# gangrene **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gangrene/169738 "2003-04-20T00:51:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![captainQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@captainQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/captainQwark)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gangrene/169738/1 "2003-04-20T00:51:36Z")
I know this is a bizarre question, but please bear with me. If someone by some chance ingested some gangrenous tissue, would the person become sick? would it make its way to the kidneys and cause death like gangrene in the tissue? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gangrene/169738/2 "2003-04-20T01:30:46Z")
It seems to me that the most likely consequence would be that of food poisoning, similar to ingesting any other spoiled meat. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gangrene/169738/3 "2003-04-20T02:30:52Z")
Gangrene thrives in low oxygen environments, so wouldn’t do well in the stomach where there’s lots of air. Having smelled gangrenous flesh, I don’t really see how anyone would manage to ingest it anyway. Rapid regurgitation would be the most likely effect. QtM, MD ---
**Author:** ![captainQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@captainQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/captainQwark)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gangrene/169738/4 "2003-04-20T02:32:01Z")
sorry, it is apretty bizarre question. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gangrene/169738/5 "2003-04-20T04:59:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Gangrene can follow any number of accidents or injuries, including frostbite, burns, open (compound) fractures, bullet or knife wounds, and injuries in which an area of the body is crushed. All of these interfere with blood circulation to the injured area and expose the tissue to various bacteria. Dirty wounds, contaminated with soil, bits of clothing or other matter, are at greatest risk for developing wet gangrene. Gangrene may also follow surgery, especially surgery to the gastrointestinal tract. > > A number of different bacteria can cause wet gangrene. These include _Clostridum [sic] perfringens_; group A, C or G _streptococci_, _Proteus_ bacteria; _Pseudomonas_ bacteria; and _staphylococcus_ (see Staph Infections). Certain fungi may also cause wet gangrene, such as in aspergillosis. From [This article](http://www.lebanonhealth.com/condi/44407.htm) Most of these are aerobic, and so will do well in the presence of oxygen (sorry, **Quadgop** ). The key is a lack of blood circulation in the affected area. Without the immune respose a healthy blood supply brings, these bacteria and other organisms can run rampant, consuming the unprotected flesh. A normal, healthy stomach has a rich blood supply, as well as acid and enzymes which help comtrol the growth of ingested bacteria. As such, it’s my belief that ingestion of gangrenous tissue would be harmless under normal circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gangrene/169738/6 "2003-04-20T15:32:17Z")
**Q.U.E.D.** , sorry back atcha, but while _some_ of those organisms which cause gangrene may live and reproduce in vitro in the presence of oxygen (i.e. be _aerobic_), they require a low oxygen environment to become pathogenic, i.e. to cause an actual septic infection. And the most dangerous form of gangrene, **gas gangrene** is caused by _clostridium_, whis is anaerobic. In fact, hyperbaric oxygen is used to treat cases of gas gangrene. Do you know why lack of blood circulation is the key to infections, as you stated in your above post? Why, its because impaired blood circulation causes tissue hypoxia! 😃 QtM, MD ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gangrene/169738/7 "2003-04-20T18:22:27Z")
Hey, now! Watch it with those extra letters in people’s names, buddy. Give a guy an extra U and pretty soon he’s got a reputation. Nevertheless, we can agree that eating gangrenous flesh is both harmless and disgusting. Now, who wants to put the theory to the test? Where’s a pukey smiley when you need one? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gangrene/169738/8 "2003-04-20T19:59:49Z")
It’s fun watching you two “flesh” this one out … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gangrene/169738/9 "2003-04-20T23:44:04Z")
The TV show “Fear Factor” has already made contestants ingest bile, slugs, maggoty cheese… could gangrenous flesh be next? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gangrene/169738/10 "2003-04-21T01:23:59Z")
Mmmmmmmmm…maggoty cheese! ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gangrene/169738/11 "2003-04-21T03:58:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*Hey, now! Watch it with those extra letters in people’s names, buddy. \*\* Lol, I don’t know if you even realize it but you put in extra ‘U’ in his name first, a mistake that I once fell victim to which resulted in me getting called **Crisco** :D. So Qadgop, what exactly is it about the lack of oxygen that makes these little guys thrive? Surely they need _some_ oxygen to get by on, right? Or are they [seems highly unlikely] photosynthetic/plant-like bacteria? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gangrene/169738/12 "2003-04-21T15:17:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cisco \* > \*\*…what exactly is it about the lack of oxygen that makes these little guys thrive? Surely they need _some_ oxygen to get by on, right? Or are they [seems highly unlikely] photosynthetic/plant-like bacteria? \*\* Not only do anaerobic bacteria **not** need “some oxygen to get by on,” oxygen is toxic to them. Nor do they use photosynthesis–they generally use fermentation-type processes for their metabolism. From this [site](http://medico.uwcm.ac.uk/mmicr/teaching/Medical/2yr/lecture10.html): > [@](#): > > Anaerobes do not utilise oxygen, are unable to grow in its presence and are killed by it. > Anaerobic metabolism is essentially fermentative (organic compounds act as electron donors and acceptors) and may include an electron transport system with an organic final acceptor. Products of anaerobic metabolism include short chain fatty acids (acetic, propionic etc), alcohols, amines. Oxygen toxicity is due to alteration of Eh in the presence of oxygen rendering enzymes inactive and to the inability of anaerobes to deal with the toxic products of oxygen metabolism (H[sub]2[/sub]O[sub]2[/sub], superoxide, hydroxyl free radicals, singlet oxygen). Anaerobes have a long history. They were prevalent in the early Earth atmosphere that lacked oxygen. They survive to this day in oxygen-free environments, such as the soil. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gangrene/169738/13 "2003-04-21T16:50:15Z")
If I remember correctly, aerobic critters like you and I are able to produce 38 molecules of ATP (the cell’s energy-storage medium) from each molecule of glucose, while anaerobes are only able to produce 2. It seems wasteful to not get those extra 36 ATPs, but apparently yeasts, bacteria, and the like have more modest needs than us. Since we’re evolved to need all of that energy, we can’t survive anaerobically. I seem to recall that there are also opportunistic aerobes, which can survive on just anaerobic respiration, but which will use oxygen whenever given the chance.