You may want to thank your friends or family when next they fart near you.
Time reports that scientists at the University of Exeter claim that smelling farts could actually prevent cancer, among other diseases.
In the statement by the university, Dr. Mark Wood says, “Although hydrogen sulfide gas” – produced when bacteria breaks down food – “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.”
Another scientist Professor Matt Whiteman who worked on the study to be published in the Medicinal Chemistry Communications Journal, said “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.”
They say that although a full release may be noxious, a whiff has the power to reduce risks of cancer, strokes, heart attacks, arthritis, and dementia by preserving mitochondria.