Dim lights, Lana Del Ray’s new album playing, and…of course a hookah. That’s the perfect way for me to relax after a long stressful week of school. However, when smoking hookah, I personally can’t help but wonder how much better is this, than smoking a cigarette? I’ve always known cigarettes to be terrible for you, I would be fooling myself to believe a Hookah is harmless. For those of you who don’t know, a hookah is a water pipe that is used to inhale flavored Tabaco. it stems from Middle Eastern culture, used to bond with family and friends.
There’s the idea that smoking Hookah isn’t as bad as cigarettes. After all, the water is to filter out the toxins, right? Wrong.
Much like a cigarette, a hookah contains nicotine, carbon monoxide and carcinogens. A research was done where 13 healthy adults (eight men, and five women) who were experienced hookah and cigarette smokers were asked to smoke hookah for four days, and later cigarettes. This study compared the affects of the different smoking methods in the same person. It was found that the hookah exposed the participants to half of the amount of nicotine as cigarettes. It was also found that Carbon monoxide levels were 2.5 times higher than those who smoked cigarettes. The results show the danger in the hookah, because Carbon monoxide increases the risk for heart attack, stroke and sudden deaths.
I personally believe that the study was fairly valid. The results show the danger, toxins, and complications that come with it, that a smoker inhales into the body while they smoke hookah. However, I can see where a person wouldn’t be convinced. I think to improve the validity of the study, there should have been a lot more participants, and a longer duration, four days isn’t even a full week of smoking. In order to be a lot more convincing, I think that the study should be at a much larger scale than just 13 people, and four days.
My sources:
http://www.medicaldaily.com/smoking-hookah-just-bad-or-worse-cigarettes-245127
Thanks for the feedback everyone!
After reading everyone’s post, I totally see were the can experiment lack credibility. Maybe, I will look through some other studies and tests done.
I really liked this post, but as everyone else said, I think the experiment could have been more thorough. I definitely think that hookah can have negative side effects if used often or too much. First, I think the survey group should have been bigger; 13 people does not represent any type of population. I also think there should be an equal number of men and women involved, to see if there if gender plays a role in any of these results. The biggest issue with the study was the amount of time it took. Four days doesn’t seem long enough to have real results, so if this experiment was conducted again I think it should be for a substantial amount of time. Other than that, I think this is a good issue to talk about, especially on a college campus where hookah is popular.
I also question the credibility of this experiment. I would not be surpassed if hookah were in fact more dangerous than cigarettes with all the carbon monoxide and carcinogens but its tough to say based off this experiment. Thirteen participants is not enough people to be make conclusions from because with such a small number of people, it really could all be by chance. To perform an ethical experiment, I think there should be a large group of a specific animal that is split with half the group having hookah smoke inhaled into their lungs and half the group inhaling cigarette smoke. In addition to the animals and large number of them, this should definitely be performed over a much longer period of time to compare the harsh long term effects.
Great post! After reading this I’m glad I don’t do hookah at all. My friends live and swear by this new hookah nonsense. I can now show them this blog and get them to start thinking. After reading other comments I do agree the experiment could’ve included more people but other than that great post.
I agree that the experiment should have included more people. Thirteen people does not represent an entire population at all. And it took us 100 years to discover the long term effects of smoking cigarets. I don’t think four days would be able to show very detailed results, especially if the people involved in the experiment already had damage done from smoking cigs. Also, I wanted to ask about how ethical this experiment was. How ethical is it to ask a human being to smoke something that could potentially be harmful to them? Isn’t that why most of the testing done for cigarets were performed on animals? I would definitely question the credibility of this experiment.
After reading your post, I kind feel a little scared about what I used to do: during the party, smoke hookah for the whole night… because I smoke, I want to use Hookha to let my lung take some rest from cigarettes, but it seems like even more danger now. After all, either hookah or tobacco, no matter what, they all harmful to our bodies. And as I think, if people want to prove the research you talked, maybe they should set a simple group as a contrast, in this group, people are far away from both hookah and tobacco. And as you said, this test also need time longer.