A question that all smokers have been trying to know. Which one is more harmful? Vape, cigarette, or hookah
No matter what and how you smoke, tobacco is harmful to your health. There are no safe substances in any of the tobacco products from tar and acetone to carbon monoxide and nicotine. The substances you inhale with smoke do not just affect your lungs but can affect your whole body.
Smoking can cause several ongoing complications in the body and can affect your body systems in long term. While smoking can expand your risk of several problems over several years, some of its effects on our body are immediate.
Many people think that vape is safer than cigarettes, while others think that hookah is safer than the other two.
However, vaping comprises various dangers, both for the person who is using it and the people around it. Similarly, cigarettes and hookahs are dangerous for both the ones using them and the ones standing near the people who are using them.
The tobacco present in a hookah pipe is no less toxic or harmful than in a cigarette, and the water inside a hookah pot does not filter the harmful substances in the tobacco smoke.
If a person is considering using one to help them quit another or just to follow a trend, it is necessary to understand what these pipes entail and their effects on health.
What is Vaping?
Vaping is the act of puffing in and puffing out the water vapor generated by an electric device known as a vaporizer. At present, the most popular devices used by teenagers are hookahs, cigarettes, and hookah pens.
What Are Hookahs?
A hookah also known as a narghile or shisha is a water pipe connected to a smoke chamber, a piper, a bowl, a mouthpiece, and a hose. A specially cured tobacco is heated, and the smoke makes its way through the water pot and is then inhaled through the mouthpiece and hose.
The tobacco used in hookahs comes in various flavors, for instance, mint, spiced chai, strawberry, amongst others. The quantity of nicotine used in this tobacco is generally not regulated.
Hookahs vs. Cigarettes
Since the tobacco used in hookahs is flavored, unlike cigarettes, smokers may think that hookah is healthier than cigarettes or at least that hookah comprises less of the bad stuff like nicotine. However, the truth is that hookahs are more likely to deliver nicotine, the same addictive substance used in cigarettes.
People who smoke hookahs may inhale more toxic nicotine than the ones who smoke cigarettes due to the manner a hookah is used. This is because one water pipe session of hookah may last up to 80 minutes, resulting in the smoker taking between 50-200 puffs. According to the researches, a cigarette usually takes over 5-7 minutes to smoke and can be wrapped up in over 20-35 puffs.
Also, it is claimed that smoke inhaled during one season of hookah is around 90,000ml. While the smoke inhaled during smoking one cigarette is about 500-600 ml.
Is vaping and smoking cigarettes or hookah bad for you?
The short and simple answer to whether vaping or smoking cigarettes or hookah is bad for you or not is yes. Lung infection is becoming more and more common these days in people who smoke cigarettes, hookah, or vape.
In theory, a vaping product was developed to be a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes however, vaping still contains harmful effects. People are still inhaling toxic substances other than oxygen into their lungs.
Is hookah smoking and vaping the same thing?
A hookah is not the same as a vaping cigarette which is in general smaller, a device made for the use of an individual that burns out substances at high temperatures to make them into a vapor.
Smoking vs vaping, what are the differences?
Overall, there is not much of a difference between vaping and smoking. Generally, smoking was thought to be more dangerous as the product is being burnt and the smoke out of it is inhaled into the lungs. However, there is similar damage associated with the heating of baling solutions and inhaling that vapor into the lungs.
Is smoking or vaping more harmful?
Overall, the research shows that in the long run there is not much of a difference in individuals who have never smoked but used a vaping device.
Studies have shown that when a person begins vaping, there is a sharp likelihood that they will have cigarettes and other tobacco-containing substances too in the future. Generally, smoking is considered to be more harmful as the product is being lighted up and harmful smoke is being baked into the lungs. But the studies have claimed that people suffer similar damage and decreased immunity to combat infections from heating vaping solutions and puffing in that inhaling solution into the lungs.
Conclusion
If you are thinking about the overall or oral health effects of smoking cigarettes, hookah, or vape, the best thing to do is quit, or better yet, do not start smoking if you have not already. Your dentist or doctor can be a tremendous help here. They can assist you to find the suitable tools you need to quit smoking or to answer questions about the risks associated with these.