Health experts have warned that smoking shisha significantly increases the risk of developing breast cancer, especially among young women.

The warning came during a breast screening exercise organised as part of activities marking October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Secretary for the Cancer Support Network Foundation, Blaise Ackom, said contrary to the popular perception that shisha is a safer alternative to cigarettes, it is even more dangerous due to its high content of carcinogenic chemicals.

According to him, shisha contains heavy metals, lead, arsenic and tar, while its appealing flavours encourage prolonged use among young women.

"Our youth feel that smoking shisha is another safe method of smoking, which is never true; even smoking shisha is more dangerous than normal cigarettes. Shisha contains heavy metals; shisha contains lead, arsenic, and tar, and the most worrying thing is that because of the flavours — the apple, the strawberry, the cappuccino, the mint flavours — a lot of young ladies take it for a long period of time," Mr Ackom said.

"You can get a young girl who takes shisha for like one or two hours, and taking shisha for like an hour is equal to 100 cigarettes, and all these things contain carcinogenic chemicals which can damage your cell DNA, causing these cells to multiply, thereby forming a tumour, and it affects your breasts," he added.

Mr Ackom acknowledged government support through the Mahama Cares Trust Fund but said more funding was needed.

"Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we are creating greater awareness of this disease because we know that it's a public health condition. Usually we preach that early detection is key, but in recent times what we've seen is that most people detect some of these issues early, but the funding to treat some of these cancers is always the big deal," he said.

Also speaking at the exercise, Mr Richard Bansah, Chief Executive Officer of AppsNmobile Solutions, whose organisation partnered in the screening exercise, emphasised the importance of early detection and lifestyle modification.

"If anything is detected, it can be taken care of early before it gets out of control and subsequently can lead to death, which is why we are doing this program. Based on the talk given by the experts, there are so many things that we do, or the women do, that they have to watch the chemicals, smoking shisha, with proof that shisha smoking actually can create the environment for you to get breast cancer. So it is just to make sure that we take good care of our health, take good care of the food we eat, exercise, and then also seek medical attention early. Early detection saves lives," Mr Bansah said.

He added that AppsNmobile Solutions remained committed to supporting health initiatives that promote preventive care and public education.

The screening exercise saw young women undergo free breast examinations, with health professionals educating participants on self-examination techniques, risk factors and the need to seek early medical attention.

Health experts advise women to practise regular self-examination a week after menstruation, know their family history, consider testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, and avoid risk factors such as smoking shisha and excessive alcohol intake.

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Shisha Smoking Increases Breast Cancer Risk in Young Women – Expert Warns

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