Karachi Vice Chancellor Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Prof Masood Hameed Khan said on Friday that water-pipe (Sheesha) smoking has considerably increased among the youth, particularly among the higher secondary school and university students.
He expressed these views while addressing a press briefing on “Sheesha smoking and its health hazard” at the School of Public Health, DUHS’ Ojha Campus here. Vice Dean School of Public Health DUHS Dr Kashif Shafique was also present on the occasion.
Dr Masood said that water-pipe use began centuries ago in ancient Persia and India and now water-pipe cafes were gaining popularity around the world, including Britain, France, Russia, Middle East, United States and also in Pakistan. “Many water-pipe smokers think that this practice is less harmful than smoking cigarettes but water-pipe smoking has many of the same health risks as cigarette smoking since it delivers nicotine, the same highly addictive drug found in other tobacco products,” he added.
There was some evidence to suggest that water-pipe smoking leads to reduced lung function and may cause oral cancers, however, there was no evidence as such that the water-pipe smoking could cause renal or cardiovascular damage, he said. Therefore, he added, the most recent research at the School of Public Health and Department of Medicine DUHS has shown a link between long-term water-pipe smoking and the risk of albuminuria.
According to Dr Masood, this research was conducted in collaboration with the University of Glasgow (UK), the King Edward Medical College (Lahore) and the University of Mental and Dental College (Faisalabad). The research paper was published in an international journal PLOS ONE. This study assessed the health of more than 1,600 individuals in multiple sites using both urban and rural individuals’ blood and urine samples. The renal and cardiovascular damage was assessed by estimating urinary albumin excretion. The study showed that the individuals who smoke water-pipe had 2-5 times higher chances of having higher albumin excretion through urine as compared to non-smokers.
This suggests that the individuals who smoke water-pipe may be at a higher risk of having cardiovascular and renal diseases in long term as compared to non-smokers.
The study found that although the harmful effects were evident among both males and females, the females had much higher risk of albuminuria when compared to the males. Previous research from another country has shown that water-pipe smoking increases the chances of acute cardiovascular disturbance as compared to non-smokers, however, its effect on long-term outcomes was not well understood.
“Our findings add to the evidence that water-pipe can increase the loss of albumin from the human body which can lead to higher risk of cardiovascular and renal diseases among these individuals as a long term consequence. Our study also showed the higher risk of adverse health outcomes among water-pipe smokers.
However, further research is needed to understand what components either the tobacco charcoal or any other constituent have more harmful biological and metabolic effects. Given the fact that increasing number of school and university students are smoking water-pipe at public places without knowing the ultimate consequences of its harmful effects we need wider health education campaigns to raise awareness and a ban on the use of this device to spread tobacco consumption,” he added.
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