A hookah is a smoking device that has several tubes through which the smoke enters the lungs. The tobacco used is flavored and mixed with charcoal. A lot of time has passed since the invention of the hookah, it has been modified more than once, and even smoking mixtures have been invented that do not contain nicotine. We will look into whether modern hookah is harmful to health in this article.
Many people are sure that smoking a hookah is a harmless entertainment that can replace cigarettes. Such beliefs are fueled by the fact that when smoking a hookah, a person inhales not smoke, but vapor from tobacco. This is because it is filtered through water, which traps harmful impurities. But still, there is considerable harm from hookah.
Hookah smoke is moist and cool, and when it enters the lungs, it settles lower than even cigarette smoke. As a result, the hookah affects the deep layers respiratory system. The main harm from it comes from combustion products, not nicotine.
While smoking a hookah, a person inhales harmful impurities of heavy metals. For example, carbon monoxide combines with oxygen, gradually displacing the latter, as a result of which all human organs and tissues are filled with it. Carbon monoxide is extremely dangerous for the heart, brain and other internal organs of humans.
Excessive hookah consumption leads to diseases vascular system, heart and even malignant tumors.
Smoking a hookah is not at all a harmless process, as it can cause a number of serious consequences:
Negative effects of hookah on the condition of internal organs:
You can find hookah tobacco without nicotine on sale. It would seem that there is no danger in it and you can smoke as much as you want. But even here there are dangers:
Therefore, the harm of a hookah without nicotine is not much less than with it. And you shouldn’t get carried away with it if you want to be healthy.
Any form of smoking during pregnancy is prohibited, be it cigarettes or hookah. Both cases contain a large amount of harmful substances that are very dangerous for the health and development of the fetus.
The production of hookah tobacco differs significantly from cigarette tobacco. It has an increased level of acidity, which makes nicotine more active.
Pregnant woman, excessively smoking hookah, more often suffers from vasospasm. This may cause the fetus to hold its breath. Also, carbon monoxide and other harmful impurities enter it with maternal blood, which can cause significant harm its development.
The consequences of such entertainment can be:
One more dangerous consequence Using hookah during pregnancy can cause premature birth. In most cases, the baby that emerges will have low body weight, a small head circumference and chest, and also lag behind their peers in development. In the future, such children are more likely to suffer from allergic reactions and colds.
Important! Pregnant women are prohibited from smoking even nicotine-free hookah.
Passive hookah smoking is even more dangerous than smoking itself, since with passive smoking a woman constantly breathes smoke. It turns out that the baby receives even more chemical compounds, which can lead to a number of pathologies:
While smoking a hookah harmful substances enter the body in parts. But with passive smoking, a woman constantly breathes smoke. It turns out that the baby receives even more chemical compounds, which can lead to a number of pathologies:
If you care about your health, then smoking hookah is permissible no more than once a month. Experts have found that smoking it is prohibited on an empty stomach. The duration of smoking should be no more than 40 minutes. If it contains fruit, you can increase it to 50 minutes. But it is better to give up smoking hookah altogether and not to be in rooms with its smoke, then it will definitely not lead to any diseases. Even with infrequent smoking, there is a risk of acquiring some of the the above diseases There is.
Everyday smoking can lead to addiction and you will not be able to live without a hookah. And this causes significant harm to the body, leading to many diseases and defects. The biggest danger from excessive smoke inhalation is cancer of the internal organs.
The main component of both cigarettes and hookah is the nicotine they contain. The only difference is in its appearance; mixtures in the form of briquettes are used for hookah. This substance poses a serious danger to the body. As a result, a person may develop diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart problems, stomatitis and oncology.
Most people are sure that hookah liquid does not absorb harmful substances, preventing them from entering the body. This is not true, the liquid only forces the smoker to inhale the smoke vapor even more, while it enters the lungs even deeper than when smoking cigarettes.
The percentage of nicotine in a cigarette and a hookah is the same. However, natural tobacco leaves are rarely used for the production of cigarettes; they have long been replaced by artificial ones. Natural tobacco leaves are used to produce hookahs and cigars. And they contain such a radioactive element as polonium-210, which is a provoking factor in the development of cancer. Hookah tobacco also contains additives that can lead to poisoning, cramps and coughing.
