Smoke by smoke to harmful habits: hookah!

In Sarajevo, and not only in Sarajevo, but in almost all cities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is very difficult to pass any street, even those in the settlements, without seeing some so-called "Hookah bar", "shisha" or "hookah bar". In some places you will see such places lined up next to each other, with attractive names, interiors that either imitate the Eastern tradition, where the hookah comes from, or decorated very modern. While some hope that this is just a passing fad, more and more such "bars" are opening and the trend is not over. However, this "fun" is very harmful to the health and development of young people, even more than ordinary cigarettes.

A hookah is a device that can be used to inhale tobacco smoke, or, more often, flavored tobacco smoke, which passes through water. The attraction probably lies precisely in the existence of a large number of aromas, and this smoke is less unpleasant than cigarette smoke. Also, the hookah is shared, so it’s a kind of social connection, sharing something (and something else that parents don’t approve of) with someone.

What is interesting in the whole story is that in places like this you can also see groups of elementary school students. The sale and dispensing of alcohol is forbidden to minors, classic tobacco products are almost incriminated, especially for this age group, but it is not uncommon for hookah bars to open near schools and for teenagers to come here and order a hookah. Younger generations of teenagers seem to consider "shisha" something very "cool" and try to prove themselves in society, or it is a way to defy their parents who usually forbid them to go to these places and punish them if they do leave. In fact, it is as if going to the hookah together is at least a kind of social initiation for elementary and high school students.

What do we need to know about hookah? Is "shisha" a harmless pastime, suitable for teenagers?

Among young people, unfortunately, there is an opinion that the hookah is less dangerous than cigarettes, because the smoke passes through the water.

However, you should know that water does not remove all or even most toxic substances. In a review article based on 24 studies, published in 2010 in the International Journal of Epidemiology, hookah smoking was significantly associated with an increased risk of lung cancer, respiratory diseases, especially bronchitis, and tooth and gum disease. Also, if a woman uses a hookah during pregnancy, it is very likely that the baby will have an below-average weight.

Namely, hookah smoke, like any smoke, contains a number of toxic and irritating substances such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, easily volatile aldehydes, and even heavy metals. These substances originate not only from tobacco, but also from added flavors, and often these flavors contain substances whose effect on health is far more negative than tobacco itself. However, both tobacco and flavor produce carbon monoxide, a compound that binds easily to hemoglobin in a compound called carboxyhemoglobin in our red blood cells and reduces the capacity of hemoglobin to transport oxygen. Each form of smoking and inhaling smoke reduces our oxygen supply to our cells, which ultimately makes us less able to work - we have less energy, less concentration and less power. Hookah water does not eliminate carbon monoxide.

Exposure of the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat to smoke components is very closely associated with an increased risk of developing mouth and throat cancer.

Those who use hookahs ingest as much as 2.5 times more nicotine than those who smoke cigarettes. While a person, smoking a cigarette, inhales the smoke about 20 times, smoking the hookah does so even about 200 times during a session of some hour.

The short-term effects of hookah smoking are mainly related to carbon monoxide poisoning, and symptoms of poisoning can range from mild nausea and lethargy to severe nausea with vomiting, headache, and fainting.

A 2015 document prepared by a special group to study the effects of the World Health Organization (WHO) hookah states that hookah smoking causes an increase in those markers that indicate the development of inflammatory processes in the body and the development of tumors that were not previously associated. for hookah smoking, such as stomach and bladder cancer.

However, smoke alone, either through direct inhalation or through the mechanism of passive smoking, is not the only danger when using a hookah. Sharing the smoke inhaler, which is quite common, increases the risk of contracting infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis C, mononucleosis and herpes. Mononucleosis increases the risk of multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, while the hepatitis virus damages the liver.

Hookah smoking, due to the presence of nicotine, is addictive and when you stop smoking, symptoms of crisis appear, so it is often difficult to stop this habit after a long period of consumption.