In clear contrast to the marketing endeavors that assert that waterpipe or Hookah smoking is safer than regular cigarettes, a new study conducted by the UCLA and released in the American Journal of Cardiology concluded that just half an hour of Hookah smoking yielded the risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, similarly to conventional cigarette smoking.
“Our findings challenge the concept that smoking fruit-flavored hookah tobacco is a healthier tobacco alternative. It’s not,” asserted the study’s leading author, Mary Rezk-Hanna.
This research is the first to examine the impact of Hookah smoking on the stiffness of the arteries. Previous studies have demonstrated that as cigarette smoking declines, Hookah use is on the rise, particularly in young adults and undergraduates.
“We know that flavored tobacco products are often the first type of tobacco product that young people use. One of the biggest problems with Hookahs is the fact that tobacco has flavors, making hookahs the most popular flavored tobacco product among this audience,” added Rezk-Hanna.
More and more young adults use Hookah, but Hookah smoking increases the risks for cardiovascular diseases
Cigarettes may not have an artificial or natural flavor, besides tobacco or menthol, or a characteristically flavored herb or spice, as it’s said by the authority of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, under the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, the ban does not cover Hookahs, which is one of the reasons why their popularity is rapidly increasing.
According to the statistical data, among adults aged between 18 and 24, 18.2 percent of them use hookahs, in comparison to 19.6 percent who prefer conventional cigarette smoking and 8.9 percent who are vaping.
The findings of the new study are strikingly worrisome as the researchers gauged what seems to be the lowest limit of Hookah smoking, namely, half an hour. A Hookah smoking session may typically last for several hours, with the potential to raise the nicotine intake and cause the absorption of more toxic by-products than in traditional cigarettes smoking.