Shisha Smoking: A Serious Risk to Health
Shisha also known as Hookha, Water Pipe or Narghile is known to man kind for over 300 years. Shisha is different from traditional Hookha in the sense that instead of plain tobacco it is used mixed with certain flavors and aromatic substances. The composition of the tobacco used in Shisha is variable and not well standardized. The tobacco used in Shisha typically weighs 10 to 20 g and has 3 main forms. "Mu'essel" or "maasel" contains 30% tobacco and 70% honey. "Tumbak" or "Ajami" is a pure, dark paste of tobacco. "Jurak," mainly of Indian origin, is an intermediate form that often contains fruits or oils. "Muessel" is usually flavored with apple, mango, banana, strawberry, orange, grape, mint, cappuccino, or other additives. It is generally sold in boxes or plastic jars decorated with fruit illustrations. Drugs or alcohol is often added to the tobacco. Studies that have examined Shisha smokers have reported high concentrations of carbon monoxide, nicotine, "tar," and heavy metals. These concentrations were as high as or higher than those among cigarette smokers. It has been claimed that more than 100 million people worldwide smoke shisha daily. It is a common practice in the Middle East, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and some Parts of China. In some parts of Middle East, Shisha use is more prevalent than cigarette smoking. Among Arab women in many countries, there is less of a stigma associated with Shisha than with cigarette smoking and therefore more and more women are taking up this habit as a fashion. Scientific studies done to see the adverse health consequences of shisha smoking point to dangers that are similar to those associated with cigarette smoking. The research conducted on Shisha use has clearly shown that it has particularly serious health consequences on 2 vital organs of body namely the lungs and heart. Lung Cancer, Cancers of the Food Pipe, Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, Emphysema, low birth weight, precipitation of Asthma attacks and pneumonia are some of the health hazards associated with shisha smoking. Additional dangers not encountered with cigarette smoking are infectious diseases resulting from pipe sharing and the frequent addition of alcohol or psychoactive drugs to the tobacco. Another worrying aspect of shisha epidemic is that previously it was used in countries like Pakistan and India, mainly by the elderly people living in the villages but in the past few years its use has markedly increased in the urban areas of this subcontinent. Many restaurants in urban areas are now offering Shisha to its customers. Those who use Shisha regularly eventually get hooked on to tobacco and become regular smokers. Some newly opened restaurants are doing good business by serving this to its customers as it is considered as a modern life style. For youngsters Shisha use is very exciting glamorous, fashionable and an enjoyable act. Smoke from Shisha besides others contains hundreds of potentially dangerous heavy metals like, Arsenic, Cobalt, Chromium and Lead. Under normal Shisha use the smoke produced from a single pipe use contain approximately the same amount of Nicotine and Tar equivalent to 20 Cigarettes. Research has also shown that after 45 minutes of Shisha use expired air, carbon monoxide, plasma nicotine and heart rate are significantly elevated. Nicotine dependence may also result from repeated inhalation of tobacco smoke from Shisha. Besides Lung Cancer Shisha use is also linked with increased risk of, Mouth and Urinary Bladder Cancer. There is also some evidence that Shisha use may also decrease the sperm count in men. Regular Shisha users have lung functions approximately 25% lower than those who do not use this. One study has also shown that Shisha use increases the risk of Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Children are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effect of the Shisha use. If they are present in any restaurants or at home where Shisha is being used there is increase risk of them getting lung infections, asthma and sudden infant death syndrome.
News Report
ABU DHABI — Numerous cafes and restaurants serving shisha (hubble-bubble) have become a disturbing feature of most residential areas across the emirates and pose a menace due to noise and air pollution.
The increasing trend is also blamed for multiplying the parking woes of the already suffering residents.
What is really serious about the phenomenon is that most shisha smokers wrongfully take to the hubble-bubble thinking that it poses only 'light' health risks compared to the serious health related complications of cigarette smoking.
Medical experts have warned that shisha has a more perilous impact on health compared to cigarette smoking. They say most shisha smokers have a misconception based on a wrongful and unscientific notion that tobacco used in shisha is herbal and does not affect body organs.
Residents of buildings with coffee shops and snack counters that serve shisha expressed their resentment over the outlets for the multiple problems they cause them. They called upon the authorities concerned to adopt certain measures to control spread of shisha outlets in the country.
It is to be noted that in their efforts to combat smoking, the health ministers of the GCC states have proposed a hike in the fees of commercial licence issued for cafes and restaurants serving shisha in the member countries. Despite several steps taken by the country to control the spread of tobacco, the UAE is considered among the world's leading consumers of tobacco.
Medical experts have also cautioned that one of the hazards of smoking shisha is lung cancer.
"Most people misleadingly believe shisha does not contain tobacco and that when they smoke they inhale herbal products. It is the added flavours that make them feel they are smoking herbs, while they are actually taking in tobacco and are highly likely to become addicted to nicotine. Shisha smokers should realise that it is far more dangerous than cigarette smoking because the amount of nicotine in shisha can not be measured due to packing differences," a doctor in the government sector warned.
Moreover, while smoking hubble-bubble the aluminium foil, which is usually of poor quality, reacts with the burning charcoal and produces aluminium fumes that are carcinogenic or in other words causes cancer, he said.
He clarified that the amount of carbon dioxide inhaled through shisha is very high compared to cigarette smoking, adding that one shisha smoke is equal to seven or 10 cigarettes depending on the packed ingredients.
He stressed shisha smokers should also be aware of the fact that when smoke goes through water humidity in smoke increases and it then tends to stay for a longer time in the lungs. Some germs, mainly bacteria that cause tuberculosis, live in the shisha pipe.
"According to recent studies the pipe could act as a good medium for conveying bacteria causing infectious diseases like Hepatitis A that can be easily transmitted when shisha pipe is used by multiple smokers," apprised the medical expert.
