Cancer and Harms Caused by Shisha

Cancer and Harms Caused by Shisha


Shisha or Hubble-bubble refers to a tobacco flavor used for smoking purposes using a hookah that allegedly originated in Turkey over 500 years ago. The smoking of Shisha has made its way to societies of different backgrounds across the globe and has lately raised eyebrows regarding its potentially hazardous effects on users.

Cancer and harms caused by Shisha are innumerable. Many smokers enjoy the habit quite oblivious of the fact that smoking of Shisha may be more dangerous to human health than cigarette. While Shisha has a pleasant flavor and does not burn during the smoking process, there is no guarantee of an entirely harmless experience for its addicts. This type of ignorance is quite worrying among parents, health safety authorities and other stakeholders, with everyone wondering if Shisha smokers can begin to acknowledge the bitter fact that their habit posses no ‘light’ health risks as compared to hazardous effects of cigarette smoking.

Already, medical experts have raised the red flag over cancer and harms caused by Shisha. The experts have issued stern warning to the effect that Shisha poses more perilous effects than cigarette smoking! As such, if you have been using Shisha under the unfounded impression that the tobacco in it presents herbal benefits and is harmless to the human health, it is high time you took a hard look at the substance. It is high time you dropped the habit before you suffered irreversible harmful effects of Shisha.

If you are new to the practice, you can trust the fact that most of your friends will never discuss cancer and harms caused by Shisha, if they love it. Thus, you have to consider the opinion of health experts as well as mature members of the society. Already, Shisha smoking has began to irritate residents of buildings that house shops and other outlets that serve Shisha, for numerous problems the habit presents to the environment. In some quarters, there is already a sense of panic with people calling on authorities to put in place measures to curb the use of Shisha. You clearly do not want to be on the wrong side of your society’s acceptable practices and conventions.

At the same time, medical experts have shown links between Shisha smoking and lung cancer. To make matters worse, the various pleasant flavors in Shisha mislead users into thinking that they are smoking herbs as opposed to tobacco. This makes it very easy for large amounts of nicotine to enter a Shisha smoker’s system without him or her realizing it. With time, the user becomes very addicted to nicotine and more exposed to cancerous effects on his or her health. Government officials in some regions have expressed disappointment over the difficulty in working out the amount of nicotine in Shisha due to differences in packing.


Additionally, a discussion of cancer and harms caused by Shisha would be inconclusive without the mention of the aluminium foil that may cause cancer. During the smoking of Shisha, the aluminium foil in it comes into reaction with the burning charcoal, which in turn produces carcinogenic aluminium fumes. In other words, the foils can cause cancer!

In the same vein, Shisha smoking poses a higher risk of inhaling hazardous carbon dioxide. Health experts believe that a single puff of Shisha is equivalent to 10 of cigarettes, depending on the packed ingredients. This makes Shisha more dangerous than cigarettes.

Speaking about harmful effects of Shisha smoking, health experts warn that humid smoke in a hookah or Shisha pipe stays in the lungs for a longer time. The Shisha pipe is in itself a perfect thriving environment for some germs, specifically bacteria that cause tuberculosis.

Besides tuberculosis, the Shisha pipe can act like a perfect medium for transmission of diseases that are highly infectious such as Hepatitis A. When multiple smokers share a hookah, they are at a higher risk of contracting highly contagious diseases. Since most Shisha smokers practice their addiction in groups, the risk of infection with tuberculosis is as high as the tendency to share the Shisha pipe.

On top of cancer and harms caused by Shisha, respectable members of different societies are already lamenting the distortion of their beautiful residential areas and shopping centres by outlets that serve the Shisha. The habit has become a significant ‘thief of time’ for the elegant as well as educated young members of the society.

Image by Flickr


One Reply to “Cancer and Harms Caused by Shisha”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *