HHS HealthBeat (June 27, 2008)

Danger in the waterpipe

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

A lot of college-age people are using waterpipes – also known as hookahs – to  smoke tobacco. Many do it to hang out with friends. They don’t recognize the dangers of the cool and flavored smoke of a waterpipe.

Dr. Thomas Eissenberg of Virginia Commonwealth University cautions smokers about overlooking these dangers.

"The bottom line message is that if you don’t want to smoke cigarettes because you are worried about your health, you probably don’t want to smoke waterpipes." (6 seconds)

Cigarettes and waterpipes have similar dangers. Both contain toxins and can be addictive. Also, smokers take more and larger puffs with waterpipes, which lead them to inhale 100 times more smoke in one sitting than in a single cigarette.

The study in the Journal of Adolescent Health was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: June, 26 2008