How Bad Is Hookah?

[djfermion]

Hi I'm a college student that has been smoking hookah maybe three times a week for a couple hours each session with a few friends and I was just curious about the health risks. I realize that since I am smoking it is probably not the best thing, but I was hoping that someone could equate this to cigarretes or something. I've read mixed opinions online so I was just wondering what you guys know about it.

Thanks

[Dekon]

Smoking's bad period. Some say that hookah is bad but not as bad as cigarettes some say the opposite.

There I just summed up a 4 hour discussion on it .

[Scheetz]

Its probably closest to Pipe Smoking (IMO). So just assume its about the same as smoking cigs. How many cigs or packs it equates to, well nobody knows that.

[mushrat]

ya gotta die from something...

[camelflage]

only taking years off the end of your life man.... end of your life...

[Dekon]

ya gotta die from something...

What a nice way to put it there mushy.

[RayVer]

If smoking hookah took a few years out my life I think it would be better than living those extra few years when I'm old knowing I never enjoyed it.

[nofrendo]

According to the theory of quantum immortality I will never be able to perceive my own death. Therefore I Just Don't Give A Shit

[Skitalets]

Back when I was a frequent briar pipe smoker, I did some research. The most reputable studies I saw (profs at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, that kind of thing) said you had to smoke roughly 4-5 bowls a day to appreciably increase your risk of cancer -- most of those cases are cancer of the mouth, since a lot of pipe smokers don't inhale.

I think more people inhale hookah than inhale pipes, but the majority probably don't. So cancer of the mouth or throat is probably your biggest worry, not lung cancer. And you're not burning chemically-treated paper along with the tobacco, which is helpful. But the glycerine and other additives probably put some risk back in.

Anyhow, this is more or less the authoritative quote on the subject, in my opinion:

I don't want any of your statistics. I took your whole batch and lit my pipe with it. I hate your kind of people. You are always ciphering out how much a man's health is injured, and how much his intellect is impaired, and how many pitiful dollars and cents he wastes in the course of ninety-two years' indulgence in the fatal practice of smoking; and in the equally fatal practice of drinking coffee; and in playing billiards occasionally; and in taking a glass of wine at dinner, etc., etc., etc. And you are always figuring out how many women have been burned to death because of the dangerous fashion of wearing expansive hoops, etc., etc., etc. You never see but one side of the question. You are blind to the fact that most old men in America smoke and drink coffee, although, according to your theory, they ought to have died young; and that hearty old Englishmen drink wine and survive it, and portly old Dutchmen both drink and smoke freely, and yet grow older and fatter all the time. And you never try to find out how much solid comfort, relaxation and enjoyment a man derives from smoking in the course of a lifetime, (and which is worth ten times the money he would save by letting it alone,) nor the appalling aggregate of happiness lost in a lifetime by your kind of people from not smoking.

From the inimitable Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). Edited October 14, 2007 by Skitalets

[RayVer]

wait so your not supposed to inhale hookah? I think its the other way around..the majority of people inhale hookah

[Skitalets]

wait so your not supposed to inhale hookah? I think its the other way around..the majority of people inhale hookah

My experience has been that most casual hookah smokers don't. I'm certainly willing to believe I'm wrong, though. :-)

[MechAnt]

From the way it looks, it depends on how much/hard you are inhaling. Since many people don't take a hit and then inhale an additional amount of air like one would a cigarette, it doesn't SEEM like they are inhaling however, since many people take such large draws, it naturally goes into the lungs rather than just in the mouth. At least that's my casual observation

Also, as for TAR content, it is currently unknown. Tar in cigarettes is not the tar we imagine (such as asphalt for roads or whatever). It actually stands for Total Aerosol Residue. Its a particulate created by the burning of the tobacco. Hookah's tar may be similar but the tar composition is different because rather than burning the tobacco like cigarettes, it bakes the tobacco. Edited October 15, 2007 by MechAnt

[tingjunkie]

Here's a diagram...

Sex With Prostitutes > Hookah > Crossing A Busy Street

Hope that answers your question.

[Rani]

Back when I was a frequent briar pipe smoker, I did some research. The most reputable studies I saw (profs at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, that kind of thing) said you had to smoke roughly 4-5 bowls a day to appreciably increase your risk of cancer -- most of those cases are cancer of the mouth, since a lot of pipe smokers don't inhale.

I think more people inhale hookah than inhale pipes, but the majority probably don't. So cancer of the mouth or throat is probably your biggest worry, not lung cancer. And you're not burning chemically-treated paper along with the tobacco, which is helpful. But the glycerine and other additives probably put some risk back in.

Anyhow, this is more or less the authoritative quote on the subject, in my opinion:

I don't want any of your statistics. I took your whole batch and lit my pipe with it. I hate your kind of people. You are always ciphering out how much a man's health is injured, and how much his intellect is impaired, and how many pitiful dollars and cents he wastes in the course of ninety-two years' indulgence in the fatal practice of smoking; and in the equally fatal practice of drinking coffee; and in playing billiards occasionally; and in taking a glass of wine at dinner, etc., etc., etc. And you are always figuring out how many women have been burned to death because of the dangerous fashion of wearing expansive hoops, etc., etc., etc. You never see but one side of the question. You are blind to the fact that most old men in America smoke and drink coffee, although, according to your theory, they ought to have died young; and that hearty old Englishmen drink wine and survive it, and portly old Dutchmen both drink and smoke freely, and yet grow older and fatter all the time. And you never try to find out how much solid comfort, relaxation and enjoyment a man derives from smoking in the course of a lifetime, (and which is worth ten times the money he would save by letting it alone,) nor the appalling aggregate of happiness lost in a lifetime by your kind of people from not smoking.

From the inimitable Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain).

Wow, I loved that.... Thanks!

'Rani

[SafeSearchOff]

wait so your not supposed to inhale hookah? I think its the other way around..the majority of people inhale hookah

My experience has been that most casual hookah smokers don't. I'm certainly willing to believe I'm wrong, though. :-)

I actually agree most casual smokers dont inhale. Go to your local hookah bar and see how many people blow out thin wispy smoke. Generallye and my fronds are the only ones who look like smokestacks.

[camelflage]

Here's a diagram...

Sex With Prostitutes > Hookah > Crossing A Busy Street

Hope that answers your question.

classy prostitutes are usually some of the cleanest people, since herpes isnt really a big selling point.

[ZenSilk]

I was thinking about this this morning!

OK, so when i'm 64, she probably won't feed me, she most likely won't need me, probably ownt send me a box of chocolates, a bottle of wine, or even a birthday greeting (most likely cause she'll be in the same house i am and in the same boat [being old as fuck and wanting to nap and watch Matlock] and i'm a great cook and so is she so we can switch off, and i don't like wine or chocoalte that much, and we will always forget about each others birthday cause we are old) But if i'm smoking hookah i can live to be 70 and she can too and then we die peacefully and don't have to be in pain and too OLD in general!

I see Hookah as Saving me from my own life. I don't want to be relying on my kids.