‘It’s a lie’- Dr Serebour dismisses claims shisha is less harmful because smoke passes through water

Former Director of the Korle Bu Cardio Centre, Dr Lawrence Serebour, has dismissed claims that shisha smoking is less harmful than cigarette smoking because the smoke passes through water before being inhaled.

He described the belief as false, warning that the water in shisha pipes does not remove harmful chemicals from the smoke and that users are exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide.

Speaking on Joy FM's Super Morning Show on Friday, November 6, during a discussion on “Shisha: Status Symbol or Slow Poison”, Dr Serebour was asked whether water in the shisha-smoking process made it less harmful.

“It's a lie. In fact, the carbon monoxide that you inhale from shisha smoking is far more than what you get from cigarette smoking.”

He explained that the charcoal used to heat the tobacco in shisha pipes produces carbon monoxide, which can affect the heart, lungs and the body's ability to transport oxygen through the blood.

“And carbon monoxide has effects on your heart. It has effects on your lungs, everywhere in your blood and how your blood carries oxygen,” he said.

Dr Serebour further rejected the suggestion that water acts as a filter for the dangerous substances in shisha smoke.

“So, it's a lie that because it passes through water, it does not filter the chemicals, the bad chemicals at all. It does not do that. It's a lie,” he said.

Explaining why he considers shisha particularly dangerous, Dr Serebour said a person could be exposed to an amount of smoke equivalent to that from 100 to 200 cigarettes during an hour-long shisha session.

“One hour spent on the shisha machine is equivalent to smoking 100 to 200 sticks of cigarette,” he said.

He noted that tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 harmful chemicals, about 70 of which are carcinogenic, meaning they can cause cancer.

He consequently described shisha smoking as a form of slow-acting suicide because of the damage it can cause to the body.

“So, spending time, spending money on smoking this shisha is quite harmful to the body. I call it suicide. You know, slow-acting suicide, that's all,” he said.

The former Korle Bu Cardio Centre director also warned that shisha smoking can affect several organs, exposing users to serious health complications, including cancer.

He explained that substances such as nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide in tobacco products can damage the body, with shisha users exposed to particularly high levels of carbon monoxide.

According to him, tobacco smoking is associated with cancers affecting the mouth, lips, larynx, oesophagus, lungs and bladder.

“It has a lot of effects on the heart, on the lungs, and the other organs of the body, causing cancer of the mouth, of the lips, of the larynx, of the oesophagus, the lungs, bladder, a lot of other problems that it creates,” he said.

“You are poisoning yourself. You are producing cancer for your body,” he added.

Dr Serebour also warned that shisha smoking can lead to addiction because of the nicotine contained in tobacco.

Responding to a question on whether the practice is addictive, he said nicotine is highly addictive, regardless of how tobacco is consumed.

“Nicotine is highly, highly addictive,” he said.

He added that some tobacco products contain other substances that can increase their addictive potential.

Comparing the smoking patterns of cigarettes and shisha, Dr Serebour explained that while a cigarette may be finished after about 20 puffs, a shisha user could take more than 200 puffs within an hour.

“You light a cigarette. By the time you puff 20 times, it's finished. But shisha, you puff over 200 times in an hour,” he said.