Maria Antonia, a resident, said: "it is a bad influence for young kids as they too feel like smoking cigarettes and having shisha."
The increasing trend is also blamed for multiplying the parking woes of the already suffering residents.
What is really serious about the phenomenon is that most shisha smokers wrongfully take to the hubble-bubble thinking that it poses only 'light' health risks compared to the serious health related complications of cigarette smoking.
Medical experts have warned that shisha has a more perilous impact on health compared to cigarette smoking. They say most shisha smokers have a misconception based on a wrongful and unscientific notion that tobacco used in shisha is herbal and does not affect body organs.
Residents of buildings with coffee shops and snack counters that serve shisha expressed their resentment over the outlets for the multiple problems they cause them. They called upon the authorities concerned to adopt certain measures to control spread of shisha outlets in the country.
It is to be noted that in their efforts to combat smoking, the health ministers of the GCC states have proposed a hike in the fees of commercial licence issued for cafes and restaurants serving shisha in the member countries. Despite several steps taken by the country to control the spread of tobacco, the UAE is considered among the world's leading consumers of tobacco.
Medical experts have also cautioned that one of the hazards of smoking shisha is lung cancer.
"Most people misleadingly believe shisha does not contain tobacco and that when they smoke they inhale herbal products. It is the added flavours that make them feel they are smoking herbs, while they are actually taking in tobacco and are highly likely to become addicted to nicotine. Shisha smokers should realise that it is far more dangerous than cigarette smoking because the amount of nicotine in shisha can not be measured due to packing differences," a doctor in the government sector warned.
Moreover, while smoking hubble-bubble the aluminium foil, which is usually of poor quality, reacts with the burning charcoal and produces aluminium fumes that are carcinogenic or in other words causes cancer, he said.
He clarified that the amount of carbon dioxide inhaled through shisha is very high compared to cigarette smoking, adding that one shisha smoke is equal to seven or 10 cigarettes depending on the packed ingredients.
He stressed shisha smokers should also be aware of the fact that when smoke goes through water humidity in smoke increases and it then tends to stay for a longer time in the lungs. Some germs, mainly bacteria that cause tuberculosis, live in the shisha pipe.
"According to recent studies the pipe could act as a good medium for conveying bacteria causing infectious diseases like Hepatitis A that can be easily transmitted when shisha pipe is used by multiple smokers," apprised the medical expert.
Maria Antonia, a resident, said: "it is a bad influence for young kids as they too feel like smoking cigarettes and having shisha."
____________________________________________________________________
- According to the French anti-tobacco agency (OFT), a report from the French national laboratory revealed that smoking shisha gives off as much carbon monoxide as 15 to 52 cigarettes and as much tar as 27 to 102 cigarettes.Bertrand Dautzenberg, OFT President said, "The report confirms that smoking shisha is a major source of air pollution in closed and covered areas. If comparing the data to regular cigarette smoke, one shisha corresponds to an average of around 70 drags on a cigarette."The tests were conducted by Laboratoire National d'Essais (LNE) on three types of shisha: shisha with self-lighting carbon used in small amounts, self-lighting carbon used in large amounts, and natural carbon shisha used in small volumes. The laboratory used the three parameters that are measured when analysing smoke on a packet of cigarettes: the amount of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide. For 70 liters (16 gallons) of smoke produced by the shisha, the small amount self lighting carbon tar results were measured at 319 milligrams, 32 times the legal European limit for a cigarette, while the large amount self-lighting carbon measured at 266 milligrams, 27 times the cigarette limit, and the natural carbon measured at 1,023 milligrams, a 102 times more than a cigarette. Carbon monoxide measurements fared badly as well, as tests indicated that the carbon measurements from the three types of shisha came to 17 times the normal cigarette limit, 15 times, and 52 times the limit.
- We have been recently blessed with the ban of cigarette smoking in public areas (airports, hospitals, government buildings).
This is a relief for the luckier majority of us who are not smokers. Unfortunately, it does not last long and deliverance from second-hand smoke is short-lived.
To our dismay, some seem to accept and even bless a recently-revived fad, shisha, or argeela, a habit that was looked down upon a couple of decades ago.
In the recent years, parents and their young sons and daughters sit around the same restaurant table, hubble-bubbling side by side and blowing smoke at each other’s faces, deeming it a less harmful habit than cigarette smoking.
If so, then they are in for bad news!
According to Professor Bertrand Dautzenberg, a respiratory tract specialist, a 45-minute session of shisha corresponds to smoking 40 cigarettes.
With each inhalation, a shisha smoker takes in two whole liters of smoke, whereas a cigarette puff releases 0.5 liter. Moreover, shisha smokers are under the false impression that the water in the container filters noxious substances in tobacco.
Another bad effect of shisha: cooled-down smoke makes the smoker retain the inhaled smoke longer in the lungs than hot smoke. One more thing to take into account, around 10 grams of shisha tobacco leaves contain tar and nicotine that are equal to that of ten cigarettes. In addition to this, tobacco burned by charcoal produces more heavy metals (lead, nickel, etc...) than by cigarette smoke.
Another dangerous substance that is emitted by shisha smoke is carbon monoxide. Just to give you a quick idea; the residue of these toxic materials line the interior walls of the lungs, destroying their delicate alveoli and resulting in emphysema — respiratory failure, a painful ending to life.
Shisha’s multifaceted damage extends to the transmission of highly contagious and infectious diseases such as herpes, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and more through its mouthpiece, or nozzle, which circulates around the table from mouth to mouth.
Seemingly innocuous and enjoyable habits can lead to a plethora of health problems (heart and vascular diseases, cancer) that you can definitely do without.
Enjoy Reading!! Comments
