Hookah smoking causes cancer

Many people think that hookah smoking is a practically harmless alternative to cigarettes.

But recently scientists proved that this is not the case at all. Smoking hookah causes significant damage to our body and can also cause addiction.

In the body of people who smoke hookah, there is an increased amount of nicotine, cotinine, volatile organic substances and various carcinogens. In the study published in the journal “Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention”, these damages are described in detail.

“Our data indicate that during hookah smoking, substances that are part of tobacco and also some volatile compounds enter the blood,” says Gideon Hellen of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of California.

Only after one night spent smoking a hookah, in the body of young people was recorded an increased amount of nicotine by more than 73 times, cotinine level – 4 times , and the amount of NNAL (a tobacco breakdown product that increases the risk of developing lung and pancreatic cancer) doubled.

Also increased the content of benzene and acrolein – products of the breakdown of volatile compounds that provoke the development of tumors and lead to lung diseases and the cardiovascular system.

“We found a significant increase in nicotine content in the body, which indicates a possible addiction to hookah smoking,” says Helen.

“Water-based hookahs are considered a safe alternative to cigarettes. But our research shows that hookah smoking, especially regular hookah smoking, is by no means without risk”.

55 volunteers aged 18 to 48 who regularly smoked hookah took part in the study. For their participation in the experiment, they had to abstain from smoking for one week. At the end of this period, a urine sample was taken from everyone, and then everyone started smoking hookah.

A new urine sample was taken the next morning to calculate the rate of elimination of each of the substances from the participants’ bodies.

Scientists found high levels of nicotine, cotinine and NNAL in the urine of all participants immediately after smoking. It also turned out that the content of these substances remained high the next day, compared to the data reported in the examination of the first urine sample.

The nicotine level was increased more than 10-fold, cotinine – 3.2-fold, and NNAL – 2.2-fold. In practice, the nicotine content after hookah smoking was comparable to that detected in the blood after smoking regular cigarettes.

“I have observed entire families, including children, smoking hookah. My friends have suggested that I try it too, convinced that hookah is completely harmless,” says Helen. “Our goal is to prove that hookah smoking leads to the inhalation of significant amounts of harmful substances, to which it is also possible to become addicted”.

So don’t be fooled that hookah is harmless. The time will come to give up this harmful habit.