Shisha smoking, widespread in the Middle East, has been associated with cancer of the head and neck, as well as the oesophagus and lungs, according to a comprehensive study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q).
The study, entitled “Cancer risk in water-pipe smokers: a meta-analysis”, by a team of researchers led by WCM-Q’s Dr Ravinder Mamtani and Dr Sohaila Cheema, used a sophisticated meta-analysis technique to review 28 published scientific studies and examined the relationship between water-pipe smoking and various forms of cancer, including cancer of the head and neck, oesophagus, stomach, lung and bladder.
Dr Mamtani, Associate Dean for Global and Public Health at WCM-Q, said the need for such a study had become urgent in recent years owing to the surge in popularity of shisha, especially among young people and women.
“There are many studies examining the risks of cigarette smoking but we must understand that smoking from a water-pipe is significantly different because the smoker generally inhales far more smoke, smokes for longer, and there are different concentrations of toxins in water-pipe smoke than in cigarette smoke.
“Further, there is a very dangerous and wrong perception that water-pipe smoking is safe because the water somehow filters out the dangerous toxins in the smoke. The water only cools the smoke and does not filter out the toxins.”
Dr Cheema, Director of Global and Public Health at WCM-Q, pointed out that water-pipe smoking is a very social act, and in the Middle East it is more socially acceptable for women than smoking cigarettes.
Data from a 2014 World Health Organization study show that tobacco kills up to half its users, amounting to nearly six million people each year. More than 600,000 deaths per year are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.
A shisha smoking session can expose the user to up to 50 litres of smoke over a 45-minute usage period, compared to around one litre of smoke that is consumed by someone smoking a cigarette for about five minutes.