Researchers found that tobacco smoke from a hookah caused blood clots to form within an average of about 11 seconds, compared to an average of 5 minutes for clotting without exposure to hookah smoke. Exposure to the hookah smoke also caused other abnormalities related to the way the blood flows.
“Hookah smoking, which is becoming more popular in Western countries, is perceived as less harmful than cigarettes, yet hookahs carry a toxic profile that is thought to be comparable or to even exceed that of traditional cigarettes. Some studies have found that the smoke emitted from one hookah tobacco smoking episode contains significantly more harmful chemicals compared to a single cigarette,” said Fadi Khasawneh, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences at The University of Texas at El Paso.
