Comments on: Smoking hookah or cigarettes/cigars - are they all as unhealthy or bad for you?

By: Christophanes

Christophanes — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:48:44 +0000

It should be noted that many of the official studies are fraught with errors and intentionally misleading language. Naturally, I’m not claiming a hookah is “risk free”, but investigation into the funding of the studies has revealed undeclared conflicts of interest, and the parameters used in the studies often replicate unrealistic smoking conditions.

Additionally, the composition of tar is far more important than the quantity. The composition of tar varies considerably with the temperature at which it is created. Tar created at higher temperatures contains more harmful agents in higher concentrations than tar created at lower temperatures. Hookah tobacco simmers at several hundred degrees Celsius cooler than burning cigar or cigarette tobacco.

Introducing any foreign agent (such as smoke) into one’s body always poses health risks, but in consideration of all variables, I’m hesitant to fully trust the results of many hookah studies.

Of course, these are my personal opinions, and in no way reflect official (or unofficial) claims or statements from http://www.Hookah-Shisha.com

By: epthorn

epthorn — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:00:56 +0000

I recommend to do exactly what “dark_lord” says. You’ll find that you’re getting plenty of nasty stuff on that piece of cloth when you inhale through it. That’s what’s going in your lungs.

It’s funny how some of the posters above are using the most anecdotal and unscientific observations to try and rebut an actual study (I use the word study here in it’s strict form… in other words, a study is not a blog post about you and your friends). So far it seems like the legitimate studies show that there is a significant risk incurred when smoking hookah regularly.

I smoke hookah (usually about once a week) but at least I don’t pretend like the water ‘filters’ the smoke; it does not; it only allows the largest particles to sink. It’s a bad habit, just like almost all pleasing habits. Let’s not delude ourselves, okay?

By: dark_lord

dark_lord — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:50:09 +0000

You have to consider the fact that you are inhaling it through water. Water will filter out a majority of the tar, however you are also inhaling water. Hookah smoke is not conventional smoke. It dissipates rapidly in air and will not leave a residue like the alternatives do. Just take a piece of white cloth and exhale cigarette, cigar and shisha smoke through it and see the difference.

By: Mario

Mario — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:53:38 +0000

ok just t oclear things up because many people are backing up their opinions with the TAR 0%. well IT IS TRUE BUT IT IS NOT(KEEP READING). the tobbacco has 0% TAR until it is burnt so yeah when you are smoking hookah their is a percentage on TAR.

By: geoff

geoff — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:15:40 +0000

When you smoke a hookah you’re effectively heating the tobacco and inhaling the vapor, which looks “smoky” because of the glycerin in shisha rather than burning the tobacco and inhaling the smoke along with all of the other awful things in cigarettes/cigars. The “smoke” feels and looks really dense and is hard for some people to handle because it is mostly vapor rather than conventional smoke…similar to the “smoke” that comes out of smoke machines in clubs. Glycerin is the same ingredient in common smoke fluid for those machines and is completely harmless to inhale. Shisha allows you to get a nicotine buzz, (nicotine has a boiling point of 477 degrees F so you’re literally cooking the nicotine out of the tobacco without burning it, without the tar.

By: Jove

Jove — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:50:06 +0000

I have heard a lot of different arguments about smoking hookah, i have done it every day for probably about the last two years due to the fact that it can be a very enjoyable thing to do outside or while watching a movie. I noticed that on every package of sheesha, it says .5% nicotine and 0% tar. This makes me feel much better due to the fact that i hear a lot of people saying how it’s like smoking a bunch of cigarettes for every bowl you smoke. If that were true i would be having some serious lung problems as of now, and in addition, so would the middle east. Cigarettes are full of multiple poisons, such as rat poison, and great quantities of nicotine. People smoke this directly, although with sheesha, you don’t get a lot of ashes in the bowl, you get the burn tobacco that you DIDN’T inhale directly, just the pulverized fruit pulp. Well, that’s my thought on it, although if i were to find that it was extremely dangerous as in, if someone checked my lungs, i would probably have to cut back… a little

By: Anton

Anton — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:03:01 +0000

I have been smoking hookah pretty much everyday for the past year 1-3 bowls a day with romman, naklah, and tangies in a funnel bowl out of a 4 hose auto seal. If a study involved me or my friends i can only imagine what my lungs look like or how “healthy” I am.

By: Cig

Cig — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:21:15 +0000

An interesting part of that kind of study, or maybe just a commentary portion of it, would be one of the cultural components of hookah smoking. In particular, the “competition” between ciar bars and hookah bars in their popularity and the diversity of people that each attracts. I was doing some cigar research and stumbled upon a hookah site that had a wonderfully named product adverstised - Crazy Monkey Hookah Freak Modern Tobacco. I figured that even if the product wasn’t all that great, at least its name is a marketing coolness.

By: Sahib

Sahib — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:10:40 +0000

I’m very interested in doing a joint hookah study, i’ve googled it so much for the countless arguements that occur on me smoking hookah. I feel it’s way better then cigs or cigars and in theory your not smoking the tabacco directly but none the less nicotine is being consumed thus we get the buzz or feeling light headed.. So haha if there is a way to do a complete study I definately want to join in!

By: ATY

ATY — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:25:45 +0000

http://cypresstrees.blogspot.com/2008/01/ny-times-wrong-again.html

This is an article I published earlier this year. I would be happy to allow you all to republish it here or take the links. Thanks!

-ATY