The following is a summary of “Central and Peripheral Hemodynamics in Young Adults Who Use Water Pipes and the Acute Effects of Water-Pipe Use,” published in the December 2023  issue of Pulmonology by Chami, et al.

Tobacco use through a water pipe, also known as water-pipe smoking (WPS), is common among young people around the world. People who smoke are exposed to harmful chemicals.

For a study, researchers measured heart rate (HR), thoracic and aortic blood pressure, HR-adjusted augmentation index (AI), and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CFPWV) in 62 people who use water pipes and 34 people who have never used a water pipe. The people were chosen from the community and had a mean age of 22.5 ± 3.0 years, with 48% being women. Participants who use water pipes and a control group of participants who have never used a water pipe were measured before and after a World Pipe Sports practice outside after and before exposure were compared, as well as between people who use water lines and people who don’t. Possible variables were taken into account using linear regression.

The demographics of the people who use water lines and those in the control group were similar. The study found that after WPS, BP, and HR went up quickly in the experimental group but not in the control group. The aortic systolic BP went up by 2.31 mm Hg [95% CI, 0.28-4.33 mm Hg] and the brachial diastolic BP went up by 3.69 mm Hg [95% CI, 1.62-5.77 mm Hg] and the aortic diastolic BP went up by 3.03 mm Hg [95% CI, 0.74-5.33 mm Hg] and the heart rate went up by 7.75 beats/min [95% CI, 5.46–10.04 beats/min]. 

AI was much higher in people who use water pipes than in people who don’t (9.02% vs. 3.06%; P =.03), even when BMI and family history of cardiovascular disease were taken into account (β = 6.12; 95% CI, 0.55–11.69; P =.03) and when habitual tobacco use was measured by the number of water pipes used each day and the length of time each pipe was used (² = 2.51/water-pipe-year; 95% CI, 0.10-4.92/water-pipe-year; P =.04). But CFPWV was the same for people who use water pipes and people who don’t. Also, AI and CFPWV didn’t change much after WPS. In young people from the community who seemed to be in good health, regular WPS was linked to higher AI, which is a marker of cardiovascular risk, and one WPS session raised HR and brachial and aortic BP quickly.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012369223011078