Hookahs as harmful as cigarettes

Water pipes or hookahs have been proven just as dangerous to your health as smoking cigarettes containing several poisonous substances.
Germany's Federal Centre for Health Education has done the research and found that Hookah tobacco, often mixed with sugar or syrup, when burned, releases substances that are carcinogenic or aggravate the air passages.
The centre has released the information to coincide with its "Smoke Free 2008" campaign combating smoke cigarettes related diseases such as cancer of the lung, lip, mouth or bladder and heart problems.
The smoking of the traditional `shisha' water pipe is also emerging as a significant health risk in Egypt, due to air-borne tuberculosis (TB) transmission from pipe sharing and uncontrolled, manual preparation of the pipe.
The World Health Organization (WHO) regional office in Cairo estimates that 17 percent of TB cases in the eastern Mediterranean are attributable to the smoking of water pipes.