Often considered less harmful to health than cigarettes, smoking shisha irreparably affects our cardiovascular system.
This is an argument often put forward by hookah or shisha smokers: thanks to its reservoir, this water pipe is less harmful to health than cigarettes, or even completely harmless.
A new study from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) proves just the opposite. Published in the journal American Journal of Cardiology, she claims that a single 30-minute shisha session has negative effects on heart rate, arterial pressure and stiffness. It thus joins the conclusions of the World Health Organization (WHO) which, in September 2016, warned shisha smokers and affirmed that “contrary to beliefs, the smoke emitted by a water pipe contains many toxic substances known to cause lung cancer, heart disease and other ailments “.
Increased heart rate and arterial stiffness
As part of their research, the researchers sought to measure heart rate, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, blood nicotine levels, and exhaled carbon monoxide levels in 48 healthy young hookah smokers. . The measurements were taken before and after 30 minutes of smoking.
The results showed that a single session of hookah increased heart rate by an average of 16 beats per minute, as well as blood pressure. It also significantly increased measures of arterial stiffness, which is a key risk factor in the development of cardiovascular conditions such as heart attack and stroke.
The increase in arterial stiffness was comparable to that observed in smokers after they had smoked a cigarette. “Our results challenge the concept that consumption of fruit-flavored hookah tobacco is a healthier alternative to traditional tobacco. It is not at all,” warns Mary Rezk-Hanna, assistant professor at UCLA. and principal author of the study.
Marketing around shisha
The problem, insists the researcher, is that today, while the consumption of cigarettes is decreasing in the world, that of shisha is increasing, especially among young people and students. The latter, particularly sensitive to marketing arguments and to the fruity or exotic flavors offered in hookah bars, make the waterpipe a recreational product and therefore apparently harmless to health.
“We know that flavored products are often the first tobacco products used by young people,” notes Professor Rezk-Hanna. “One of the major problems with hookah is the fact that the tobacco is scented with aromas of fruits, candies and alcohol, making it the most popular flavored product with this audience.”
The results of the study are all the more worrying as they were carried out after a short hookah session: half an hour. However, the researchers say, shisha sessions can sometimes last for several hours, potentially increasing the levels of nicotine and other toxins absorbed into the body.
Tar, carbon monoxide and heavy metals
Other studies carried out before that of UCLA had already highlighted the toxicity of hookah. In 2016, a meta-analysis published in Public Health Reports, revealed that a consumer inhales 125 times more smoke during a shisha session than when smoking a cigarette, but also 25 times more tar, 10 times more carbon monoxide and 2.5 times more nicotine .
Shisha tobacco also contains heavy metals. A Jordanian study published in 2015 in the journal BMC Public Health has shown that shisha tobacco contains 3% heavy metals, including uranium. During an average session (1 hour), the consumer is exposed to 100 or even 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled with a cigarette. In the long term, heavy metals can be harmful to health by greatly increasing the risk of head and neck cancer, but also by causing other chronic diseases.
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