Hookah Smoking Can Put You At Risk Of Heart Attacks And Stroke

Hookah smoking could be as dangerous as smoking a cigarette. An hour-long hookah smoking session involves 200 puffs whereas only 20 puffs can be taken from an average cigarette. A new study has reported that smoking the trendy hookah pipes can raise your risk of a heart attack or stroke by causing fatal blood clots.

The hookah pipes fixed to a tabletop has been considered healthier compared to the regular cigarettes since the smoke travels through water before getting inhaled by the smoker. But new research conducted on mice models has proven that hookah smoke is actually more dangerous. It could cause blood cells to get hyperactive.

Scientists from the University of Texas have reported that the blood of the rodents clotted 5 times faster than the normal rates. Although they didn’t study if these clotting causing strokes or heart attacks, but they are known to cause killer cardiac events by blocking blood vessels.

The findings of the study highlight the fact that hookah is no less dangerous than traditional cigarettes.

“Hookah smoking, which is becoming more popular in Western countries, is perceived as less harmful than cigarettes. Yet hookahs carry a toxic profile that is thought to be comparable or to even exceed that of traditional cigarettes,” Daily Mail quoted the study’s co-author Dr. Fadi Khasawneh. “Our findings provide new evidence that hookah smoking is as unhealthy – if not more so – than traditional cigarettes,” he added.

Hookah pipes have gained popularity in recent times and recent estimates suggest that about one-fifth of young Americans and Europeans enjoy smoking them.

Being the ancient form of smoking, Hooka or shisha smoking involves charcoal-heated tobacco or non-tobacco based smoke which is passed through water prior to inhalation.

Cigarette smoking is already known to be a stroke risk factor since it can lead to blood thickening. And previous studies have reported that hookah smoking is injurious to heart health.

This study is the first ever to demonstrate its effect on the blood. They exposed mice to hookah smoke from a smoking machine for one hour every day for a week. 12g of flavored tobacco was used alongside tar and nicotine typical to the regular hookah set-up. A small incision was made on the tails of the mice to measure the speed at which the blood responded.

The smoke-fed mice were able to stop bleeding within 11 seconds, which is four minutes and 40 seconds quicker than the healthy mice. The hyperactivity in the platelets triggered by hookah smoke was found to be responsible for the abnormally fast blood processes.