Whats So Shisha About It?

I will always try to avoid eateries that serve shisha on their menu or nearby stalls that provide shisha to their customers. The smoke and smell is a “nuisance” to the surrounding and those who smoke shisha, there’s nothing great about you except some cursing just like those smokers who share their free smoke with others.

Whats so shisha about it?

Shisha is also known as hookah, consisting of a vertical-stemmed water pipe instrument used for smoking flavoured tobacco and is said to originate from India and the Middle East.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 5 million deaths worldwide each year was caused by tobacco products such as cigarette and shisha.

A single session of smoking shisha produces smoke that is equivalent to smoking 100 or more cigarettes. Even after it passed through water before it is inhaled, the smoke produced by shisha still  contains high levels of  toxins, including carbon monoxide, heavy metals and other carcinogenic substances.

I saw the pamphlet by Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia at the hospital and that prompt me to write this post. The pamphlet shares the Dangers of Shisha. All the information on this post is from that pamphlet.

Smoke produced from shisha contains high level of toxic compounds including tar, carbon monoxide, heavy metals such as zinc and cancer causing carcinogens and smokers are exposed to higher levels of nicotine than cigarette smokers.

The combined smoke from a burning shisha and the exhaled smoke of the smoker can adversely affect the healthof the people around them.

Women who smoke shisha during pregnancy run the risk of harming their unborn child’s development and thus might cause premature birth.

Sharing shisha pipe raises the risk of catching serious illness such as tuberculosis and hepatitis A as well as common cold and flu.

According to the 2009 Journal of Tobacco Induced Diseases, shisha smoke contains 36 times more nicotine than cigarettes. Nicotine reaches the brain within 10 seconds of inhalation of shisha smoke induces a temporary sense if calm and is highly addictive.

Among symptoms of nicotine addiction:

• Irritability
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Lack of focus
• Fatigue

How To Quit Shisha Addiction

Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia has a number of services to help end addiction to nicotine from tobacco products using proven techniques:

Behavioral modification therapy

Pharmacotherapy that uses drugs such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and varenicline.

 

 

Smoking shisha: How bad is it for you

How harmful is an hour of shisha smoking?

Is hookah smoking bad for you?