From The Hidden Side of Things - “By Our Habits – Smoking” by CW Leadbeater
Another custom, also pernicious and equally widely spread, is that of smoking. In this, as in so many other cases, a man at once resents any suggestions that he should give up his bad habits, and says: "Why should I not do as I like in these matters?" With regard to flesh-diet the answer to this is perfectly clear, for that is a practice which not only seriously injures the man who adopts it, but also involves terrible crime and cruelty in the provision of the food. In the case of alcohol also a clear answer can be given, quite apart from the effect upon the drinker himself, for by buying this noxious fluid he is encouraging a pernicious trade, helping to create a demand for a liquor which tempts thousands of his fellow-creatures to excess and lures them to their own destruction. No man who buys alcohol for drinking purposes can escape his share in the responsibility of that.
It may be said that with regard to smoking the position is somewhat different, since no cruelty is necessary in obtaining tobacco, nor are lives destroyed by it as by alcohol. This is true, and if the smoker can entirely shut himself away from any contact with his fellow-men, and if he has no desire to make anything in the nature of occult progress, his argument may, so, far, hold good. If, not being actually a hermit, he has sometimes at least to come into touch with his fellowmen, he can have no possible right to make himself a nuisance to them. There are many people who, being deeply steeped in the same pollution themselves, have no objection to the nauseating odour of tobacco; but all who have kept themselves pure from this thing know how strong is the disgust which its coarse and fetid emanations inevitably arouse. Yet the smoker cares little for that. As I have said elsewhere, this is the only thing that a gentleman will deliberately do when he knows it to be offensive to others; but the hold which this noxious habit gains upon its slaves appears to be so great that they are utterly incapable of resisting it, and all their gentlemanly instincts are forgotten in this mad and hateful selfishness.
Anything which can produce such an effect as that upon a man' s character is a thing that all wise men will avoid. The impurity of it is so great and so penetrating that the man who habitually uses it is absolutely soaked in it, and is most offensive to the sense of smell of the purer person. For this purely physical reason no one who comes into contact with his fellows should indulge in this most objectionable practice, and, if he does, he thereby brands himself as one who thinks only of his own selfish enjoyment and is willing in taking it to inflict much suffering upon his fellow-creatures. And all this is quite apart from the deadening effect which it produces, and from the various diseases-- smoker' s throat, smoker' s heart, cancer in the mouth, indigestion and others-- which it brings in its train. For nicotine, as is well known, is a deadly poison, and the effect of even small quantities of it can never be good.
The impurity produced by this obscene practice is not only physical. It may be taken as an axiom that physical filth of any sort always implies astral filth as well, for the counterpart of that which is impure cannot itself be pure. Just as the physical nerve-vibrations are deadened by the poison, so are both astral and mental undulations. For occult progress a man needs to have his vehicles as finely strung as possible, so that they may be ready at any moment to respond in sympathy to any kind of vibration. Therefore he does not want to have his thought-waves deadened and his astral body weighed down with foul and poisonous particles. Many who call themselves students still cling to this unpleasant habit, and try to find all sorts of weak excuses to cover the fact that they have not the strength to break away from its tyranny; but facts remain facts, for all that, and no one who can see the effects on the higher vehicles of this disastrous custom can avoid the realisation that it does serious harm.
Detail from "The Question" by Allison L. Williams Hill
Its effect in the astral world after death is a remarkable one. The man has so filled his astral body with poison that it has stiffened under its influence, and has become unable to work properly or to move freely. For a long period the man is as though he were paralysed-- able to speak, yet debarred from movement, and almost entirely cut off from all higher influences. In process of time he emerges from this unpleasant predicament, when the part of his astral body which is affected by this poison has gradually worn away.
Article by Tyler Samuelson
If you're wondering how does smoking affect your body, you might be surprised how many negative health effects result from this habit. There are many ailments proven to be caused by smoking. I'll discuss the major effects on the body here. First, smoking decreases the amount of oxygen received by the body, which contributes to numerous health problems. Oxygen helps cleanse the body of all disease and impurities. That's why some people use oxygen therapy to actually treat disease.
Inhaling smoke immediately starts damaging the cilia in your body. Cilia are hair like extensions that help move cells around your body through fluid such as blood. So your circulation is affected greatly by smoking. Since your circulation is affected, skin is damaged by smoking too. A common trait of older smokers is their wrinkled, old looking skin. Many smokers have more wrinkles than they would if they didn't smoke. This is because of the damage to skin cells caused by smoking.
Smoking damages the alveolus in your lungs immediately. These are tiny air sacs in the lungs that help the transfer oxygen and carbon dioxide from the body. Once these are damaged, new alveoli are produced which aren't as healthy as previous alveoli.
This damaging cycle in the lungs is the major cause of emphysema and some other chronic lung related illnesses. Like many other diseases, emphysema results in many other collateral illnesses because the person doesn't get enough oxygen into the body.
