The use of smoke enemas in Western medicine declined after 1811, when through animal experimentation Benjamin Brodie demonstrated that nicotine--the principal active agent in tobacco smoke--is a cardiac poison that can stop the circulation of blood.
The use of smoke enemas in Western medicine declined after 1811. Nicotine--the principal active agent in tobacco smoke--is a cardiac poison. This cardiac poison can stop the circulation of blood. Benjamin Brodie demonstrated this.