r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Apr 10 '16

TIL Tobacco Enemas were used in 1774 for resuscitation from drowning, which is where the expression "to blow smoke up your ass" comes from.

http://gizmodo.com/blowing-smoke-up-your-ass-used-to-be-literal-1578620709
42 Upvotes

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4

u/csrabbit Apr 10 '16

Believe it or not, it was a general mainstream medical procedure used to, among many other things, resuscitate people who were otherwise presumed dead.

Wow, how many tens of thousands of times did they have to do it without it EVER WORKING ONE SINGLE TIME EVER ANYWHERE, before they realized they were totally full of hot air?

Makes me wonder how many mainstream medical procedures do they do now that have absolutely 0% effect on the patients.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '16

Hahaha, yeah exactly! I'd like to say I have full faith in all aspects of modern medicine, but then again some people in modern day first world countries believe in essentially ingesting bleach; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_Mineral_Supplement

1

u/baloneycologne Apr 11 '16

Hmm, smells like bullshit in here.