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What would happen if you smoke someone's ashes?

Snorting a cremated body could cause irritation if the ashes got into the respiratory system. Water-soluble substances, like cocaine, can be absorbed through the mucous lining of the sinuses. But human remains would pass straight through the nose and could hypothetically make it into the lungs.

slate.com - Tupac's former bandmates say they smoked his ashes.

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Members of Tupac Shakur’s rap group, the Outlawz, announced last month that they’d sprinkled Shakur’s ashes into a marijuana joint and smoked it in his honor after his murder in 1996. The story brings to mind Keith Richards’$2 2007 claim to have snorted his father’s ashes with cocaine. The article below, first published four years ago, goes through the possible health consequences of inhaling cremated remains.

Earlier this week, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones announced that he once snorted a mixture of his father’s ashes and cocaine. Richards and his publicist later claimed that he was just kidding. But if he did snort his dad, would that have been unhealthy?

Only if he made a habit of it. There are diseases and conditions that can occur from getting small particles in your lungs, but they develop after repeated exposure—for instance, coal miner’s lung occurs after years of breathing in coal dust. Experts say Richards should be more concerned about the health effects of the cocaine, his cigarette smoking, and past drug use. Snorting a cremated body could cause irritation if the ashes got into the respiratory system. Water-soluble substances, like cocaine, can be absorbed through the mucous lining of the sinuses. But human remains would pass straight through the nose and could hypothetically make it into the lungs. Still, the odds are good that most, if not all, of the ashes would simply get swallowed or sneezed out of Richards’ body. Luckily for Richards, the cremated remains wouldn’t have included any big bone fragments that might get stuck in his nose and obstruct his breathing (or interrupt the snorting process). His father’s body would have spent a few hours in a 1,400- to 1,800-degree cremation chamber, and then the ashes would be run through a processor, like a giant blender, to give them a uniform texture and smooth out any remaining bone fragments. Magnets help remove any metal objects—like surgical pins or shrapnel—from the ashes. If Richards’ dad had been embalmed, his body would have been treated with highly toxic disinfectants, glutaraldehyde, methanol, ethyl alcohol, and formaldehyde, which is a likely carcinogen. Large doses of formaldehyde can lead to poisoning; smaller amounts irritate the respiratory system. (There have been reports of people smoking marijuana or cigarettes that have been laced with embalming fluid, to get a longer high or hallucinogenic effects.) But Richards wouldn’t have had to worry about these embalming fluids, because almost any chemical present in his father’s body would have burned off during cremation. Hypothetically, if Richards’ father had mercury amalgam fillings in his teeth, and if those fillings were not removed prior to cremation, Richards may have faced a slight risk of mercury poisoning. But small amounts of mercury are typically harmless. Explainer thanks Ernie Heffner of Heffner Funeral Chapel and Crematory, Scott Randell of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and Paul Shepson of Purdue University.

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Which parent determines longevity?

The study, published in the journal Age and Ageing, also found that if the father lived to 90, it did not correlate to increased longevity and health in daughters. However, if both the mother and father lived to 90, the likelihood of the daughter achieving longevity and healthy aging jumped to 38%, researchers said.

hindustantimes.com - Mother's life span determines how long daughters will live, how ...

Women whose mothers live up to the age of 90 are more likely to have increased lifespan, without suffering from any serious illnesses like cancer, diabetes, or heart disease, a study has found. The study, published in the journal Age and Ageing, also found that if the father lived to 90, it did not correlate to increased longevity and health in daughters. However, if both the mother and father lived to 90, the likelihood of the daughter achieving longevity and healthy aging jumped to 38%, researchers said. “Our results show that, not only did these women live to age 90, but they also aged well by avoiding major diseases and disabilities,” said Aladdin Shadyab, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California — San Diego in the US. The study analysed data from about 22,000 postmenopausal women participating in the Women’s Health Initiative, a large, national study in the US investigating major risk factors for chronic diseases among women. Shadyab and colleagues believe a combination of genetics, environment and behaviours passed to subsequent generations may influence ageing outcomes among offspring. “We now have evidence that how long our parents live may predict our long-term outcomes, including whether we will age well, but we need further studies to explore why. We need to clarify how certain factors and behaviours interact with genes to influence aging outcomes,” Shadyab said. The women in the study whose mothers lived to at least 90 were more likely to be college graduates, married with high incomes and incorporated physical activity and a healthy diet into their lives, researchers said.

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