Another Hookah + Medical Thread

[Tyler]

So, today I had my physical for my Italy trip w/ Xavier this summer and I put under the paper work field in "hobbies" that I am a heavy smoker and put (hookah). The doctor asked me a lot of questions, he went to his office to look it up, did some blood work, had a lung capacity test, and they checked my BP/heart rate and checked my sinus cavities. While it did cost me $75 extra for these tests they said that smoking hookah has not (yet) had any adverse side effects on my health. Note that this physical was done at 9 AM, my last bowl before bed was finished at 2 AM. Prostate health was normal, that's usually a common concern with a heavy smoker, my lung capacity was above average (the doc said that was actually a benefit of concentrated breathing), and my blood work all came back good. The only thing they said to watch out for is the dangers of inhaling rust which is common in hookahs as many of you know as you can get many diseases from it including but not limited to the obvious tetanus. I just wanted to share this because all the other medical threads have seemed negative but as someone who smokes A LOT I figured this would be good for others to see that maybe it's not hookah that's effecting their health negativly but other lifestyle choices. I am[i][u] [b]NOT [/b][/u][/i]trying to say that hookah has no negative health effects but at least 4 years into my hobby (~2 1/2 years of daily smoking plus the 1~ 1/2 years before that).

[Stuie]

Congrats. Last time I was in after smoking for years the didn't find anything wrong either. We will see years from now though won't we.

[LZ22]

Now if anyone tries to lecture me about the dangers of smoking hookah, I will inform them how awesome my lung capacity is compared to theirs

[ryno]

Its good to hear some stuff like this. But like Stuie said, we won't truly know for years.

[mattarios2]

glad to hear fsu! SMOKING HOOKAH IS GOOD FOR YOU!

[RingsMaster]

i have asthma and every time i go to my algerist he tells me to keep smoking because it helps me with lung capasity which is the problem for me when i start to get symptoms and he said smoking is actually making my attacks much less harmful to my lungs by allowing me to have a larger capasity. at one point my attacks were so bad id black out. hookah has saved my life lol

[rcracer_tx]

Last time I went to the doctor, he commented on how healthy my lungs were... I usually smoke 2-3 hours a day too

[Chreees]

This is awesome FSU. I too haven't noticed any negative effects on my health since I started smoking last year. I used to have asthma real bad when I was younger, but have seem to grown out of it. I would still have minor attacks every once in a while, but since I started smoking last year I've noticed no asthma attacks whatsoever and I've also actually gotten sick less than I usually do. No flu since I've started smoking, when I usually have the flu atleast twice over the winter. I believe hookah is great...lol.

[ryno]

Ok, this theory might not be correct at all but bear with me on it. Hookah smoke to me is nothing like cig smoke. Since you're not burning the tobacco, this is very little tar correct? So to me, the smoke wouldn't stick and diminish lung capacity. If anything, by smoking and usually taking deep long hits, we are actually doing lung exercises, helping keep or maybe extending our lung capacity? Do I sound crazy or does it make sense to anyone else?

[SweetNut]

(In best Spock voice) Its logical, Captain.

[Tyler]

Of all the people on this forum no one is an MD? Lets run some official tests on this stuff to make the anti-hookah people think twice about putting it into a category with cigs/cigars/pipes.

[LZ22]

[quote name='ryno' date='15 February 2010 - 02:10 PM' timestamp='1266264619' post='451628']
Ok, this theory might not be correct at all but bear with me on it. Hookah smoke to me is nothing like cig smoke. Since you're not burning the tobacco, this is very little tar correct? So to me, the smoke wouldn't stick and diminish lung capacity. If anything, by smoking and usually taking deep long hits, we are actually doing lung exercises, helping keep or maybe extending our lung capacity? Do I sound crazy or does it make sense to anyone else?
[/quote]

The theory is that tar quality increases the hotter something is burned at, and the higher quality tar is the tar that sticks to your lungs and causes problems. So some people believe that tar from hookah isn't nearly as bad for you as tar from cigarettes because cigarettes burn at an ungodly hotter temperature than shisha

[Jeff_T]

Good stuff to hear Tyler. I have a feeling that in like 30-50years we could all be a great test population for an in-depth/accurate study about the actual affects of hookah smoking, but by then we should all be able to get new lungs due to advances in the medical field...

[Arcane]

if you smoke hookah too often you go blind....and you grow 2 extra fingers and a 3rd eye....

what? it could happen!!