Smokes and mirrors: Sheesha not only kills your lungs, it also harms your heart, warn doctors

Recent study shows female users to be at higher risk of albuminuria.

KARACHI:

When you puff the apple-flavoured waterpipe, just keep in mind that it may kill your lungs and cause oral cancer. Good news is that there is no evidence it causes cardiovascular damage in the short run.

Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) vice-president Prof Masood Hameed Khan shared these facts from a recent research at DUHS Ojha campus on Friday. Several other experts also highlighted the risks of smoking a waterpipe (sheesha) and claim that it has the same health risks as smoking cigarettes.

The study

Prof Khan, along with DUHS school of public health vice-dean Dr Kashif Shafique, said that there is a link between long-term sheesha smoking and the risk of albuminuria. “The study shows that frequent sheesha use has serious health repercussions but more research is required to identify what kinds of components are more harmful,” said Prof Khan.

The research was conducted at the DUHS school of public health and medicine department, in collaboration with members of the University of Glasgow, King Edward Medical College, Lahore, and the University Mental and Dental College, Faisalabad.

It assessed the health of more than 1,600 healthy individuals based in various locations, using the blood and urine samples of both urban and rural individuals. The renal and cardiovascular damage was assessed by estimating urinary albumin excretion.

The study shows that sheesha users have a much higher chance of higher albumin excretion through their urine as compared to non-users.

This suggests that sheesha smokers may be at a higher risk of having cardiovascular and renal diseases in the long run as compared to non-smokers.

“The study found that although harmful effects were evident among both male and female users, females run a higher risk of albuminuria as compared to males,” the DUHS VC disclosed.

“A large number of students smoke sheesha and don’t bother to know its consequences. Health education campaigns should be started and if that is ineffective then a complete ban should be imposed on it.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2014.