It’s a Gas

Try not to laugh but scientists at the University of Maryland have developed a device that they hope will clear the air on a delicate topic – flatulence. Previous research has more often than not fallen a bit flat because of relying on self reporting by volunteers of their flatus (the scientific name for passing wind, farts or one of the many other names used for this expelling of intestinal gas), but the creation of “Smart Underwear” looks to have allowed the researchers to let rip in this field of study.

The wearable device snaps discreetly onto any underwear and tracks intestinal gas production around the clock using electrochemical sensors, says Brantley Hall, an assistant professor at UMD who’s leading the research. “Think of it like a continuous glucose monitor, but for intestinal gas,” Hall said. The device tracks hydrogen in flatus in a much more comfortable and reliable way than previously available, and doesn’t allow anyone to “blame it on the dog”!

Medical literature had previously stated that the average daily parp occurred 14 times a day for healthy adults, but the initial findings of the researchers suggest that this is vastly underestimated and is in fact more than double this at 32 times a day. They have also uncovered the extreme variability between individuals, with numbers ranging from as little as four times a day for some, trumped by a barrage of fifty nine times a day for others, over twice an hour. One of the other reasons that previous research was on the low side is that only now can what happens while people are sleeping be measured.

*Above: Volunteers for the research will probably be discouraged from eating this (image by freeimageslive.co.uk – freefoodphotos*)

The research team is now launching something called the Human Flatus Atlas—a nationwide effort in the USA to map the normal range of flatulence across hundreds of participants. The goal is to establish a baseline, similar to what exists for blood glucose or cholesterol. This will help to diagnose if someone’s gas production is truly excessive. To help establish this, the researchers are actively recruiting three specific types of participants: Zen Digesters, those who consume high fiber diets yet pass gas rarely; Hydrogen Hyperproducers — “simply put, people who fart a lot;” and Normal People, those who fall between the other two categories.

The study will also collect stool samples from the extreme groups to analyze their gut microbiomes and figure out which bacteria are responsible for all that hot air. Because hydrogen in flatus is produced exclusively by gut microbes, tracking it provides a direct leak into when and how actively the gut microbiome is fermenting food. For anyone interested in the study, or even signing up to participate, you can visit flatus.info for more information. Enrollment is currently paused due to the overwhelming response, but there is a waiting list you can join, open to adults 18 and older anywhere in the United States.

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