Why science says smelling your own farts could be good for you
The possible health benefit of smelling your own farts
- A study by Johns Hopkins Medicine suggests that certain amounts of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), the gas behind the foul, rotten-egg-smelling stench, may help protect ageing brains from Alzheimer's disease.
- Although highly toxic in large quantities, small doses of H2S, which the human body naturally produces, facilitate cellular messaging and modify proteins through chemical sulfhydration.
- Researchers observed that sulfhydration levels decrease with age and are particularly low in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.
- In experiments, mice genetically modified to mimic Alzheimer's showed a 50 per cent improvement in cognitive and motor function after receiving injections of an H2S-carrying compound.
- The study found that H2S prevents the enzyme GSK3β from excessively interacting with the Tau protein, an interaction that leads to nerve cell damage and the cognitive deterioration characteristic of Alzheimer's.