WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The practice of smoking tobacco from hookahs has been on the rise, especially among youth, over the past decade. Hookah smoking, which is done in groups, involves the use of water pipes that help draw flavoured tobacco smoke through water. It's no secret that hookah smoking has many of the same health risks as cigarette smoking.
Now, a new meta-analysis led by the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine has found that one hookah session delivers roughly 125 times the smoke, 25 times the tar, 2.5 times the nicotine and 10 times the carbon monoxide of a single cigarette. Given the fact that hookah smoking is becoming more popular among teens, the latest findings should be cause for concern.
The lead author Brian Primack, assistant vice chancellor for health and society in Pitt's Schools of the Health Sciences, said, 'Our results show that hookah tobacco smoking poses real health concerns and that it should be monitored more closely than it is currently'.
The findings are published online and slated for the January/February print issue of the journal Public Health Reports.
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