When smoking a hookah, blood pressure increases or decreases

When you smoke, does hookah raise or lower your blood pressure? This question interests all people who care about their health, but who want to spend time in the company of friends from time to time smoking narghile. It is generally accepted that smoking a hookah is much less harmful than drinking cigarettes, the negative impact of which on the body is considered a generally accepted fact.

When it comes to hookah, the smoking mechanism is somewhat different. The tobacco leaf does not burn in it, which means that smoke does not enter the smoker’s body: we inhale mainly aromatic moist vapor.

Here are the main differences between hookah and cigarettes:

• water filter - a flask filled with liquid through which smoke passes. However, it rather reduces its temperature than performs a complete cleaning. It is worth noting that when smoking a hookah, an effect similar to an inhaler occurs, which means that the smoke enters the lower parts of the lungs;
• When we smoke cigarettes, in addition to the smoke from burnt tobacco, smoke from burning paper also enters our lungs. This does not happen when smoking a hookah; the smoke from it contains less resins and other additives;
• The combustion temperature of tobacco in a lit cigarette is about 1000 ºС. In a hookah it is less than 200 ºС. This also reduces the level of harm from combustion products;
• the cigarette has a significantly shorter filter. Therefore, when we smoke a hookah, a significant part of the combustion products simply settles in the flask and hose.

Nargile smoking mixtures can also be without nicotine. They are much less harmful (we still inhale some amount of combustion products). So hookah as a safer alternative to cigarettes is quite possible.

Does hookah increase or decrease blood pressure?

Hookah does not cause huge harm to health compared to smoking cigarettes. This is explained by another mechanism of smoking, because the tobacco leaf does not burn, the smoker inhales not smoke, which turns into harmful tars, but moistened, aromatic vapor. Despite this, hookah in most cases leads to an increase in blood pressure.

This happens because smoking tobacco leads to harmful nicotine entering the lungs, and then into the blood. This activity continues longer than smoking cigarettes; toxic substances reduce the elasticity of blood vessels and gradually narrow their lumen. All this leads to hypertension.

If the hookah was used once, the increase in blood pressure may be short-term, but its systematic use causes a rapid increase in blood pressure and maintaining high levels for a long period of time. The changes are caused by irreversible processes in the structure of the vascular walls.

It provokes hypertension and carbon monoxide, especially if a large amount of it enters the bloodstream.

At first glance, everything seems clear, but questions about how smoking a device affects blood pressure, whether it increases or decreases it, still arise. This is explained by the fact that the symptoms of intoxication of the body with such smoking are similar to the clinical picture of hypotension.

Toxins enter the blood, their influence can lead to the appearance of pathological symptoms that can be easily confused with a sharp decrease in blood pressure.

To make you feel better, you often use recipes from folk sources and medications that increase blood pressure, which worsens the situation because it continues to rise.

Test for smokers

Smoking a hookah during the coronavirus pandemic

During the pandemic, people have little access to entertainment and hookah smoking is becoming an attractive leisure option. The danger is that in a company, hookah is transmitted from person to person, and if someone in the company is infected with the virus, it will quickly spread.

In addition, smoking in the form of “inhalations” causes more serious toxic damage to the lungs, and this increases the risk of a severe form of a disease such as coronavirus. We must not forget that smoking causes nicotine addiction, which you will have to get rid of with the help of specialists.

If your loved ones need help in treating addiction, then sign up for a free consultation by calling the hotline of the Zdravnitsa professional treatment and rehabilitation center: 8-800-200-27-23 . Our specialists will select an effective treatment plan and accompany you throughout the course. We guarantee results if all our recommendations are followed.

Similar articles:

Withdrawal syndrome when quitting smoking

Amphetamine: what it is, the effect and consequences of use

What to do if your wife is a drug addict?

When coding an alcoholic can be effective

10 mistakes loved ones of an alcoholic make

Hookah - a medicine for hypotension

With the help of smoking, a smoker can get rid of hypotension. Doctors still advise individuals suffering from hypotension to reconsider their diet (the body needs a lot of vitamins) and spend more time in the fresh air. Don't try to raise your blood pressure by drinking coffee.

To normalize the indicators, it is recommended to lead a healthy lifestyle. It is better not to risk your health; before visiting a hookah room, it is recommended to consult a doctor.

