By Amjad Farha
Cardiologist, Henry Ford Medical Center- Fairlane

Hookah (narghile in Arabic) is a dangerous smoking habit that has been widely accepted in the Middle Eastern culture for more than 500 years. It also has caused a chain reaction among young American people who are becoming hooked on hookah. The World Health Organization and the American Lung Association have found that one hookah smoking session is far worse than smoking a cigarette. In fact, a typical one-hour hookah smoking session involves 100-200 times the volume of smoke inhaled in a single cigarette.

Before examining the health risks of the hookah, it is important to understand its physical components and why that perpetuates the myth that somehow it is safer than smoking a pipe or cigarettes. The water pipe generally consists of four parts including the bowl where the flavored tobacco is heated. The base is filled with water or other liquids. The pipe connects the bowl to the base, the rubber hose, and mouthpiece through which smoke is drawn. Many people believe that smoking the hookah is safer than smoking a cigarette because the smoke is filtered through water.

That myth is nothing more than a smokescreen to the harmful and potentially deadly effects of smoking the hookah. It is not safer than smoking cigarettes nor does the water pipe filter out “the bad stuff.” In fact, hookah smokers are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals and hazardous gases such as carbon monoxide. Hookah is linked to lung, oral and bladder cancer, as well as clogged arteries and heart disease. The large amounts of nicotine found in cigarettes are found even more so in the hookah that causes some users to become quickly addicted.

Many people are also surprised to learn by sharing the hookah mouthpiece they run the risk for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and viruses such as hepatitis. Bad breath and smelly clothes are other undesirable hookah outcomes. Even dentists are concerned about tooth loss resulting from hookah use. Just like cigarettes, smoking the hookah causes harmful secondhand smoke health consequences. Babies born to women who smoked one or more water pipes a day during pregnancy have lower birth weights compared to nonsmokers. The hookah users are also at an increased risk of developing respiratory diseases.

Secondhand smoke from hookahs, more so than cigarette smoke, poses serious health risks for non-smokers, such as premature death in children and adults who do not smoke. That potent deadly smoke contains hundreds of chemicals known to be toxic or carcinogenic. The American Lung Association estimates that 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 46,000 heart disease deaths occur in adult non-smokers in the United States each year. It is especially harmful to young children who experience preventable respiratory illnesses resulting in thousands of children needlessly being hospitalized each year.

In particular, the Middle Eastern community must be educated about widespread hookah use. Many parents grew up with the cultural tradition of smoking hookah at social gatherings and at outdoor parks. Local state legislators have introduced bills that would require establishments that sell hookah tobacco to post health warnings about its use, create a public awareness program, require establishments to sanitize their water pipes after each use, and reinforce the state law of not selling any tobacco to anyone under 18. It is increasingly becoming apparent tobacco companies are marketing smoke tobacco to young people instead of cigarettes. As you can see, this could have deadly consequences. It’s time to break the vicious cycle of lives going up in smoke when it is entirely preventable. Talk to your physician about breaking the ancient habit of hookah use.

To make an appointment with a Henry Ford physician or specialist, call (800) HENRYFORD (800-436-7936).