HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF SHISHA

Shisha smoking, otherwise called

hookah smoking, norghile smoking, waterpipe smoking or hubble bubble smoking is a way of smoking tobacco sometimes mixed with fruit through a bowl and a hose or tube. The tube is connected to a mouth piece from which the smoker inhales the smoke from the shisha mixture into the lungs.

For some really weird and highly confusing reasons, shisha is now seen as an act meant for the rich in Nigeria. As something only the “big boys and girls” do but sometimes I wonder if any of the smokers know what it is they take in.

Today on Medic-Monday, we break down shisha for all to understand.

WHAT IT CONTAINS

Hookah is gotten by a mixture of tobacco sweetened with fruit to give it that flavor. Charcoal or wood is burnt in the shisha pipe to heat the tobacco and create the smoke. 

Now check this out, due to the coal in this whole setup, the smoke that is inhaled releases carbon monoxide and heavy metals like lead and arsenic into the body, distorting the body’s ability to carry oxygen. Oh that’s not all, it gets even more interesting. You know tobacco is present as the prime ingredient and so like a normal cigarette, you have the presence of nicotine. As a result of all these, shisha smokers share the same risks cigarette smokers are exposed to like heart diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases and problem during pregnancy but shisha smokers’ risk factor is doubled.

If you are still in doubt, let me break it down. An average shisha session lasts an hour and in that hour, you inhale the same amount of smoke as from more than 100 cigarette. Putting it in simpler terms, I am saying

1 shisha session=100 sticks of cigarette=100 * 1 effect a cigarette stick would have.

Usually, people talk about herbal shisha but please guys looking at what shisha is composed of, the only thing flexible enough to be changed is the sweetened fruit. Every other thing is permanent and harmful.

One more thing worthy of note is the fact that you do not necessarily have to be a shisha smoker to be at risk. Once you inhale the smoke being passed out during a shisha session, you are at risk.

Like cigarette smoking, shisha is also addictive due to its nicotine content. If you are suffering from such addiction, you need to deal with it before it deals with you. You can read up tips on how to deal with addiction HERE. Feel free to drop your comments and suggestions

Take care friends and do have a blessed week ahead. Cheers to a new week

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