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Journalism of Courage
Cigarettes are a health hazard, Sameer Sharma knows. So, three years ago, the 22-year-old college student switched to a 8220;healthier8221; fix8212;hookah. 8220;As the tobacco is filtered through the water, the damage done is far less. And while a cigarette does not last for more than two to three minutes, one can hold a pipe for hours together,8221; he reasons. Sameer is wrong. A recent study by the World Health Organization WHO has shown that smoking tobacco from a water pipe is as harmful8212;if not more8212;as puffing on cigarettes. A person can inhale over 100 times more smoke in a hookah session lasting between 30-60 minutes than he does by smoking a single cigarette, the report says.
The UN health agency also pointed out that the rising popularity of hookahs is partly due to 8220;unfounded assumptions8221; of safety and misleading commercial marketing. In cities across India, hookah bars are a hit with the young and the well-heeled. Usually complemented with shisha8212;a special blend of tobacco and molasses8212;the bars serve hookah with flavours like apple, peach, mango, mint and strawberry. The lighter flavours make it a hit with women.
But doesn8217;t the water filter all the toxins? No. The WHO study found that those who smoke hookahs are exposed to larger amounts of nicotine, carbon monoxide and certain other toxins. 8220;The tar produced when tobacco is burnt contains carcinogens. Water cannot dilute the impact of the tar. Tar does not dissolve and along with other tobacco particles affects the lungs directly. A mist produced while smoking hookah gets deposited on the lungs,8221; says Dr Kanwar.
Even the amount of cellular chromosomal damage produced inside the mouth is the same as in people who smoke cigarettes. 8220;The chances of mouth and lung cancer are the same in both cases. When you are addicted to tobacco, you need a certain level of nicotine to be present in the blood8212;whether you get it from a hookah or a cigarette. Deficiency of nicotine in the blood makes one restless and leads to the craving for a smoke,8221; says Dr Harit Chaturvedi, surgical oncologist, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute, New Delhi.
So don8217;t be taken in by the myths. Smoking kills, with or without the gurgling water.
