Hookah,
Narghile, Waterpipe, or Hubble Bubble smoking, popular as Shisha in this
part of the world –is a way of smoking tobacco, sometimes mixed with
fruit or molasses sugar, through a bowl and hose or tube. It is a
glass-bottomed water pipe in which fruit-flavoured tobacco is covered
with foil and roasted with charcoal. The tobacco smoke passes through a
water chamber and is inhaled deeply and slowly; the fruit-flavoured tobacco tastes smooth and smells sweet, making it an enjoyable and unrushed experience.
It’s
difficult to say exactly how much smoke or toxic substances an individual is exposed to in a typical shisha session. People smoke Shisha for a much
longer period of time than they smoke a cigarette, and in one puff of
Shisha you inhale the same amount of smoke as you’d get from smoking a
whole cigarette. Shisha smoking appears to increase the risk of several
Cancers (lung, esophageal, and gastric), Pulmonary diseases (impaired
pulmonary function, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema), Coronary
artery disease, Periodontal disease, Obstetrical and Perinatal problems
(low birth weight and pulmonary problems at birth), larynx and voice
changes, and osteoporosis.
IS HERBAL SHISHA HEALTHIER?
No
it isn’t. Shisha, herbal or not, usually contains tobacco. Fruit or
herbal flavours do not mean the product is healthy. Using a
tobacco-free shisha still put the individual at risk from the Carbon monoxide and
any toxins in the coal or charcoal used to burn the Shisha.
Second
hand smoke is also a worry. If you’re smoking with other people or in a
public place and the Shisha includes cigarette tobacco, it’s likely
you’ll breathe in their second hand smoke too.
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