Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/ZA_KBqj9bAo

 

Tobacco smoke from a hookah apparatus causes blood to clot 11 times faster than normal.  A University of Texas-El Paso mouse study measured the effects on blood of hookah smoking that mimicked human exposures.

 

Fired by the usual charcoal, the hookah burned commercially-available, flavored tobacco the also included glycerin and molasses.   Platelet function was hyperactive and blood clotted in just 11 seconds in smoking mice versus 5 minutes which is typical for humans too.

 

Hookah smoking is on the rise due to a false perception that it is safer than cigarettes or vaping.   Hookah smoke is very toxic containing not only concentrated tobacco fumes but also organic charcoal carcinogens.

 

Ahmed B. Alarabi, Zubair A. Karim, Jean E. Montes Ramirez, Keziah R. Hernandez, Patricia A. Lozano, José O. Rivera, Fatima Z. Alshbool, Fadi T. Khasawneh. Short-Term Exposure to Waterpipe/Hookah Smoke Triggers a Hyperactive Platelet Activation State and Increases the Risk of Thrombogenesis. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 2020; DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.119.313435

 

#hookah #platelets #bloodclotting