Hookah has different names in different countries. Nargile, shisha, waterpipe, hubble-bubble, ecc. One Pakistan dictionary says "huqqa" means in persian language "a little pot for incense and jewels".In a village not far from us opened one italian, turned from Egypt, a little kebab-shop. He told me about something, I could not understand what it was. Only when he took the pipe in the shop was clear: we speak about the same thing.
This waterpipe device for smoking is used to smoke herbal fruits too, but the main is tobacco. Some persons say it's not dangerous to smoke hookah, at least not so dangerous as to smoke cigarettes. Egyptian researchers (physicians and engineers) were intrested to control it and here are the results:
1/ if you smoke 25 g of shisha they are equal to 60 cigarettes = 3 packs
2/ the t° of the moke is 450°C and when it passes through the pipe has not time to become cold
3/ to inhale 500-600 cub. cm of this smoke makes the lungs less flexible, they become bigger and do not work efficiently
But the hookah smokers do not want to accept these results. They say, it's enough to see on the towel after you smoke a cigarett and hookah to notice the difference.
Because it becomes more and more popular in Europe and America, the interested organisations think this research's results will help in the battle contro the hookah smoking.
Sources:
Hookah (photo)
Египетские ученые развеяли миф о безвредности кальяна
Hookah lounge