Smoking a hookah has a positive effect on the vocal cords, a person’s mental state, helps overcome stress and has a calming effect.

It has a positive effect on the condition of the respiratory system. This effect can be achieved by adding medicinal herbs to the smoking mixture. These substances stimulate the immune system; the device plays the role of an inhaler.

To normalize blood pressure it is recommended:

• give up this habit, and if this is not possible, you should try to smoke less often;
• When choosing a tobacco mixture, pay attention to substances of reduced strength;
• Avoid smoking the device with wine and other alcoholic beverages.

Take the smoking test

Symptoms of changes in blood levels during hookah smoking

Hookah smoke inhaled by a person, especially in a poorly ventilated room, can lead to a deterioration in the smoker’s well-being due to carbon monoxide intoxication and a surge in pressure.

Accelerated pulsation is caused by a strong spasm of cerebral vessels - their narrowing causes fainting.

The symptomatic picture may worsen if smoking is combined with drinking coffee. Such a combination can provoke a hypertensive crisis and incurable disorders in brain function. It is known that caffeine can affect arterial health by elevating it.

How long does the session last?

You can smoke hookah for an unlimited amount of time. For example, Eric Hoffman, who is the creator of Tangiers tobacco, admitted that he likes to smoke a full bowl in 5 hours, stretching it out over the whole day.

If no side effects are observed, you can use the same padding for a longer session. The difference will only be reflected in the richness of the taste of the smoking mixture.

By varying the packing density of the filler, you can get:

• Hookah with a rich sauce that stays strong for 20 minutes;
• Hookah of less pronounced taste, but designed for 60-120 minutes.

The airier the position of the tobacco in the bowl, the brighter the taste. If the main thing is the duration of smoking, it is better to pack the tobacco more tightly, compacting it in a container. The hookah will be stronger and more durable, but the flavor from its sauce will evaporate faster.

The stuffing method is suitable for those for whom the main thing in the process is puffs of smoke. As long as there are puffs of smoke, the smoking session will continue. Loose filling of the bowl will provide a richer flavor. You can try it, but the durability will disappear after 20-40 minutes.

It takes 30-40 minutes of continuous use to smoke one mixture. Over time, taste sensations are lost. The maximum duration of smoking a bowl is an hour. During this time, the coal should be well heated.

Properly heated cubes will have a rich, bright red color on 4 sides. Charred, cooled coals are replaced with new ones. If there is enough smoke in the hookah and the process does not cause discomfort, you can smoke the bowl for longer than 60 minutes.

In this case, the time may increase depending on the number of smokers. If one hookah is actively used by 2-3 people, it will be used up faster. Much depends on the type of cup. Clay or silicone veneers allow tobacco to prolong the combustion period.

How often to change tobacco

The need to replace tobacco leaves is indicated by bitterness in the mouth. This can happen from overheating of the tobacco mixture. If replacing the coals and overheating did not help correct the situation, you need to fill the bowl with new filling. It is advisable to change the tobacco and water from the flask.

Some smokers prefer to refill the bowl when the flavor of the mixture evaporates. There is no need to do this. The richness and clarity of the aroma is a matter of personal taste, and may change when preparing a hookah.

Just like when using cigarettes, in hookah sessions you should not exceed the limit and smoke for pleasure. When burned correctly, the tobacco releases its impregnation slowly. After the loss of active qualities, it is better to replace the leaves and not risk your health.

Basic recommendations for hookah smoking

What should those heavy smokers who are unable to give up hookah smoking do? Doctors recommend:

• Reduce the frequency of sessions.
• Do not use alcohol for smoking mixtures.
• Select tobacco mixtures only with reduced strength.

It is also worth emphasizing such an important point as the ability of many components of smoke to influence the absorption of medications of various effects, including antihypertensives. This means that if a hypertensive person takes medications for high blood pressure, then their therapeutic effect decreases significantly when using a hookah.

The most delicious tobacco

Each tobacco manufacturer develops its own line of flavors that would meet all needs. Each has several flavors – favorites. Let's look at the main manufacturers of the smoking mixture.

Dark Side

The product is made in Russia; many experts compare it with Tangiers because of its strength, aroma, high heat resistance, and first-class raw materials. The line includes a huge range of flavors with different degrees of strength. Successful types - bananaPapa, hunter, wildberry, bergamonstr, icecream, a delicious hookah mix will bring pleasure.

