Egyptian scientists for the umpteenth time refuted the widespread belief that smoking hookah is less harmful than smoking cigarettes. Let me remind you that tobacco smoke in the hookah was formerly believed to be less harmful than the one coming from cigarettes. It was argued that the smoke in hookah undergoes water filtration and cools down before reaching the smoker’s lungs.
Hookah Experiment
A group of Egyptian medics put the good qualities of hookah to doubt and decided to check extend to which this belief is in line with the truth. A special apparatus was designed for the experiment: a cylinder was placed into it, the volume of the cylinder was identical to the volume of human lungs. A piston which imitated inhalation and exhalation of tobacco smoke was placed into the cylinder.
Artificial Lungs
The devise was designed so that after one whole cycle of motion of the piston the amount of smoke inside would represent the amount that accumulates in smoker’s lungs. Physical and chemical analysis of this smoke were conducted after the experiment.
Real Hookah Smokers
The scientists spent oceans of time observing hookah smokers to determine for sure how much time those spend on smoking and how long the smoke is usually held in the lungs after each inhalation. The data they received was fed into computer which controlled the apparatus that imitated smoking of hookah; this data were also analyzed.
Hookah Experiment Results
The results showed that effect of 25 grams of tobacco used to smoke hookah generally equals the one received from smoking 60 regular cigarettes.
How Smoking Hookah Affects Lung Health
Another bad news for hookah lovers is the conclusion made by the scientists; they say that regular inhalation of 500-600 cubic cm of smoke causes the lungs to lose their elasticity and the ability to effectively get rid of harmful substances.