You can learn even more about the dangers of hookah from this video.
Smoking hookahs and cigarettes poses a serious risk to human health. Their main component is nicotine, which can cause addiction. Therefore, when choosing between one and the other, it is better to choose health and quit smoking forever. And if it’s difficult for you to do this, then read the article on how to quit smoking. You need to get rid of addiction, otherwise it can destroy you.
Today, many are convinced that hookah is a safe replacement for traditional cigarettes and that it does not harm human health.
Hookah fans explain this by saying that natural hookah tobacco does not contain additives that are dangerous to the body and the smoke entering the lungs is completely cleared of harmful impurities by the liquid in the flask. Adherents of hookah need not worry, because smoking hookah harms the health of the smoker only if consumed too often and in large quantities.
Flavors added to the tobacco mixture give a lot of pleasant sensations, which contributes to longer savoring and prolongation of smoking time. This increases the amount of nicotine entering the body. This is why hookah is more harmful than regular ones tobacco products only with excessive consumption. Moderate hookah smoking will give you and your friends a great mood and will be an excellent addition to any party.
Still, it is impossible to answer the questions with complete confidence: is it harmful to smoke tobacco mixtures tucked into a hookah, and is the smoke inhaled harmful? To dispel all doubts, let’s try to figure out how harmful hookah is for humans.
Scientists have long proven that smoking a hookah for one hour helps the body consume harmful smoke hundreds of times more than from just one strong cigarette. Why is hookah harmful to human health?
We all know how dangerous it is to be in close proximity to a smoker. Smoking a hookah is no exception and negatively affects the health of not only those who smoke, but also those who sit next to them.
A non-smoker or former smoker who sits in a room where a hookah is smoked unwittingly inhales nicotine vapor, nitrogen and carbon monoxide with the air.
This means that passive hookah smoking has an impact on the human body harmful influence.
Hookah tobacco contains fewer harmful substances than tobacco from regular cigarettes. However, when smoking a hookah, the human body receives large amounts of carbon monoxide, which can cause poisoning.
Smoking a hookah for one minute can be compared to smoking a whole pack of strong cigarettes. Carbon monoxide poisons not only the upper respiratory tract, but also the lower.
Hookah poses a threat as a dangerous item from a hygiene point of view. To a greater extent, this applies to smoking a hookah in a large company.
As a rule, if a lot of people gather, everyone takes turns smoking. It wouldn't be so scary if all people were absolutely healthy.
It may be that among smokers there is at least one sick person. In this case, the harm from hookah smoking is obvious.
As a rule, hookah smoking takes place in a warm, friendly atmosphere and is accompanied by casual conversation.
The aroma emanating from the hookah promotes relaxation. But you should remember that every puff brings you closer to nicotine addiction.
Many smokers from time to time wonder: is hookah harmful or not?
We can immediately say that the smoker’s health is significantly harmed by hookah.
Smoking a hookah has negative impact on the functioning of many organs and systems of the human body. But, of course, this only happens when hookah is abused.
Anyone can determine whether hookah smoking is harmful to health, based on their own feelings.
Let's look at how people react to hookah smoking. human body and why hookah is harmful.
Smoking a hookah instantly affects cardiac activity. Over time, an experienced smoker will be increasingly at risk of developing diseases of the heart and blood vessels, the tone of which gradually weakens. There are more and more chances to earn money ischemic disease. Initial symptoms, warning the smoker about the harmful effects of hookah, can be considered the appearance of shortness of breath and slight tingling in the heart.
Unfortunately, the effect of hookah on a person’s lungs is devastating. As studies have shown, smoke filtration in a mine does not occur in in full. Most of the smoke retains all the harmful substances that subsequently enter the lungs. Whether this is harmful or not is not at all difficult to guess.
The amount of toxins that enters the lungs is quite enough to disrupt the functioning of the respiratory system. Smoke, no matter how fragrant it may be, once it enters the lungs, causes tissue irritation, which contributes to the development of chronic form bronchitis.
Often, hookah lovers encounter the following troubles: eye pain, increased tearing and constantly itchy eyes. This primarily indicates the dangers of hookah.