Tangiers

The hookah mixture is produced in the USA and is popular in the CIS countries and Russia. High strength, a distinct tobacco aftertaste without unnecessary impurities are its characteristics. Like domestic tobacco, Tangier has 3 strength lines and more than 50 flavors in each. The top ones are peach Iced Tea, horchata, ololiuqui, schnozzberry, cane Mint.

Starbuzz

The tobacco mixture is popular among girls and lovers of sweets, characterized by a weak expression of taste, easy to use and smoky. The manufacturer may not like it due to a possible chemical smell. Users' choice: cola, raspberry, mint chocolate, blue mist.

Fumari

Tobacco comes from the USA with a light strength, optimal strength, and small cut size. Used alone or when mixed with other tobaccos and flavors. Users prefer lemon mint, spiced tea, prickly pear, blueberry muffin, and ambrosia.

Nakhla

Produced since the 20th century. The brand is famous for its thick, soft aroma, dry composition of the mixture and low price. Some of the best flavors include cinnamon, lemon mint, chocolate mint, double apple, and blueberry.

Al Fakher

The tobacco mixture from the UAE is popular on the Russian market and in the CIS countries. The packaging retains freshness and moisture for a long time, fine cutting allows you to quickly fill the hookah bowl. Pleasant tastes - grapes, melon, watermelon, cherry, apple.

The lightest hookah tobacco

The tobacco mixture is divided by strength into light, medium and heavy. It’s better to start smoking light steam cocktails. They will not cause much stress to the body. Types of light tobacco brands: Al Fakher, Buta, Adalya, Fasil, Serbetli, Malaki, Afzal, Fumari.

Fakur is one of the light mixtures, the nicotine content is 0.01. But experienced smokers can make any tobacco lighter:

1. Heat level. The smaller it is, the easier the steam cocktail is to smoke. It is necessary to reduce the amount of coals, increase the amount of foil, and an air gap.
2. When smoking, use cloud, not foil.
3. Availability of syrup. Do not squeeze the tobacco, this will reduce the strength and increase the smoke.
4. Ice. The cooling element will make the smoke lighter. You can use ice in the flask and a cooling mouthpiece.

What is more harmful than hookah or cigarettes?

Medical studies have proven that the harm from hookah is no less than from nicotine. This breaks the stereotype of most people who believe that the concentration of hazardous substances is reduced due to water cleaning. The blame for consumer ignorance lies with entrepreneurs and advertising.

Manufacturers are trying to convey to the people the idea that the device is a harmless activity, but this opinion is nonsense.

The use of the device provokes the appearance of diseases of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems: cancer, lymphemia, etc. After a long process, a person’s coordination of movements is impaired. Feeling unwell.

You can compare a hookah and a cigarette on several points:

1. Smoke – cigarette smoke is more poisonous, the tobacco burns, and in the machine it smolders due to the syrup.
2. Filter – in a device this function is performed by water, sometimes milk; in a cigarette, the filter protects the lungs from most chemicals.
3. Addiction - the main disadvantage of cigarettes is their availability, you can smoke them without a break, and people rarely go to a hookah bar.

Papyrus and hookah have a bad effect on the body. The damage is approximately the same. The only exception is that you cannot take the device with you, there is no addiction.

The chemical composition of both devices is dangerous. The device produces a higher dose of hazardous substances than papyrus.

Scientists have found that the device is no less harmful to health than nicotine from cigarettes. Experts were unable to determine which was more dangerous. A large-sized device does not cause addiction, but the dose of chemicals from a hookah is much higher.

Potential Risk Factors

There are certain categories of people who are especially not recommended to smoke hookah. Here is a sample list:

• pregnant women;
• nursing mothers;
• people who have chronic heart disease;
• people with respiratory diseases;
• people who are allergic to nicotine;
• people who are quitting smoking or have recently quit.

There is a risk of getting poisoned by hookah. Unfortunately, such cases occur frequently. The following symptoms are typical for poisoning:

• constant headache;
• feeling tired;
• weakness throughout the body;
• periodic visual disturbances;
• tinnitus;
• nausea and vomiting.

If you observe these symptoms in yourself or another person, you need to get help immediately:

1. Place the patient on the bed.
2. Apply something cold to your forehead (ice, wet towel, etc.).
3. Call an ambulance.
4. Rub your limbs with your hands, this will speed up blood circulation.
5. If a person loses consciousness, use ammonia.

