Hookah Smoking Revisited: Reply to a comment

Many of you know I contribute articles to a popular health information site entitled MyAsthmaCentral. The posting I made about Hookah smoking in April of 2008 continues to draw attention to people that are interested in rationalizing their involvement in this risky past time.

This is one my latest replies (today). Check out the original article (linked below).

Hi T,

Thank you for your reply. It is difficult to accurately measure how much nicotine is inhaled when analyzing cigarettes and hookah. You may be right about the amounts, starting out, in these combusted substances. You make an argument for cigarettes being more of a health risk than Hookah.

My major source of information was from JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association) and the American Lung Association. According to what I have read there is tar as well as nicotine and many other chemical compounds in hookah smoke. Since all hookahs are not the same, regarding the product and its ingredients, the amount of water, the vessel, the amount of charcoal, depth of inhalation, duration of smoking etc., it is almost impossible to discuss comparisons with any degree of accuracy.

That said, both hookah smoking and tobacco smoking are health hazards that can contribute to the top 4 leading causes of death in this country (heart attacks, cancer, strokes and chronic respiratory disease). If you want to validate hookah smoking by proving it is not as risky as cigarette smoking, you are not on stable ground. You may be right. Some occasional hookah smoking may not be nearly as bad as cigarette smoking but remember studies have shown that hookah smokers have an increased risk of taking up cigarette smoking.

My readings have cast great doubt on there being any filtering effect of water on hookah smoke. You are getting perhaps cooler smoke, but not cleaner smoke.

Whether flaming heat or charcoal heat, you still get combustion and smoke. With charcoal heated hookah you have the added residue from the charcoal.

T, a better choice, for preservation of health, is to avoid smoking anything. Any form of smoke inhalation poses a risk to your well- being, as well as others (that will passively inhale your combusted chemicals). The decisions you make now, regarding what you inhale, eat and drink, may have far reaching consequences later in life. Avoid having regrets in future years because of bad decisions of today. Smoking hookah, cigarettes, or anything, is unhealthy and unnecessary.

Best of Luck T,

J. Thompson

Link to Hookah article