Hookah smoke can instantly affect the mucous membrane of the eye, which will lead to unpleasant sensations in the eye area. It should be remembered that inflammation eye shell very difficult to treat.
Perhaps the main point that negatively affects the activity of the central nervous system is the emergence of dependence on hookah and aromatic smoking mixtures.
Very often, hookah has bad consequences in the form of a significant decrease in mental abilities and physical activity smoking In addition, a high content of carbon dioxide is harmful to the person as a whole and to the activity of the central nervous system.
But before lighting a hookah, every pregnant girl should think about whether it is possible to smoke a hookah in such a delicate position and whether the hookah is harmful to the health of the unborn baby.
Let's ask ourselves: is hookah dangerous for intrauterine development baby? There is no doubt about it! Dangerous!
The baby already in the womb receives large doses of carbon monoxide, which will have a negative impact on its development. Why put the health and life of the unborn child at risk?
Each expectant mother I should prohibit myself from smoking hookah at least for the period of pregnancy and the subsequent period breastfeeding baby.
And now we can draw a conclusion and evaluate the harm that hookah causes to the entire human body.
However, there is no clear answer to the question: is hookah harmful to health?
Hookah is both beneficial and harmful.
On the one hand, it helps to overcome dependence on regular tobacco smoking, and on the other hand, excessive hookah smoking can also have a negative impact on health.
This is why you should not smoke hookah too long or too often.
Hookah is one of the the most ancient ways smoking. It was invented in India, and its modern look acquired already in Turkey in the 17th-19th centuries.
Smoking cigarettes, vaping, hookah - all this is the same thing: inhaling smoke and nicotine. The only question is which of the above lists is more harmful. The debate about whether hookah is harmful continues to this day.
Today, hookah smoking service can be found in many cafes and restaurants.
A hookah is an exotic device for smoking a tobacco mixture. The role of a filter in it is performed by a flask with some liquid, but more often with water.
To smoke a hookah, special smoking mixtures with aromatic additives are placed in the bowl, which are covered with hot coals on top.
The smoker draws smoke through the pipe. Thus, the smoke from the bowl with the smoking mixture rises into the flask, and through the pipe into the lungs of the smoker.
Thanks to such a long path, the smoke is cooled more, and along the way it is moistened. All this creates a feeling of safer process for a person.
Let's look at what harm a hookah can cause to the body and what its main disadvantages are.
Addiction to hookah smoking is impossible - this is the argument that hookah lovers rely on, emphasizing that it is more harmless compared to cigarettes.
However, this statement applies more to those people who like to breathe hookah on weekends, for example, or even a couple of times a month.
However, regular hookah smoking causes the same addiction that cigarette smokers have to fight. And this addiction is based on nicotine. Of course, we do not take mixtures without nicotine for review.
Almost 8 pieces – During one smoking session, a hookah smoker's lungs are exposed to the effects of 8 cigarettes.
Here's how this calculation was arrived at:
The neurotoxic effects of nicotine are almost instantly addictive.
Unlike a cigarette, the first experience of smoking a hookah may seem pleasant and attractive, which encourages hookah lovers to use this method of relaxation more and more often.
Big problem hookah is that when you inhale strongly, the resins settle not on the bronchi and on the upper part of the lungs, but on the much more sensitive middle and lower parts of the lungs, which increases the risk of developing lung cancer several times.
From one smoking a hookah smoker receives as much harm as heavy smoker smoking more than a pack of cigarettes daily.
Hookah advocates often argue that the liquid filtration system cleans the smoke very well. However, no water filter can cope with the amount of harmful substances contained in hookah smoke.
If when smoking regular cigarettes the lungs take up to 400 ml of smoke, then when using a hookah mixture the amount of smoke increases to 2 liters.
The liquid filter on water retains up to 90% of phenols, acrolein, acetaldehyde, 50% of solid particles and part of polycyclicenes and benzopyrene. The amount of nicotine decreases slightly as it passes through the filter. However, chromium, arsenic and lead continue to seriously poison the body.
Sometimes you can hear another incorrect statement that a milk filter is more effective. This is wrong. Milk also cannot filter out all the toxins, so it only affects the taste of the smoke.