Hookah tobacco, composition and nicotine content

The hookah mixture includes the following ingredients:

1. Tobacco leaves.
2. Syrup.
3. Flavors.
4. Glycerol.
5. Preservatives.

The type of tobacco leaf used determines the nicotine level of the entire mixture. Popular tobaccos are Burley, Oriental, and Virginia.

The first type is considered to have the highest nicotine content. Burley, due to the way it is produced, conveys the aroma better. Tangiers is produced from this tobacco leaf.

The second place in strength is occupied by Virginia leaves, which are used in most hookah mixtures (Al Fakher, Fumari, Social Smoke, others).

Oriental is part of Egyptian tobaccos and is found in Nakhla.

It is believed that 50 grams of tobacco mixture contains from 0.05% to 0.5% nicotine. Meanwhile, one cigarette concentrates 0.8-1 mg of nicotine.

The molasses included in the product is a substance obtained from sugar and starch, and is intended to bind all the elements of the product. Previously, honey was used in the production of the product in question, but now due to its high cost it is not used.

Glycerin is added to create a thick smoke, as it increases the moisture separation significantly.

Without the preservatives used in hookah mixtures, mold will grow on the surface of the leaves.

Flavors, which can be natural or artificial, are responsible for taste. Organic supplements are obtained from dried berries, herbs, and fruits. For the first time, strawberry jam was added to hookahs as a flavoring agent.

Artificial flavors are food additives that imitate a variety of products obtained through the development of the chemical industry.

Is there nicotine in hookah?

To understand whether a hookah brings harm or benefit, let’s look at its structure. It is a flask, the size of which depends on the cost of the device.

With the help of an oriental apparatus, the smoke is moistened and cooled, and enters the body through a hose. For it, there are filters made of wine, water, milk, which are poured into a flask. The hookah does not contain nicotine, but the tobacco that is put in the chilim consists of harmful substances, but there are mixtures without the alkaloid nicotine and toxins.

Types of refills that do not contain nicotine:

1. A mixture of fruits and berries in glycerin with an admixture of essential oils. Add mint, syrups, honey and corn. Popular fruits: apple, melon, orange, grapefruit. The refill also contains only useful components, without trihydric alcohol. The disadvantage of this mixture is the consumption of coals and maintaining a constant temperature.
2. Steam stones (smoking). They are free of toxins and nicotine. This is not smoke, but flavored vapor. The stones are minerals that have been infused in the syrup. Popular companies, the first manufacturers of steam stones on the world market: Shiazo, MagicStones and Mehazo.

Are there any advantages?

The smoking device has a number of undeniable advantages, although many doctors are skeptical about the positive properties of the hookah:

1. filtering smoke can significantly reduce the total content of a substance such as nicotine;
2. while smoking a hookah, tobacco in no way interacts with open fire, therefore it cannot contain any carcinogens that pose a threat to the smoker’s body;
3. additional lung protection is achieved due to the use of a special filter;
4. This smoking device is actually used for medicinal purposes. In order to use a hookah for treatment, you need to pour a special medicinal infusion into the flask. After this is done, you should inhale it through a special tube;
5. The aromatic qualities of a hookah cannot be compared with the unpleasant odor from cigarettes.

How much nicotine is in hookah tobacco

How much nicotine is in a hookah? There are hookahs that contain tobacco. Its harm to the body depends on the strength of the mixture. They are weak, medium and strong. The latter include: Al Ajami, Nakhlu.

Nicotine content is 0.05%, of the total weight of the pack - 50 grams, alkaloid - 25 mg, there is Iranian Fakhur - 0.01%, 5 mg of nicotine. They are sold in mixtures with other types of tobacco and flavors, so you get Cherry + Melon + Apple.

Hookah is smoked for an hour. During this time, nicotine, toxins and carbon monoxide enter the body indoors. Carbon monoxide is dangerous to the body, and in one session you get the same amount as using one pack of cigarettes. The main substance content is:

1. Chadnogaza - 143 mg.
2. Nicotine in hookah tobacco is 2.96 mg.
3. Resins - 802 mg.

The information was published by the Singapore edition of Menshealth magazine.

Under what factors and conditions does the harmfulness of hookah increase?

The danger from smoking a hookah under pressure increases several times under the following circumstances: