Pakistan Chest Society Sindh’s General Secretary Dr Mushataque Ahmed Memon informed that a recent research has revealed that smoking Sheesha is 10 times more injurious as compared to cigarette while smoking Sheesha for an hour is equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes, adding that the impacts of cigarette smoking are not hidden from anyone.
He said after its induction in modern fads, a great misconception prevails that Sheesha is not injurious to health. He said Sheesha smoking leaves a bad impact on lungs, causes respiratory complications and asthma while it also castes a bad impact on a person’s mental health.
Memon said owing to the non-implementation of laws banning smoking, Sheesha is finding its way into the society and this issue should be addressed at once.
Pakistan Medical Association’s President Prof Dr Idrees Edhi said that Sheesha is becoming common since families do not consider it bad. He said especially the youth adopt Sheesha smoking as a trend which eventually leads to addiction.
He said everyone knows about the impacts of smoking a cigarette but in general people are not aware of the impacts of smoking Sheesha. He pointed out that many restaurants and cafes in relatively developed cities are offering Sheesha and students can be seen smoking at these locations. As girls stand alongside boys in every walk of life, they also enjoy smoking Sheesha in their gatherings, he added.
Pointing out certain misconceptions which are the motivations behind this rising trend he said people think that Sheesha is non-hazardous due to baseless reasons including that the tobacco is filtered through water before inhalation; less nicotine content than that of a cigarette and healthier smoking due to the addition of fruit flavours but these misconceptions are totally baseless.
Professor and Consultant Chest Physician Department of Medicine, Aga Khan University Hospital, Dr Javaid Khan told Daily Times that he conducted a survey in four universities of the metropolis including two medical and two non-medical universities which revealed that 43 percent male and 11 percent female students were the addicts of Sheesha while 60 percent males and 18 percent females had consumed Sheesha once in their lives. He said that 70 percent of the school-going teenagers consume Sheesha.
The research conducted by Dr Khan said “the tobacco used in Sheesha typically weighs 10 to 20 grammes and has three main forms namely, ‘Mu’essel’ or ‘maasel’ which contains 30 percent tobacco and 70 percent honey, ‘Tumbak’ or ‘Ajami’ a pure, dark tobacco paste and ‘Jurak’ an intermediate form that often contains fruits or oils mainly of Indian origin.
‘Muessel’ is usually flavoured with apple, mango, banana, strawberry, orange, grape, mint, cappuccino, or other additives. It is generally sold in boxes or plastic jars decorated with fruit illustrations. Drugs or alcohol is often added to the tobacco. Studies that have examined Sheesha smokers reported high concentrations of carbon monoxide, nicotine, ‘tar,’ and heavy metals in the smoker’s lungs. These concentrations were equal or even higher than those found among cigarette smokers.
It has been claimed that more than 100 million people worldwide smoke Sheesha daily. It is a common practice in the Middle East, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and some parts of China. In some parts of Middle East, Sheesha use is more prevalent than cigarette smoking.
Among Arab women in many countries, there is less of a stigma associated with Sheesha than that of smoking cigarette and therefore more women are taking up this habit.
Scientific studies done to see the adverse health consequences of Sheesha smoking point to dangers that are similar to those associated with cigarette smoking. The research conducted on Sheesha use has clearly shown that it has particularly serious health consequences on two vital organs of the body namely lungs and heart. Lung cancer, cancers of the food pipe, Chronic Obstructive lung disease, Emphysema, low birth weight, precipitation of asthma attacks and pneumonia are some of the hazards associated with Sheesha smoking.
Additional dangers not encountered with cigarette smoking are infectious diseases resulting from pipe sharing and the frequent addition of alcohol or psychoactive drugs to the tobacco.
Another worrying aspect of Sheesha epidemic is that previously it was used in countries like Pakistan and India, mainly by the elderly people living in the villages but in the past few years its use has markedly increased in the urban areas of this subcontinent.
Those who use Sheesha regularly eventually get hooked on to tobacco and become regular smokers. Some newly opened restaurants are doing good business by serving Sheesha to its customers as it is considered a modern life style. For youngsters Sheesha use is very exciting glamorous, fashionable and an enjoyable act.
Smoke from Sheesha besides others contains hundreds of potentially dangerous heavy metals like, arsenic, cobalt, chromium and lead. Under normal Sheesha use the smoke produced from a single pipe use contains approximately the same amount of nicotine and tar equivalent to 20 cigarettes. Research has also shown that after 45 minutes of Sheesha use expired air, carbon monoxide, plasma nicotine and heart rate are significantly elevated. Nicotine dependence may also result from repeated inhalation of tobacco smoke from Sheesha.
Besides lung cancer Sheesha use is also linked to an increased risk of, mouth and urinary bladder cancer.
There is also some evidence that Sheesha use may also decrease the sperm count in men. Regular Sheesha users have lung functions approximately 25 percent lower than those who do not use this. One study has also shown that Sheesha use increases the risk of Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Children are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effect of the Sheesha use. If they are present in any restaurants or at home where Sheesha is being used there is increased risk of them getting lung infections, asthma and sudden infant death syndrome.”
Though tobacco sale is prohibited under Prohibition of Smoking Ordinance 2002 to anybody under the age of 18 and smoking is also prohibited at all public places, including hotels and restaurants, however, it is matter of great concern that Sheesha smoking is served in these closed premises.
source: www.dailytimes.com.pk
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