Let's look at what tobacco is included in smoking mixtures.
Often, hookah tobacco is made in a handicraft manner and is not subject to any examination or control.
A smoker, filling his device with such tobacco, often does not know what its composition is, where the raw materials were grown, how they were processed, or how they were stored.
And tobacco is not as terrible as smoldering coals.
To obtain hookah smoke, the coals are heated to a temperature of 600 degrees. It is under these conditions that benzopyrene begins to form, which has a mutagenic effect - causing DNA mutations.
Hazardous Exposure benzopyrene is aggravated by the formation of carbon monoxide, the harmfulness of which is beyond doubt. Oxygen starvation is caused by the binding of hemoglobin molecules.
As a result of hypoxia internal organs stop receiving oxygen. The brain, trying to solve this problem, constricts the blood vessels, and the heart begins to contract harder, trying to pump more blood to supply the organs with oxygen.
However, instead of oxygen, the smoker continues to saturate the body with carbon monoxide mixed with harmful impurities.
Hookah is smoked indoors, so the bodies of non-smokers sitting next door are also affected by the toxic fumes.
People near the smoker inhale not only the smoke released from the mouthpiece, but also the fumes emanating from hot coals and moist tobacco.
The harmful effects of hookah smoking on passive smokers obvious. People start complaining about headache, weakness, nausea, even just after sitting in a smoky room for half an hour.
Definitely harmful to the health of passive smokers:
When smoking a hookah, hygiene rules are constantly violated: the mouthpiece passes through many people.
Not everyone agrees to constantly change disposable attachments: some people think that this slows down the process of getting pleasure, others just think that they are showing disrespect for their friends.
This increases the risk of transmitting common viruses such as herpes and diseases such as tonsillitis. In this regard, cigarettes are much more hygienic.
Smoking hookah and cigarettes are equally harmful to the body, doctors say.
Let's take a closer look at what happens if you smoke a hookah and what effect it has on the human body.
Increased concentration of nicotine in the heart muscle tissue leads to their gradual degeneration, which is the root cause of the development of myocardial infarction.
Inhalation of hookah smoke leads to:
All of the above reasons may indirectly cause premature death.
Thickening of the blood can cause blood clots to form. Breakaway blood clot enters the bloodstream and begins its movement throughout the body. Sooner or later, it clogs the vessel, blocking blood access to it. As a result, a stroke occurs in the organ that has undergone oxygen starvation.
Fatal consequences are most common when the blood clot enters the head or heart.
Hookah smoke fills the lungs, settling on them in the form of resins, which cause damage to the alveolar sacs.
Connective tissue The lungs lose their elasticity, which increases the risk of bronchiectasis - chronic dilatation of the bronchi. This disease threatens shortness of breath, frequent exacerbations of cough and secondary complications — cardiopulmonary failure, abscess, pulmonary hemorrhage.
Carcinogens found in hookah smoke irritate the mucous membrane of the larynx and trachea and negatively affect the ciliated epithelium, causing its destruction. Destruction of the epithelium of the lungs leads to the development of frequent pharyngitis and chronic bronchitis, followed by more serious pathologies such as oncological diseases.
Half an hour after you start smoking hookah, the blood vessels narrow sharply. Exposure to nicotine reduces the oxygen saturation of the blood, leading to hypoxia. At this stage, both the brain and the nervous system suffer.
Irritability, fatigue, poor appetite and sleep disorders - all this characteristic symptoms an avid hookah smoker.
Diseases may also develop:
Tobacco smoke can cause multiple sclerosis, which is an extreme degree of damage to the nervous system.
Oddly enough, the impact of smoke on the eyes from a hookah is even greater than from a cigarette.
Hookahs are harmful to vision because their smoke causes:
According to statistics, every tenth hookah smoker runs the risk of losing his sight completely.
According to statistics, men smoke hookah much more often than women.
For men's health daily and long-term exposure hookah smoke is even more dangerous than for women:
Smoking a hookah has both positive aspects.
The originality of the process, the beauty of the ritual, the pleasant aroma - this is what attracts many people to enjoy smoking periodically.
Even in the process of hookah smoking there is no burning of paper, which is a factor in the formation of many toxic substances.
