Q: Is hookah or water pipe smoking a safe alternative to cigarettes?
A: Absolutely not. In fact, as Daniel Neides, MD, medical director of the Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic points out, hookah smoking “may actually be worse than smoking.”
Hookahs are water pipes in which charcoal is used to heat up flavored tobacco. An ancient form of smoking that originated in the Middle East and India, it has become increasingly popular among American adolescents and young adults. Roughly 1 out of 5 U.S. high school seniors had smoked a hookah in the past year, according to recent data.
The hookah’s gaining popularity is largely due to the misconception that it’s not harmful. That’s not the case. “First, the tobacco used in hookah contains the same cancer-causing agents found in cigarettes,” Dr. Neides says. “Secondly, there is charcoal that is used to heat the tobacco, which gives off carbon monoxide and heavy metals as a by-product when it is heated.”
A hookah session usually lasts longer than time spent smoking cigarettes, with hookah smokers puffing more frequently and inhaling more deeply. A 2010 study reported the amount of smoke inhaled during a hookah session can be nearly 200 times the amount inhaled when smoking a cigarette. Earlier this year, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found that hookah smoking raised nicotine urine levels as much as 73 times.
Neides adds that because water pipes are usually smoked in specialty hookah shops or bars and shared among friends, users are exposed to greater levels of secondhand smoke and are at a higher risk of contracting viruses or infections.
The bottom line, Neides says, is that “hookah smoke should be considered the same as cigarettes and cigars – a very unhealthy habit that leads to chronic disease and death.”
