Smoking shisha in one session 'worse than a whole packet of cigarettes’
An alarming new study has found that smoking shisha in one single session is WORSE than smoking a whole packet of cigarettes.
According to experts at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, the smoke from hookah pipes ‘significantly increases’ the risk of obesity and diabetes.
The authors warned that those who inhaled shisha smoke are also at higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemia – illnesses not associated with cigarettes.
They wrote: ‘Obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and dyslipidemia were positively associated with hookah smoking while negatively associated with cigarette smoking.
‘In contrast with the public belief that hookah eliminates the toxicity of tobacco in comparison with cigarettes, we found that the adverse effects of hookah smoking could be even greater than cigarette.’
Professor Gordon Ferns, of Brighton and Sussex Medical School, added to The Telegraph: ‘A single session of hookah smoking may be equivalent to more than a packet of cigarettes, and the inhaled toxic compounds may be even greater.’
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Shisha smoking, which originates from the Middle East, has become increasingly popular with celebrities and young people in recent years and has been regarded as a less toxic option than cigarettes.
Sweet-smelling tobacco smoke is passed through water before it is inhaled and one smoking session in a shisha bar typically lasts for one hour.
