Smoking tobacco in shisha waterpipes linked to death from 4 different cancers

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-07-12 01:00

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Shisha or hookah lounges, and the heady, sweet tobacco smoke that emanates from them, have become commonplace in Australia, but smoking these waterpipes may increase your risk of dying from four different types of cancer, according to Vietnamese and US researchers. They looked at the health records and smoking habits of 39,401 Vietnamese people, 554 of whom died of cancer. They found people who smoked shishas but not cigarettes were the most likely to die of cancer, followed by people who smoked both, while people who did not smoke at all had the lowest risk. Smoking shishas increased the risk of dying from liver cancer, lung cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer - a type of head and neck cancer - and stomach cancer, the experts say. The authors suggest programs focused on controlling shisha smoking should be introduced, particularly in poorer countries where smoking is more prevalent and fewer resources are available for smoking cessation public health campaigns.