Farting Helps Fight Cancer, Scientists Report

Scientists have claimed that the toxins inside farts can actually help fight cancer, as well as a number of other diseases.
Researchers over at Exeter University have claimed that breathing in small amounts of Hydrogen sulfide can protect cells and fight against illnesses, which includes strokes, heart attacks, and dementia. However, this has to be in consideration because in large doses it can be extremely toxic.
Results that were published in the Medicinal Chemistry Communications, which is a scientific journal, have revealed that a new compound, which has been named AP39 and produces just the right amount of hydrogen sulfide, has been tested on humans and it proves that it helps to fight back numerous conditions.
Dr. Mark Wood, who is a researcher that works on the University of Exeter’s medical school, explained, “Although hydrogen sulfide is well known as a pungent, foul-smelling gas in rotten eggs and flatulence, it is naturally produced in the body and could in fact be a healthcare hero with significant implications for future therapies for a variety of diseases.”
Hydrogen sulfide is a smelly gas that is produced by bacteria in order to break down food that is digested in the stomach. When cells become strained because of disease they bring in enzymes to generate a small amount of hydrogen sulfide.
Explaining the importance of hydrogen sulfide, Professor Matt Whiteman, who works at University of Exeter’s medical school, remarked, via the Mirror, “When cells become stressed by disease, they draw in enzymes to generate minute quantities of hydrogen sulfide.”
Whitman continued, “This keeps the mitochondria ticking over and allows cells to live. If this doesn’t happen, the cells die and lose the ability to regulate survival and control inflammation. We have exploited this natural process by making a compound, called AP39, which slowly delivers very small amounts of this gas specifically to the mitochondria. Our results indicate that if stressed cells are treated with AP39, mitochondria are protected and cells stay alive.”
Scientists and researchers have insisted that the compound AP39 will help to reverse the damage caused by mitochondrial, and that it would help to treat individuals that have suffered a stroke, heart failure, diabetes, dementia, ageing, and arthritis.
You should probably take this story with a bit of trepidation though. That’s because this isn’t the first time that a story of this ilk has been reported. In fact, back in 2014 news of Wood and Whiteman’s discovery emerged.
However, Dr. Csaba Szabo, who is a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Texas in Galveston and also worked alongside the University Of Exeter’s researchers and experiments, explained that the stories of “smelling farts” had turned their work into a laughing stock, and looked to reveal how hydrogen sulfide can help cure diseases.
“Hydrogen sulfide regulates vascular function, inflammatory responses, neurotransmission in the brain, many different things,” Szabo explained to NBC News. “If you incubate cancer cells in the laboratory with hydrogen sulfide or a compound that produces hydrogen sulfide, you can do two things. At lower concentrations, you can stimulate the cells, and at the higher concentrations, you can kill the cells.”
Szabo explained that the biology in hydrogen sulfide is very, very complex though, detailing that the consumption in low and high amounts will affect future cancer therapies. Because of this confusion, Szabo declared, “But none of this research says you should go and inhale farts.”