As for water filtration, it is practically helpless in cleaning smoke from nicotine and benzopyrene, but it cleans it very well of toxic substances. chemicals- acrolein and acetaldehyde.
In addition, there is always the opportunity for a smoker to switch to nicotine-free mixtures, the effect of which on humans is much less harmful.
There are 3 types nicotine-free tobacco:
On the one hand, this option is more harmless. The main thing is to choose natural smoking mixtures from a reliable, trusted manufacturer.
On the other hand, any chemical flavoring in the mixture becomes carcinogenic when heated.
Having considered all the pros and cons of hookah smoking, and assessing why it is useful and why it is dangerous, you can understand how hookah smoking affects human health.
And if we compare it with cigarettes, we can note the following:
If you like to smoke hookah for a long time, take at least basic precautions:
By following these rules, you can reduce the harmfulness of hookah to the body and smoke it truly for pleasure and relaxation, and not to the detriment of your health.
Hookah: benefits and harms is an issue that is actively discussed in society. If quite recently smoking a hookah was considered something very exotic, today it has become a widespread fashionable entertainment. However, despite its popularity, the benefits and harms of hookah are incommensurable; the negative effects of hookah on health can be compared with smoking cigarettes.
A hookah is a smoking device, the principle of which is based on the fact that the smoke from smoking mixture, before entering the human body, it travels quite a long way, bypassing the water filter. The composition of the smoking mixture and the peculiar purification of the smoke give reason to think that hookah is harmless.
When the benefits and harms of a hookah are considered, the main argument in its favor is the fact that the smoke is purified in a water filter, and harmful substances are deposited on the walls of the tube and mouthpiece during the long movement of smoke. Indeed, the impact of smoke on human health is significantly reduced, but the harm still remains. Despite the presence of filters, smoking a hookah can be safely equated to smoking cigarettes.
When smoking a hookah, nicotine and carbon monoxide are released. Both of these components, entering the blood, bind hemoglobin, causing oxygen starvation fabrics. There remains an important feature of smoking - nicotine addiction, and it is often found that in the case of a hookah it intensifies.
The argument of hookah supporters in favor of its harmlessness is also based on the reduced risk of malignant tumors compared to regular smoking. This fact is confirmed by researchers, however, other diseases of the lungs and respiratory tract may, on the contrary, occur. This is facilitated by inhalation of moistened smoke, which lasts longer in the respiratory organs and penetrates deeper than dry smoke.
The harm of smoking is further aggravated by combining smoking with alcohol consumption. Alcohol is added to hookah liquid, which significantly increases exposure to nicotine and other harmful substances.
It is believed that hookah smoking can be done anywhere, and it is not yet prohibited in restaurants, unlike smoking cigarettes. However, many researchers note increased harm for passive smokers, associated with the volumetric clouds of smoke that this device emits.
Many people have a question about hookah. Of course, we shouldn’t talk about myths that attribute healing effects to hookah, but some positive points It can still be noted. Thus, the beneficial effect of hookah on vocal cords, since moistened smoke increases their elasticity. In addition, when eucalyptus and other medicinal herbs the device can act as an inhaler, positively affecting the bronchi and trachea.
The main ones beneficial properties belong to the field of psychology. This type of smoking has a calming effect on nervous system. Traditionally, hookah brought people together in a common circle, and the procedure itself evoked peace and promoted spiritual communication.
You can also note the possibility of using hookah in aromatherapy. By changing the composition of the smoking mixture and adding different flavors, you can get a smell that has a positive psychological effect.
A study of the effects of hookah indicates that there is no fundamental difference between it and tobacco smoking.
Despite the fact that such a hobby has its pros and cons, it should be classified as bad habits. Another thing is that its harmfulness is much lower than smoking cigarettes, and in the absence of excessive intensity, the harm from hookah smoking can be minimized. It should be remembered that traditionally in the East, hookah was used not to obtain nicotine, but for the beneficial psychological effect that was achieved correct selection smoking mixtures.
