Effect Of Shisha (Hookah) On Reproductive System

Shisha or Hookah has being a way of life to some people such that it is the bonding moment with friends, and also on social occasions where one meets more friends. For Shisha smokers it is this interaction with different kinds of people that give them the feeling of machismo to men and the cool thing to be done today by the modern women.

Shisha smoking as now become rampant in our society and according to the CDC hookah cafés are gaining in popularity around the world, including Britain, France, Russia, the Middle East, and the United States. In 2010, the Monitoring the Future survey found that among high school seniors in the United States, about 1 in 5 boys (17%) and 1 in 6 girls (15%) had used a hookah in the past year. Other small studies of young adults have found high prevalence of hookah use among college students in the United States. These studies show past-year use ranging from 22% to 40%.

Smoking shisha might be a form of entertainment or relaxation for it's smokers but the health implications as a result of it are quite scary and some of it implications are cancers,  damage of different body organs, decrease fertility and so on.

Here are the health implications of smoking shisha to both sexes reproductive system.

Effects Of Shisha On Men Fertility

•     Shisha smoking contains heavy metals like arsenic, chromium, lead, cobalt. The presence of the trace amount of these heavy metals in semen found to inhibit the function of enzyme contained in the acrosome of the sperm cell, which is the membrane that covers the head of the sperm.
•      Shisha smoking or tobacco smoking could lead to decrease of sperm motility.
•      Shisha smoking could result into production of unhealthy sperm, thus reduce sperm lifespan.
•     Shisha also affects the ability of men to produced sperm which result into low sperm production.
•     In the long run the adverse effect of smoking Shisha can cause genetic changes that can affect the offspring.

Effects Of Shisha On Female Reproductive system

•      Reduced fertility;
•      Menstrual cycle irregularities, absence of menstruation and menstrual cramps,
•     Menopause reached one or two years earlier.
•     Increased risk of cancer of the cervix and vulva.
•     If a smoker is aged over 35 years and taking the oral contraceptive pill, the risk of stroke and heart attack increases.

And also for a pregnant woman, the effects of smoking shisha are;

•     Harmful heavy metals and toxins as a result of smoking shisha can be excreted in the breast milk which can affect the newborn.
•     Women who smoke Shisha during pregnancy have babies with an increased risk for respiratorydiseases.
•     Shisha smoking can increase women’s risk of blood clots.

 How Shisha Affects the Fetus

Also for pregnant women that has decided to harbor joy from smoking shisha, are not only harming themselves but also the unborn child inside them.
Here are some effects of that;

•         Like cigarettes, smoking Shisha can raise the risk of premature labour, stillbirth and other complications.
•        Shisha smoking can also harm the unborn baby’s development.
•        The smoke from Shisha decreases the oxygen concentration in mother’s body which ultimately results to the shortness of breath to the fetus which could lead the baby towards death.
•    Babies born to women who smoked one or more water pipes a day during pregnancy have lower birth weights (were at least 3½ ounces less) than babies born to non-smokers.