New research about a compound that's found in rotten eggs and farts led to a few reports about the benefits of whiffing butts.
The research shows that hydrogen sulfide, when delivered as targeted treatment, can prevent further cell damage in conditions like stroke, heart failure, and dementia.
Hydrogen sulfide is naturally produced in the body — and is the stink monster found in flatulence and rotten eggs (and stink lines, probably).
When a disease stresses a cell, the cell generates tiny quantities of hydrogen sulfide to keep the itself going.
When harnessed into the compound that researchers designed, called AP39, it can be delivered into specific parts of cells that decay when disease strikes.
Specifically — breaking out our high-school caps here — it can help protect mitochondria, the organelle that produces a cell's energy and helps determine whether a cell lives or dies.
And AP39 slowly delivers the gas to ailing cells, keeping them alive.
