# Prevent cancer: smell your friends' farts **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 27, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevent-cancer-smell-your-friends-farts/694183 "2014-07-27T20:02:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevent-cancer-smell-your-friends-farts/694183/1 "2014-07-27T20:02:34Z")
Enemies too, anybody, makes no difference. Whenever you smell that tell-tale odor of hydrogen sulfide, inhale and savor it. It’s good for you. So says a [study from the University of Exeter in England.](http://theweek.com/speedreads/index/264585/speedreads-study-smelling-farts-may-be-good-for-your-health) > [@](#): > > The next time someone at your office lets out a “silent but deadly” emission, maybe you should thank them. A new study at the University of Exeter in England suggests that exposure to hydrogen sulfide — a.k.a. what your body produces as bacteria breaks down food, causing gas — could prevent mitochondria damage. Yep, the implication is what you’re thinking: People are taking the research to mean that smelling farts could prevent disease and even cancer. > > The study, published in the Medicinal Chemistry Communications journal, found that hydrogen sulfide gas in rotten eggs and flatulence could be a key factor in treating diseases. > > “Although hydrogen sulfide gas 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,” Dr. Mark Wood, a professor at the University of Exeter, said in a statement. Hmm. I’m as health-conscious as the next guy but I think I’m gonna give this one a pass. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevent-cancer-smell-your-friends-farts/694183/2 "2014-07-27T20:10:42Z")
I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevent-cancer-smell-your-friends-farts/694183/3 "2014-07-27T20:16:52Z")
I think I’ll wait for the pill. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevent-cancer-smell-your-friends-farts/694183/4 "2014-07-27T20:17:11Z")
You just _know_ this has got to be a fetish somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevent-cancer-smell-your-friends-farts/694183/5 "2014-07-27T22:49:25Z")
Traveling in South America, we considered H2S belching to be a self-diagnostic symptom of Giardia. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevent-cancer-smell-your-friends-farts/694183/6 "2014-07-27T23:07:45Z")
How 'bout some more beans, Mr Taggert? ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevent-cancer-smell-your-friends-farts/694183/7 "2014-07-28T14:35:27Z")
My husband’s farts are BAD. He sent me the link to this article and wrote, “See how lucky you are to be married to me?” ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevent-cancer-smell-your-friends-farts/694183/8 "2014-07-28T14:39:39Z")
Better keep close tabs on him. Don’t want to lose your inhaler. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevent-cancer-smell-your-friends-farts/694183/9 "2014-07-28T14:45:31Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > You just _know_ this has got to be a fetish somewhere… I heard a stripper interviewed once who told of a man who would regularly pay her to fart in his face. Good to know he might have had a medical motivation. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevent-cancer-smell-your-friends-farts/694183/10 "2014-07-28T15:09:49Z")
Hubby and I no longer say, “excuse me”. The offended party is now required to say, “Thank you”. Offender says, “You’re welcome”. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevent-cancer-smell-your-friends-farts/694183/11 "2014-07-28T15:17:14Z")
Wait. Women fart? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevent-cancer-smell-your-friends-farts/694183/12 "2014-07-28T15:22:46Z")
If only we’d known this during the polio epidemic. Iron lungs could have done double duty as Dutch ovens. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevent-cancer-smell-your-friends-farts/694183/13 "2014-07-30T05:55:00Z")
I’ve been self medicating for decades.