A hookah is a vessel, usually filled with water, to which a smoking bowl and a hose for inhaling smoke are attached using a special pipe (shaft). Now let's try to understand what harm from smoking a hookah exists and whether it exists at all?
Hookah has existed for a long time in the East, where it is considered not just a smoking device, but a kind of tradition, part of eastern culture. His smoking often occurred not only during rest, but also during
business negotiations. Several decades ago, this custom, having visited Europe and America, came to us.
In addition to using special smoking mixtures, some prefer to smoke regular cigarette tobacco through a hookah, arguing that in this way less harm is done to the body. What are these beliefs based on, and are they true? Are there any arguments confirming that such tobacco use is less dangerous for the body?
Hookah: harm or benefit to the body
To begin with, we recall what arguments are given by those who consider smoking through a hookah less harmful. Why is it needed at all and how does it affect a person? It perfectly relaxes after hard workdays and has a calming effect on the nervous system, say supporters. This is true, but taking alcohol and drugs, too, at first, perfectly relaxes, without guaranteeing the absence of danger in the future. Fans also argue that hookah does not harm, and therefore can not turn into a bad habit . Canadian doctors, after conducting research, found the opposite. Addiction arises, and no less than with ordinary cigarettes, which once again refutes the myth of a less harmful method of smoking.
The Myth of Purifying Water
It is generally accepted that a flask with water serves as a kind of filter, passing through which the smoke cools and leaves some of the harmful substances. There is some truth in this, but given the temperature of the smoke in a hookah (more than 400 degrees Celsius), without any special knowledge, you can understand that smoke passing through water simply does not have time to cool to a temperature safe for the human body. In addition, most of the dangerous components of tobacco smoke simply can not dissolve in water due to its chemical qualities, which means that it gets directly into the
lungs of a smoker. As a result, the hookah is harmed by the fact that one session of such smoking, by the number of
harmful substances that enter the body, is equivalent to 60 cigarettes.
The danger is not only in the hookah itself
It is also worth mentioning the quality of smoking blends. Since in most cases they are made in a handicraft way, there is a high probability of getting to you a product that smoking through a hookah will do even more harm. And since when we smoke a hookah at a time we breathe in a very large amount of smoke, its dangerous actions affect not only the lungs, but also nearby organs, as a result of which, in addition to lung cancer, larynx cancer can be earned.
Fatal euphoria
Now it is time to discuss why after smoking a hookah a person enters into a state of some euphoria. It was found that passing through water, the concentration of carbon monoxide, a substance that dilates blood vessels, increases, due to which there is a slight intoxication. The effect of this substance has not been fully studied, but has already been recognized as undesirable for the body.
Infection
And, finally, it is worth mentioning the possible transmission of some infections during smoking - traditions suggest the transfer of the smoking pipe to each other, therefore, infection with tuberculosis or hepatitis A is not excluded.
This, perhaps, is all that today can be said about what kind of hookah does the body harm. But constant research is being conducted in this area, so probably something new will soon be learned, but far from the fact that this new one will speak about the benefits of the hookah.