If you're still asking how does smoking affect your body, hopefully you're beginning to understand the numerous risks. Smoking also affects your body by creating an addiction for nicotine, which must be fulfilled or it creates side effects in the person. The withdrawal process and need for more nicotine actually starts immediately after a person stops smoking a cigarette or other tobacco product.
The craving intensifies until nicotine is provided to the body again. When stopping, common side effects are irritability, lack of concentration, and headaches. Nicotine addiction is very powerful. Many compare it to being a slave to a deadly substance.
"Hermes' Temple" by Allison L. Williams Hill
Studies have shown that one milligram of nicotine placed on the skin of a rat will kill the rodent. People inhale approximately one milligram of nicotine when smoking a cigarette. This helps put in terms the toxicity of nicotine on the human body.
In conclusion, since smoking decreases the amount of oxygen in your body, every part of your body that depends on oxygen is negatively affected. Basically, your whole body needs plenty of oxygen. Besides the major problems I already discussed, smoking also affects your teeth, fat deposits, and many other areas of the body.
Hopefully you've learned how does smoking affect your body and you'll choose to not smoke or quit if you've already been smoking for a while.
A friend's friend suffered a stroke from an occluded artery. It was not cholesterol.
It was TAR!
Freakin' TAR clogged his artery!
Diacetyl was found in more than 75 percent of flavored electronic cigarettes and refill liquids that were analyzed by the researchers. What's more, they found that levels of diacetyl were higher than the laboratory limit of detection in 39 of the flavors tested.
Acetoin showed up in 46 e-cigarette and liquid flavors; and 2,3-pentanedione was detected in 23 of the flavors.There are more than 7,000 varieties of flavored e-cigarettes and e-juices, nicotine-containing liquid used in refillable devices, said Allen, an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health. The flavors analyzed by the scientists that came up positive for these chemicals include: Cotton Candy, Tutti Frutti, Cupcake, Fruit Squirts, Waikiki Watermelon, Double Apple Hookah, Blue Water Punch, Oatmeal Cookie and Alien Blood.
"River II" by Allison L. Williams Hill
The study is published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
The
impact of e-cigarettes on health is still not totally clear, but Allen
said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has warned
workers for years about the risks of diacetyl. Inhaling the chemical is
associated with "popcorn lung," officially known as bronchiolitis
obliterans, a respiratory condition that causes damage and inflammation
to the airways and can be fatal.
Pulmonary
specialist Dr. David Beuther said, "The presence of that chemical
[diacetyl] is concerning enough for me to be stronger with my patients
when we're talking about the unknown safety hazards of e-cigarettes."
"Bronchiolitis
obliterans is irreversible. You can't take it back," said Beuther, an
associate professor of medicine at National Jewish Health, one of the
country's top respiratory hospitals. He said the disease leads to the
need for a lung transplant.
Acetoin is also linked with "popcorn lung," according to the study. The chemical 2,3 pentanedione has caused lung and brain damage in rats, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Some e-cigarette users believe the products help them transition away from smoking regular cigarettes, but other studies have suggested they might provide a gateway to smoking for others. The products are not currently regulated by the FDA. The agency has issued a proposed rule to include e-cigarettes under its authority to regulate certain products that contain tobacco and nicotine, said Allen.
Beuther told CBS News he's particularly concerned about teens and young adults using e-cigarettes. He says that lungs are not fully developed until about age 25 and that vaping could lead to silent damage. Also, smaller people, and perhaps some women, may be exposed to a higher concentration of a given material compared to a larger man, for example, he said. According to the CDC, there are an estimated 2.5 million teen e-cigarette users. Use among both high school and middle school students tripled in one year. Youth use of e-cigarettes has also now surpassed youth cigarette smoking.
"That's a startling number of kids," said Allen.
"Celebration" by Allison L. Williams Hill
Children can also easily buy e-cigarettes online, according to a March 2015 study published in the Journal of JAMA Pediatrics. Allen
said a lot of e-cigarette research has focused on nicotine. But this
and future studies are beginning to focus on other potentially risky
chemicals in the products, too.
A
2014 study found that aerosol from e-cigarettes with a higher voltage
level contains more formaldehyde, another carcinogen with the potential
to cause cancer, according to the American Lung Association.
Dr.
Laura Crotty Alexander, a spokesperson for the American Thoracic
Society and an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the
University of California at San Diego, told CBS News that education is
needed so that people - kids especially - know that e-cigarettes are not
harmless.
"Kids
and adults both really believe it's water vapor and it's safe," said
Crotty Alexander, who is also a staff physician at the VA San Diego
Healthcare System. She added that e-cigarette companies run misleading
online ads saying they're "clean" vapors.
"The
study is yet another scary indicator of the chemicals that are
contained in these drug delivery devices that are going to end up
causing significant lung disease," she said.
RESOURCE
E-Cigarette Flavorings Linked with Lung Disease
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/e-cigarette-flavorings-linked-with-lung-disease/