(Press-News.org) A new study published in the journal Respirology reveals that water pipe smoking, such as hookah or bong smoking, affects lung function and respiratory symptoms as much as cigarette smoking.
Most users of water pipes and many physicians believe that smoking through a water pipe filters out the toxic components of tobacco and is considerably less harmful than smoking cigarettes.
Led by Mohammad Hossein Boskabady, MD, PhD, of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, researchers set out to compare lung function and respiratory symptoms among water pipe smokers, deep or normal inhalation cigarette smokers, and non-smokers.
Three groups of smokers, including 57 water pipe smokers, 30 deep inhalation cigarette smokers (S-DI), and 51 normal inhalation cigarette smokers (S-NI) were identified and studied. In addition, 44 non-smokers were studied as a control group.
A questionnaire was administered to assess the prevalence and severity of respiratory symptoms and lung function tests performed on smokers and control subjects using a spirometer.
Results showed an increased prevalence and severity of respiratory symptoms among water pipe smokers and cigarette smokers. Similar effects of water pipe smoking and deep inhalation cigarette smoking on respiratory status were found.
Wheezing was present in 23% of water pipe smokers, 30% in S-DI, and 21.6% in S-NI. Chest tightness was present in 36.8% of water pipe smokers, 40% in S-DI, and 29.4% in S-NI. Cough was present in 21% of water pipe smokers, 36.7% of S-DI, and 19.6% of S-NI. Wheezing, chest tightness, and cough only occurred in non-smokers 9.1%, 13.3% and 6.8% respectively.
"Our study is the first report regarding the importance of the method of cigarette smoke inhalation with respect to effects on the respiratory system," Boskabady concludes. "Our findings reveal that there were profound effects of water pipe smoking on lung function values, which were similar to the effects observed in deep inhalation cigarette smokers."
### END
Water pipe smoking has the same respiratory effects as smoking cigarettes
2012-08-30
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Immunodeficient patients with secondary lung disease benefit from combined chemotherapy
2012-08-30
A team of researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Research Institute defined a new treatment for a potentially fatal lung disease in patients with a primary immunodeficiency known as common variable immunodeficiency (CVID).The findings are published in the Journal of Clinical Immunology.
Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is the most common primary immunodeficiency that requires regular treatment with medication, specifically immunoglobulin (antibodies) replacement therapy. With immunoglobulin therapy, deaths from infection ...
A model for development
2012-08-30
PASADENA, Calif.—As an animal develops from an embryo, its cells take diverse paths, eventually forming different body parts -- muscles, bones, heart. In order for each cell to know what to do during development, it follows a genetic blueprint, which consists of complex webs of interacting genes called gene regulatory networks.
Biologists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have spent the last decade or so detailing how these gene networks control development in sea-urchin embryos. Now, for the first time, they have built a computational model of one ...
Does wisdom really come with age? It depends on the culture
2012-08-30
"Wisdom comes with winters," Oscar Wilde once said. And it's certainly comforting to think that aging benefits the mind, if not the body. But do we really get wiser as time passes?
There are many way to define what exactly wisdom is, but previous literature suggests that having wisdom means that you are also good at resolving conflict. But conflict is not handled the same way across cultures. Americans have been shown to emphasize individuality and solve conflict in a direct manner, such as by using direct persuasion. In contrast, the Japanese place a greater emphasis ...
Viruses could be the key to healthy corals
2012-08-30
Corals are an invaluable part of the marine ecosystem, fostering biodiversity and protecting coastlines. But they're also increasingly endangered. Pathogenic bacteria, along with pollution and harmful fishing practices, are one of the biggest threats to the world's coral populations today.
One of the solutions to the crisis may lie in human medicine. Prof. Eugene Rosenberg of Tel Aviv University's Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, working in collaboration with Dr. Ilil Atad of his own laboratory and Prof. Yossi Loya of TAU's Department of Zoology, ...
No-till farming helps capture snow and soil water
2012-08-30
A smooth blanket of snow in the winter can help boost dryland crop productivity in the summer, and no-till management is one way to ensure that blanket coverage, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) soil scientist David Huggins conducted studies to determine how standing crop residues affect snow accumulation and soil water levels across entire fields. ARS is USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency, and this work supports the USDA priority of responding to climate change.
Huggins, who works at ...
'Hulk' protein, Grb10, controls muscle growth
2012-08-30
Bethesda, MD — Scientists have moved closer toward helping people grow big, strong muscles without needing to hit the weight room. Australian researchers have found that by blocking the function of a protein called Grb10 while mice were in the womb, they were considerably stronger and more muscular than their normal counterparts. This discovery appears in the September 2012 issue of The FASEB Journal. Outside of aesthetics, this study has important implications for a wide range of conditions that are worsened by, or cause muscle wasting, such as injury, muscular dystrophy, ...
Wayne State's new flexible electronics technology may lead to new medical uses
2012-08-30
DETROIT — A Wayne State University researcher has developed technology that opens new possibilities for health care and medical applications of electronic devices.
Yong Xu, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering, has developed a simple technology compatible with silicon-on-insulator (SOI) complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes for making flexible electronics. "A Silicon-On-Insulator Complementary-Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Compatible Flexible Electronics Technology," published recently in Applied Physics ...
New research uncovers diverse metabolic roles for PML tumor suppressor gene
2012-08-30
BOSTON -- Two papers led by scientific teams from the Cancer Genetics Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) shed new light on the genetic mechanisms underlying cellular energy and metabolism and, at the same time, highlight both the challenges and opportunities of genetic approaches to cancer treatment.
Appearing in the September 2012 issues of The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI) and Nature Medicine, the new findings reveal surprising insights into how PML regulates metabolism via the fatty acid oxidation (FAO) pathway and, in the process, uncover ...
A surprisingly bright superbubble
2012-08-30
This composite image shows a superbubble in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way located about 160,000 light years from Earth.
Many new stars, some of them very massive, are forming in the star cluster NGC 1929, which is embedded in the nebula N44, so named because it is the 44th nebula in a catalog of such objects in the Magellanic Clouds. The massive stars produce intense radiation, expel matter at high speeds, and race through their evolution to explode as supernovas. The winds and supernova shock waves carve out huge cavities ...
Smartphone app can track objects on the battlefield as well as on the sports field
2012-08-30
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- University of Missouri researchers have developed new software using smartphones' GPS and imaging abilities, that determine the exact location of distant objects as well as monitor the speed and direction of moving objects. The software could eventually allow smartphone-armed soldiers to target the location of their enemies. On the home front, the software could be used by everyone, including golfers judging distance to the green and biologists documenting the location of a rare animal without disturbing it.
"The great advantage of a smartphone is that ...