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GUIDE > SMOKING HOOKAH RISKS |
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A hookah is a traditional device for smoking. Originating in the Indian subcontinent, it is also known as a water pipe, nargeela/arghileh/nargile, shisha/sheesha, okka, kalyan, ghelyoon or Ghalyan, or hubble-bubble. The hookah operates by water-filtration and indirect heat. Hookah (Shisha) smokers may feel that the hookah is a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes, but doctors take a dim view of this. Whereas smoking a fag lasts around five minutes, a full-on hookah experience can last 45 minutes, meaning users inhale a larger volume of smoke than they would from a cigarette. Read BBC News...
Hookah smoking: Is it safer than smoking cigarettes?
There is a myth that hookah smoking is safer than smoking cigarettes because the hookah smoke is filtered through water before it is inhaled. But recent studies have found that hookah smokers actually inhale more nicotine than do cigarette smokers because of the massive volume of smoke they inhale.
Hookah and Health
The smoke from the tobacco is cooled as it passes through a water-filled glass bowl and then inhaled through a flexible tube. The water in the bowl acts as a barrier for the most harmful substance in tobacco tar.
Tar includes all of the mutagenic and carcinogenic agents in tobacco smoke. For Example Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) which in cigarettes is made through the process of epoxidation and which causes the reaction in tobacco that aids the creation of the tar and the carrying of nicotine, does not occur in hookah or shisha pipes as the process is prevented in water due to saturation of the hydrocarbons in their gaseous state. Although this is a positive there are negatives to shisha pipe smoking as when the tobacco is consumed nicotine (in lesser amounts) is still carried through the water or liquid at the base of the pipe.
Social acceptance
In more recent years, many US city, state and federal jurisdictions have moved to ban smoking in public places. Though most jurisdictions, through the purchase of a special permit, allow hookah businesses to remain open to the public, others do not. This has negatively-affected many hookah lounges, bars and cafes and caused many to close their doors to the public. However, in many cases, hookah businesses have been able to remain in business by replacing their traditional, tobacco-based shisha with tobacco-free, herbal alternatives. Herbal and other tobacco-free alternatives have also become increasingly popular among health-conscious individuals. Read more...
Water-pipes: chic but deadly?
Carbon monoxide, nicotine, tar and heavy metals contained in popular smokes pose often-ignored health threats, Israeli health researcher says. Read more...
The best way to avoid these cancers is to never start smoking or chewing tobacco in any form. Read information on chewing
tobacco risks or areca, betel nuts, paan and gutka or smoking tobacco risks. |
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