Posted on 07/10/2014 1:25:31 PM PDT by Drango
Researchers say a majority of youngsters are not aware of the dangerous health consequences of smoking hookah.
Despite many studies highlighting the negative consequences of smoking hookah, researchers of a new study find that many young smokers are still not aware of the dangers of this cigarette alternative.
For the study, researchers surveyed young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 across three Southern California hookah lounges. They asked the participants whether they thought hookah smoking was dangerous to health and if not, why? Researchers were surprised to find that 57 percent of them thought hookah was a safer alternative. Of these, 47 percent said that they thought hookah wasn't dangerous because the water filters the smoke. Another 35 percent said that fruit flavors detoxifiy the tobacco's harmful chemicals. An additional 16 percent thought that the tobacco in hookah was not addictive and did not contain nicotine.
"This study underscores the urgent importance of more research and campaigns to increase public knowledge on the dangers of hookah smoking, especially among young adults," lead author Rezk-Hanna said in a press statement. "Understanding the basis of these perceptions and beliefs is of particular relevance for helping healthcare professionals design effective prevention and intervention strategies that target young-adult hookah smokers."
The findings of this study raise concerns as they suggest that young adults are not paying heed to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention's warning that one session of hookah is as bad as smoking 100 cigarettes.
Earlier this week, New York University researchers found that hookah is fast becoming a popular alternative to cigarettes among high school seniors. One reason for this may be because it is the only non-regulated tobacco product in the United States. It is exempted from many tobacco regulator acts including the California Clean Air Act.
An hour-long hookah smoking session involves 200 puffs, while smoking an average cigarette involves 20 puffs. Hookah smokers may be at risk for some of the same diseases as cigarette smokers. These include oral cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, cancer of the esophagus, reduced lung function and decreased fertility.
and they never change the mouth piece
Well, considering the youth vote for obama, and the youth support for gay “marriage”, it doesn’t surprise me one bit that 57% of them are too dumb to breathe (healthily).....
What happened to “A hookah a day keeps the doctor at bay?”
The anti-smoking nanny-staters have only a passing familiarity with the truth. (No, I'm not a smoker, nor do I use a hookah -- just someone who objects to lying propaganda, wherever it originates from, and regardless of the "good cause" it purports to support.)
...hookah bar patrons she surveyed (all between 18 and 30 years old) thought that hookah smoke lacked nicotine, and wasn’t addictive. And 56 percent said that hookah wasn’t harmful to their health at all. Around half of those surveyed thought that the pipes, which generally have several feet of hose for the smoke to travel through, somehow “filtered out” the toxic components with air and water. Some even thought that the tasty flavors given to hookah smoke, which can be delightfully fruity, served to make them less toxic.
WOW, Just WOW. Advocates (and there are many on FR) say the risks of smoking are well known. Apparently not.
The anti-smoking nanny-staters have only a passing familiarity with the truth. (No, I’m not a smoker, nor do I use a hookah — just someone who objects to lying propaganda, wherever it originates from, and regardless of the “good cause” it purports to support.)
BINGO! Thanks for the illustration, too.
Ummmm, perhaps you need a course in basic physics. Burning charcoal IS combustion, producing CO (that is carbon monoxide) along with CO2. The tobacco in a hookah is burned by that charcoal--again PRODUCING COMBUSTION.... and only then having its smoke.... brought down and cooled through the water. The cooled tobacco smoke may be vaporous....it is still, however smoke....that is the product of combustion.
I am actually an (occasional) hookah smoker (though I prefer cigars) and a hookah is nothing other than a water cooled tobacco pipe--which has the same kinds of dangers as a conventional tobacco pipe.
Of course an occasional pipe or cigar....is far less dangerous than any form of cigarette smoking, as unlike with cigarettes, you do not take pipe or cigar smoke into your lungs.....
They're still spouting that BS.
An average hookah bowl contains about 15 grams of tobacco. I would really like for someone to tell me how to get 100 smokes out of that.
medical experts agree that hookah smoking is as dangerous, if not more dangerous than cigarette smoking.
Here is a source that says you are wrong. I should say the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle isn't an advocacy or hype group. They are a major and well respected research group.
Please post your supporting link.
The method referred to in the article, the tobacco IS NOT burned. Foil is placed on top of the bowl and the coals on top of that. With indirect heat, the tobacco is roasted.
There are some traditional tombaks where the coals are placed directly on the tobacco, but they're a totally different experience and won't be found in your local hookah lounge.
The hookah’s that I’ve smoked did have smoke coming from the little tobacco brick on top, whether roasted or not, the tobacco is burned by heat, or it will produce no smoke.
A hookah is a water-cooled tobacco pipe. It’s no more, and no less risky than a conventional tobacco pipe.
When I delivered pizzas on campus there were always groups of people gathered around a table, smoking a Hookah. I just laughed.
I’ve smoked hookah and when done correctly the tobacco is not reduced to ash. Brown dry plant matter still remains so there is no combustion of the tobacco.
There is combustion at the charcoal with CO2 and CO resulting but there is very little tar when using good quality coal.
You can also buy electronic plug-in “coals”, set at the vapor temperature and completely eliminate combustion.
There are also “all natural coals” which are not “self starters” and thusly do not conatain the dangerous lighter fuel that many coals do
All the ones I've seen are cheap Chinese junk that don't get hot enough and have this nasty habit of exploding. :-P
I just got a catalog from http://www.pipesandcigars.com/.
Intersting reading.
Second request for source, documentation or link.
What smoke is good for you? It's not wood-stove, forest-fire, or camp-fire smoke. The lifetime of a chimney-sweep isn't very long.
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