HEALTH RISKS: The Hookah Myth
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
How bad is hookah smoking?
In Rhode Island, 11.3% of youths age 12-17 have smoked a cigarette in the past month, which is slightly higher than the national average of 10.1% according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in April. Despite popular belief among teens, hookah smoking is more dangerous and equally as addictive as smoking cigarettes.
What is a hookah?
Hookah bars offer alternatives to the classic bar scene—patrons gather around a pipe containing a flavored mixture of tobacco and molasses, heated by burning charcoal atop an ornate glass base filled with water.
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Key facts:
- Hookah smokers may inhale as much smoke during one session as a smoker would inhale in consuming 100 or more cigarettes according to the World Health Organization.
- In a survey of self-identified hookah smokers, 68.5% of respondents had smoked their first hookah at age 18 or younger—almost 10% had their first smoke under the age of 16.
- While nearly 80% of respondents were “very confident” that they could quit smoking hookah at any time, 50% of respondents “never intend to quit”. Full results from the survey are published in the journal of Nicotine & Tobacco Research in 2007.
Risks of tobacco use:
- Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, accounting for nearly 20% of deaths each year.
- Smokers are nearly six times as likely to suffer from a heart attack than non-smokers.
- Tobacco is a gateway drug—those who start smoking as a child are three times as likely to try marijuana and four times as likely to try cocaine as those who do not smoke as children.
Health risks specific to hookah smokers:
- Sharing the hookah mouthpiece among smokers puts users at risk for communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis, and viruses including hepatitis and herpes.
- Burning charcoal to heat the tobacco releases additional dangerous chemicals, including carbon monoxide and heavy metals.
- Second-hand smoke from hookah poses a serious health risk, containing a mixture of tobacco smoke and smoke from the charcoal.
- Risk for periodontal disease is 5 times greater for hookah smokers and nearly 4 times greater for cigarette smokers as compared to non-smokers, according to a study published in the Journal of Periodontology.
[2] http://www.who.int/tobacco/global_interaction/tobreg/Waterpipe%20recommendation_Final.pdf
[3] Ward, Kenneth D. , Eissenberg, Thomas , Gray, Jennifer N. , Srinivas, Vidya , Wilson, Nancy andMaziak, Wasim(2007) 'Characteristics of U.S. waterpipe users: A preliminary report', Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 9: 12, 1339 — 1346
[4] National Cancer Institute http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/smoking
[5] RI Dept of Health. http://www.health.ri.gov/family/ofyss/teens/tips/Tip33.php
[6] Water Pipe Smoking Poses Periodontal Disease Risk. JADA. http://jada.ada.org/cgi/content/full/137/1/24-a
[7] Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), Columbia University, Cigarettes, Alcohol, Marijuana: Gateways to Illicit Drug Use (October 1994), www.casacolumbia.org.
