person smoke cigarettes and a water pipe on different days.
Hookah smoking is a fast-becoming popular alternative to cigarette smoking. Originating from India, a hookah is an instrument with a hose and water basin through which flavored tobacco smoke passes prior to being inhaled. It is also called a water pipe, but other traditional names for it are narghile and qalyan. During the turn of the century, shisha smoking became popular with the opening of the first hookah lounges in the US and the UK. The main draw of these lounges is in its emphasis on socializing: two or more friends can sit at a table, engage in shop talk, and smoke. These establishments also serve food and drinks, as well as provide some form of entertainment; what makes them different from the usual bars is, of course, the pleasure of water pipe smoking. The hookah lounge provides an interesting variation to hanging out in cafes, and may feature such menu items as “Turkish coffee”.
Volunteers, eight men and five women with a previous history of cigarette smoking, were asked to partake of the pipe for three sessions or 11 cigarettes per day. Individuals vary in how their bodies metabolize and excrete toxic substances, so for a better comparison, the researchers had the same person smoke cigarettes and a water pipe on different days.