It seems like everything comes back into style, if you wait long enough. Sometimes fads coming back can be fun-like the 1960s fashions we are seeing this year. But another fad from the 1960s that is re-emerging has me concerned, and I think it will concern you, too. This fad becoming popular again-especially among our young people-is hookah smoking.Members of my generation may recall hookahs from the 1960s. These water pipes have been used for hundreds of years in the Middle East and Asia, and they all but disappeared from sight until the last couple of years. These days, the rage is to smoke flavored tobacco in them in a communal setting, often at “hookah bars” like the ones springing up locally.Here’s the problem: Using tobacco in any form is dangerous, period. The myth going around these days is that hookah smoking is somehow less harmful than smoking cigarettes or other tobacco. This is absolutely not true! Although tobacco smoke is passed through water in a hookah, the smoke still contains high levels of toxic compounds, including carbon monoxide, heavy metals and the same cancer-causing chemicals as in cigarettes.For those who think hookah smoking is a safe way to consume tobacco, here are some stunning facts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
- A study of hookah smokers before smoking and after, found that the addictive drug nicotine is increased 250 percent after a typical 40 to 45 minute hookah smoking session.
- In reality, hookah smokers inhale 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled with a single cigarette.
- Hookah smokers are at risk for the same kinds of diseases caused by cigarette smoking, including oral cancer, esophageal and gastric cancer, lung cancer, reduced pulmonary function and decreased fertility.
- Secondhand smoke from hookahs poses a serious threat for nonsmokers.
- Talk directly to your children about the risks of tobacco use; if friends or relatives suffer with or died from tobacco-related illnesses, let your kids know. Let them know, for instance, that smoking strains the heart, damages the lungs and can cause a lot of other problems, including cancer. Also mention what it can do to appearance: making hair and clothes stink, causing bad breath and staining teeth and fingernails.
- If you use tobacco, you can still make a difference. Your best move, of course, is to try to quit. Meanwhile, don’t use tobacco around your children, don’t offer it to them and don’t leave it where they can easily get it.
