Is Hookah Smoking Safe?

Most of the people think hookah smoking as a safer alternative to other forms of smoking because the hookah smoke is filtered through water before it is inhaled. But recent studies have found that smoking from a hookah is just as dangerous as smoking a cigarette.

Hookah smoking involves more nicotine than cigarette smoking because of the massive volume of smoke, smokers inhale during hookah smoking.

There is a strong belief that the water in the hookah filters out all the “bad stuff” in the tobacco smoke, but it’s completely a nuisance. A study done by the World Health Organization showed that one hookah session of a mere few hours can deliver as much smoke into your lungs as 100 cigarettes. In fact, hookah smokers get more smoke than cigarette smokers, and here’s an answer to this question:

Cigarette smoke is uncomfortably hot if a smoker inhales it deeply. Hookah smoke has been cooled by its passage through the water. The smoker has to inhale hard to pull the smoke through the hookah. By this the hookah smoke goes deep to the lungs. In to the duration of a typical hookah session, the smoke deposits in huge volumes into the lungs.

What the Study say about Hookah Smoking:

What is the bottom line for hookah smokers who think it as a better substitute to cigarette smoking?

Almost every method of making smoking safer is a mere nonsense. There is only one way to totally reduce the chances of fatal diseases caused by smoking, is to quit smoking completely.

What Hookah Smoking Does To Your Health?
The American Lung Association (ALA) identifies hookah smoking as a major health risk. The following are the health risks of hookah smoking:

A cigarette may last for about 5 minutes, but a normal hookah session would last for 30 minutes. According to a study, a single hookah session may deliver the following:

What are the Dangers Of Sharing In Hookah Smoking?
Hookah smokers can use their own mouthpiece while smoking the hookah communally. However, sometimes it so happens that they share the mouthpiece. Sharing of the single mouthpiece can spread diseases such as herpes, hepatitis, tuberculosis.

Hookah smoking is not a harmless form of smoking. It can be as dangerous as cigarettes. The long-term consequence of hookah smoking would be increased dependency. Some youngsters, who innocently try hookah as a safe means of smoking, can get addicted. They can further switch to cigarettes as they can be carried around easily. All this proves that hookah smoking cannot be dismissed as safe alternative. Hence, it always helps to stay away from a hookah.

6 Responses to “Is Hookah Smoking Safe?”

  1. Stephen Says:
    April 27th, 2008 at 6:32 am

    Most tobacco bought for hookah use has 0% tar content and 0.05% nicotine content.

  2. wow Says:
    November 25th, 2008 at 10:00 pm

    so i should smoke 100 cigarettes then have 1 hookah session?

  3. zale Says:
    February 19th, 2009 at 6:54 am

    -A 45 minutes of hookah smoking is equivalent to smoking 50 tobacco cigarettes.

    -It was founded that smoking hookah for 45 minutes means consuming tar equivalent in 20 tobacco cigarettes.

    hmm, these sources seem pretty reliable.

    this article neglects to take into account that hookah “smoke” is the product of heating tobacco, not burning it. the carcinogenic properties of tobacco result from combustion of plant material, if done properly smoking hookah doesn’t burn any of the tobacco.

  4. john Says:
    March 3rd, 2009 at 4:03 am

    the study done by the WHO is a bunch of crap. the study was done with a single smoker who continuously smoked for multiple hours, which is why this study gave more inhalations which then give more severe results. Smoking a hookah usually includes more than two persons, as it is a social activity. This study also burned the charcoal directly ontop of the shisha, which is only done in middle eastern countries. Your a recommended to us a metal plate so the charcoal will warm the tobacco, not burn it directly. A true study would show that a hookah session of about a hour is equivalent to around 2-3 cigarettes. This may not be perfect, but neither is smoking anything in general. Also, Most of the time people smoke a hookah once a week or two. This is also unlike cigarettes in which many times people smoke an average of 2-3 cigarettes daily.

  5. pomai Says:
    June 10th, 2009 at 12:09 am

    well…i have heard that taking 100 hits of hookah is = to 1 cigarette…i don’t know what to think about it. I quit smoking cigarettes and started to smoke hookah only because I thought it was better than cigarettes. Overall, smoking is bad and shouldn’t be done.

  6. joan Says:
    June 24th, 2009 at 3:03 am

    any smoking is bad for your lungs volunteer at a hospice for lung cancer patients. change their diapers give then pain meds hold their hand while they die wipe their painful tears from their eyes somebody will be there for you to do the same

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