Study: Hookah no safer than cigarettes, just differently dangerous
(Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)
Cigarette smoking may have earned a reputation as an unhealthy, cancer-causing pastime, but water pipes seem to have largely evaded the stigma. Now, new research shows that water pipes may simply be dangerous in slightly different ways, according to a study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
Water pipes, also known as hookah, shisha and a host of other aliases, are a common social activity in the Middle East and have been growing in popularity: a 2011 study found more than 40% of college students had used a hookah, and many of them appeared to believe it was safer than cigarette smoking.
Doctors are trying to dissuade folks of that notion.
-- Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times