Watch out for the health dangers of smoking Hubbly

Left out of campaigns against smoking, puffing on a narghile, commonly known as a hookah, hubbly bubbly or shisha is fast catching the attention of health officials for the many dangers it presents.A narghile is a water-pipe, which consists of various parts: The body, bowl, tube and mouthpiece which is used for smoking flavoured tobacco. Smoke is passed through a water basin (often glass based) before it is inhaled.

entury and popular in the Middle East, it has been traditionally believed to be harmless because it is filtered through water. New evidence however proves that smoke which passes through water is no less toxic, containing monoxide, higher levels of heavy metals such as arsenic and lead, compared to cigarettes which cause cancer.Smoking the hookah has gained popularity outside of its native region and Namibia is no exception. Traditionally, the narghile was used by elder men, but nowadays, more and more young people have taken to smoking the hookah which puts young people at high risk of developing oral-and oro-pharyngeal cancers. This message was highlighted by the South African Dental Association (SADA) at a press briefing in Cape Town last week. Hubbly bubbly water pipes pose a serious cancer risk, Die Beeld reported recently. Professor Andre van Zyl of the University of Pretoria warned that children as young as eight to 24-years-of-age are most at risk of the dangers of the pipes.“It is more dangerous than cigarettes. People inhale the smoke deeper because it has such soothing flavoured tobacco,” he said.It is associated with many of the same risks as smoking and may in fact, involve some unique health risks. Young people are led to believe using water pipes are safe and fun, but they are deadly. Research shows that smoking a hubbly bubbly for one hour is the equivalent of smoking 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke compared to a single cigaretteSister Nellie Coetzee of the Cancer Association of Namibia (CAN) says; “We at the Cancer Association are totally against hubbly, it is dangerous and causes cancer.” Meisie Shimbundje, however does not seem to think it is such a big deal. She is a big fan of it and says it is fun, as long as you know your limits. “Although I do admit that if taken a lot, it makes one dizzy but not for a long time.” Berthold Mbinda, well-known R&B singer is a former hubbly smoker who discovered through experience how unhealthy it actually is. Before he decided to quit, it had a negative effect on the quality of his voice. Saying he sounded more like a rock musician than a R&B crooner. “Hubbly is messed up, I spent a lot of money on the various flavours and the more demands it had, the more expensive it got.”“The side effects were just unbearable,” he explained. “I would crave for it all the time. It gave me headaches, dizziness and my throat was constantly dry, making my voice sound squeaky. Which is generally very bad for a singer. It’s advisable to stop using it if you still are,” he said.Verona Du Preez, manager of the Etegameno Resource Centre said the Tobacco Products Control Act 2012 regulates the usage of tobacco but pointed out that it is important that all products are clearly labelled, spelling out the dangers. This includes pictorials showing people the dangers that tobacco causes to the body. “It is much more dangerous when people share the mouth piece without cleaning it, because it makes them more prone to diseases like TB and oral Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI). I am very concerned about how complicated it gets because it’s highly dangerous and highly addictive,” she said. Du Preez explained that they have a Rehabilitation Centre for alcohol and drug abuse, which will help those addicted to overcome their addictions. “Smoking is an entry drug to much more dangerous drugs, so I advise the youth to avoid smoking by all means. Parents must help their children delay the initiation of tobacco, the longer they stay without it, the better.”

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