When smoking a hookah, the smoke does not immediately enter the lungs. Previously, it goes through a kind of filter from the liquid located in the vessel and the hookah shaft. The smoke cools, harmful substances (including some nicotine) settle on the walls of the bowl. It is this “filtration” process that allows hookah advocates to make claims about its harmlessness. But not everything is so simple - he does not consider hookah an equivalent and absolutely safe alternative to cigars and cigarettes for the body.
Is there a hookah addiction? This issue is still controversial. On the one hand, hookah rarely leads to nicotine addiction - it has been proven that 90% of people who smoke less than 3 hookahs in 7 days are free from it. Among those who smoke hookah almost daily - from 3 to 6 times a week - nicotine addiction 60% suffer.
Nicotine addiction will not occur if you smoke hookah 6-8 times a month or less, since the content of this substance in hookah smoke is still much lower than in regular cigarettes. Experienced smokers know very well that it is almost impossible to compensate for the lack of nicotine with a hookah, since the smoking process is very extended over time. In addition, hookahs are rarely smoked alone, so the harmful substances remaining in the smoke after filtration are shared by everyone.
Nicotine addiction becomes a reality if you smoke several hookahs daily. It is worth noting that this type of addiction is even worse than regular cigarette consumption - the smoker receives concentrated, small doses of nicotine within 5 minutes. It will take much longer to satisfy the body's need for nicotine. Since the dose is smaller, literally within an hour you will feel the need to smoke again.
However, there is also a real hookah addiction. It does not affect human physiology; it rather belongs to the field of psychology. Many people associate the process of smoking a hookah with rest and relaxation. A person gets used to smoking a hookah when something is wrong with him. This type of addiction is as dangerous as the physiological addiction to nicotine.
To smoke a hookah, as a rule, ordinary tobacco is used. Accordingly, smoke contains harmful substances that increase the risk of developing heart and lung diseases. For example, the risk of cancer when smoking a hookah is, of course, higher than for a non-smoker. However, compared to people who prefer cigarettes, hookah lovers are almost “out of the risk zone.”
The real harm of hookah is associated, rather, not with diseases caused by smoking, but with elements of unhygienicness of the procedure itself. As a rule, hookah is smoked in a group of several people who pass the pipe to each other. If people in a group share the same mouthpiece, there is a possibility of transmission of hepatitis and herpes viruses through saliva. It’s not difficult to get rid of this risk - just use a personal mouthpiece (single-use or reusable).
The harm of a hookah is also due to the large amount of carbon monoxide inhaled by one person during a smoking session. If 1 liter of smoke contains 1.79 mg of CO, then a smoker inhales about 179 ml of carbon monoxide in 100 puffs (on average, this is how much a person takes in 1 session). However, this harm is relative - in a room equipped gas stove, a person can inhale 2-4 times more).
Among the ideas about the dangers of hookah, there are plenty of myths. The most popular of them is that in an hour of smoking a hookah, a person inhales hundreds of times more smoke than when smoking one cigarette. Of course, the volume of smoke when smoking a hookah is greater. But toxicity is less.
If about active smoking One can still argue about hookah, finding some (very conditional) positive and neutral aspects in it, then it is definitely harmful. Despite the fact that a hookah does not smoke as much as a cigarette left in an ashtray, a person in the same room with smokers experiences the full spectrum harmful effects. He is forced to inhale nitrogen, carbon monoxide and other combustion products of tobacco.
Hookah with milk or water is considered the most neutral and safe. But many smokers prefer to combine hookah and alcohol for best relaxation. In fact, a wine hookah is not more effective. If wine is added in reasonable quantities, the smoke may taste a little more pleasant, but that's all. In addition, alcohol vapor will be added to the mixture you inhale.
But it is better to refrain from drinking alcohol while smoking a hookah - you can easily get dizziness, severe headache, nausea and vomiting, as well as increase the general intoxication of the body with harmful substances.
The benefits of smoking hookah are very relative. If you compare hookah with cigarettes, the former is certainly healthier. If we evaluate the impact on health as a whole, there can be no talk of benefit. Indeed, the process of consuming nicotine becomes a little more pleasant, there are fewer toxic substances in the smoke, but hookah does not help get rid of addiction.
The “benefits” of relaxation using a hookah are also questionable. You can relax in many ways, including those that do not harm your health. And buy instead of one addiction Several are not the best option.
