The Social Activity That Is 100 Times Worse For You Than Smoking

The sun is a passerby in these parts, often making a scheduled stop off in England a few times a year before heading off to the more exotic parts of our little round planet. When we are lucky enough to be in her presence we all come flocking from our usual warm havens that keep us warm during the usual bleak and cold days to spent time with friends and family out in the sunshine.

The fields can be seen packed with people playing football and other outdoor sports, laughter can be heard echoing the streets as children take to them on their scooters and bicycles and cafes, pubs and bars are overflowing.

One of the latest trends to hit British bars and cafes is the social activity of sharing a shisha pipe. I remember my very first time puffing away on the Turkish waterpipe, back in the younger days where your rep was everything and you would do anything to impress your friends. See the thing was even though shisha pipes weren't exactly the worst thing I could have done for me it was a big thing, having never even had a puff on a cigarette. The moment my lips were wrapped around the mouth piece on the pipe and I inhaled I instantly became a rebel...well in my mind anyway. These pipes are often seen as a harmful way to smoke however this could not be further away from the truth.

As Harmful As One Hundred Cigarettes

The World Health Organisation has warned that single hour shisha session has the potential to be as harmful as smoking 100 cigarettes. Yes, 100 cigarettes!!! At first when I read this information I was a little skeptical, how could it really be that bad? The reason however makes perfect sense. If we look at average amount of puffs on a cigarette a smokers usually takes which is anywhere between 8 and 12 they inhale around 0.5 -0.6 litres of smoke. Now if we compare this to an hour long shisha session, smokers may take up to 200 drags which is an approximate 0.15 to 1 litre of smoke each.

Hidden Danger

The problem we have is that Shisha pipes are seen as a novelty and unlike cigarette smoking the awareness isn't there. In the past few years we have seen massive campaigns undertook from the government and other anti smoking organisations in an attempt to reduce the amount of smokers however the dangers of shisha still remain hidden in the shadows.

Although the shisha tobacco tastes nicer than cigarettes it is known to contain all the same toxins that cause heart disease and lung cancer. Something that people are often unaware of is it only takes one damaged cell to divide and multiple uncontrollably to rapidly turn into a tumour (cancer).

A common myth that many Enthusiasts use to support using these pipes is that as the smoke passes through the water almost all the harmful chemicals are absorbed. I don’t know where this initially came from but there is absolutely no evidence to support this claim.

Other Risks

Other risks associated with the water pipe is that as a group pass around the mouthpiece diseases such as tuberculosis and hepatitis can be transmitted. Nice! Also as the smoke gets cooled it makes it feel less harsh resulting in people inhaling it deeply into their lungs therefore increasing the risks further.

Maybe places such as bars, cafes and pubs that offer these should have some kind of legal warning informing people of the potential health risks that shisha pipes come with. What do you think?

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