The prevalence of noncigarette tobacco product use is on the rise across the globe, especially for waterpipes (also known as hookah, narghile, and shisha) and electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). The scientific literature reveals that waterpipe tobacco smoking is associated with exposure to a variety of toxicants that can cause short- and long-term adverse health events. In contrast, there is far less evidence of health harms related to e-cigarette use, although the variety of products in this category makes it difficult to generalize. We searched the PubMed database for all publications on waterpipes and e-cigarettes from January 2000 to March 2014. The number of publications on waterpipes rose in a slow, linear pattern during this time, while the number of publications on e-cigarettes showed exponential growth. The different trends suggest there may be more interest in studying a novel nicotine product (the e-cigarette) over a traditional tobacco product (the waterpipe). We posit that, although the specific research needs for these products are different, public health would be served best bya more equitable research approach. Scientists should continue todevote attention to understanding the unknown long-term health effectsof e-cigarettes and their potential to serve as harm reduction orsmoking cessation tools while simultaneously investigating how toreduce waterpipe smoking given that it exposes users to toxicantsknown to cause harm to health. Recent regulatory action in the UnitedStates, which proposes to include waterpipes and e-cigarettes undersome of the same regulations as tobacco cigarettes, makes such researchparticularly timely.
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