They refer to the peculiarities of smoking a hookah, that is, the passage of smoke through a flask with a liquid, usually water or champagne, its filtration and, as a result, a reduction in its carcinogenic potential, as well as the content of nicotine, phenols up to 90% , benzopyrene, aromatic hydrocarbons polycyclen up to 50%. As a result, not the nicotine itself is smoked, but, rather, its juices. In addition, hookah smoke is cleared of acrolein and acetaldehyde, and these are harmful substances for alveolar macrophages that protect the lungs and are the most important elements of the human immune system. Tobacco in the hookah does not come in contact with paper and open fire, so the smoke does not contain carcinogens and other products of combustion. It's more difficult to smoke a hookah than cigarettes, therefore, with the intense rhythm of modern life, this will not happen very often. They note the pleasant taste of the hookah in the mouth, and the smell in the room.
But it's not so simple. According to the experts of the World Health Organization, smoking a hookah and its effect on the body is no less than the harm of smoking cigarettes. Of course, the hookah has a pleasant taste and aroma, provided by the mandatory addition of tobacco leaves of dried herbs and pieces of fruit. However, tobacco remains tobacco with all its impurities. Therefore, non-smoking people, addicted to hookah, just as easily get used to cigarettes. In addition, the very specific nature of smoking hookah is dangerous to health. Here are the conclusions of the opponents of the hookah:
- Smoking hookah - a fairly long process: 30-40 minutes. No doubt, the smoke inside the bulb is filtered, but the smoker inhales the volume of smoke that is much higher than the volume that is inhaled when smoking a cigarette. Thus, the harm from one hookah session is equal to the harm from smoking a pack of cigarettes. In addition, it is impossible to neutralize all "smoke chemistry" in the flask of water, and the amount of beryllium, chromium, cobalt and nickel in hookah smoke is many times greater than their content in cigarette smoke.
- Hookah smokers inhale smoke, making more effort to create inside the negative pressure, ensuring the passage of smoke through the filtering liquid. Deep breathing will ensure that smoke penetrates deep into the lungs, where substances harmful to the body are absorbed most intensively.
- Since smoking hookah traditionally is a group process, the risk of transmission of diseases transmitted through the saliva (hepatitis, herpes, tuberculosis, etc.) is increasing.
- The problem of passive smoking does not disappear anywhere. For non-smokers, being in the company of hookah smokers is as harmful as in the society of cigarette smokers. Negative influence on health is not only carcinogens, but also the products of combustion of charcoal, which is a combustible substance in the hookah.
- The negative impact on human health when smoking hookah is not limited to the effects of nicotine. With slow or incomplete burning of tobacco in the hookah, carbon monoxide is formed, which provokes an increase in the heart rate. Inveterate smokers can not help smoking a hookah for more than two days, which is not due to the half-decay from the cuckoo lasting about 15 and 20 hours.
Thus, the question: "Is it harmful for smoking hookah for health?" You can answer in the affirmative, when smoking a hookah and its effects on the body can be very unpleasant consequences. However, who said that smoking is generally useful? Any smoking leads to a risk of chronic pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases and cancers.