Hookah smoking impairs nasal mucociliary clearance

Active tobacco smoking has been causally associated with nasal mucociliary clearance (MCC). Smoking through a hookah as an alternative to tobacco smoking has been shown in some scientific studies to have several toxic effects on human health. However, no study has been conducted on the effects on nasal MCC of the hookah as an alternative way of smoking tobacco. The aim of this study is to research whether or not hookah affects nasal MCC.

The study included 40 subjects in the control group and 38 subjects in the hookah group. The hookah group was divided into two subgroups: those who used hookahs regularly, once every week (N1 group), and those who used hookahs more than once a week (N2 group, of 2 to 5 sessions/week). The N1 group had 20 subjects, while the N2 group had 18 subjects. The MCC test was performed on each subject and results were recorded in minutes.

The nasal MCC value in the total hookah group was found to be significantly higher than in the control group (p<0.05). The nasal MCC value of the N2 group that used hookahs more than once a week was significantly higher than those of the control group and N1 group that used hookahs once every week (p<0.05).

Our study has shown that, especially when a hookah was used more than once a week, there was MCC impairment that may put the participant at risk of respiratory tract diseases.