Shisha is usually made up of tobacco, molasses/sugar, and fruit flavourings. It is smoked through a water pipe heated by charcoal to produce the smoke.
Smoking shisha can damage your health. Sometimes people assume smoking shisha is less harmful than smoking cigarettes. The truth is shisha is just as harmful as smoking cigarettes and causes many of the same diseases. Shisha smokers are more likely to take up cigarettes due to nicotine addiction.
Facts about smoking shisha
- Smoking shisha for an hour exposes you to 100 times more smoke than a single cigarette. Water cools the smoke which can take on a fruity/herbal scent. Therefore it is inhaled more deeply and for longer, causing more damage to your lungs and heart.
- Shisha can be addictive because it contains nicotine. Even tobacco free shisha like herbal/fruit shisha is not safe. Tobacco free shisha contains tar, carbon monoxide, and other toxic ingredients.
- Water does not filter tobacco and other harmful toxins. Shisha smokers inhale carbon monoxide and other cancer causing chemicals.
- Herbal and fruit shishas mask the odour of tobacco. This can give you a false sense of safety whilst smoking.
- Sitting with people who smoke shisha carries dangers of secondary smoke inhalation.
- Smoking shisha whilst pregnant can lead to your child having low birth weight.
- Sharing pipes can spread infections like:
- colds and flues
- cold sores
- diseases like tuberculosis, hepatitis A and B (which can damage the liver).
For information to help you stop smoking shisha see the NHS 'Why quit' pages.