- We’re not advocating for sniffing your own farts, but it might be good for your brain.
Oh, geez, who let one rip?! The foul, eggy stench of a particularly bad fart is one of the fastest ways to clear a room.
As disgusting as it is, though, you might not want to beeline for the door. Instead, a growing body of research suggests you should slow down and smell the farts.
According to multiple studies, hydrogen sulfide — the chemical responsible for making farts smell bad — could protect us from developing Alzheimer’s disease. Tests on Alzheimer’s patients have shown decreased levels of the compound in their brains.
More convincingly, research performed on genetically modified mice has shown that increasing the levels of hydrogen sulfide in their bodies reversed Alzheimer’s symptoms. This is due to the gas playing a large role in a surprising interaction in the chemistry of the brain.
These results may, in time, help doctors and scientists unlock new, more effective therapies for Alzheimer’s. It just goes to show how bizarre and complex illnesses like this can be.
What is Hydrogen Sulfide?
Let’s start reviewing this stinky research bombshell from the very beginning. At the heart of it all is hydrogen sulfide, a gas that stinks of rotten eggs (and is emitted by rotting eggs).
In large quantities, this gas is actually toxic to humans and most other animals. However, it is constantly present in our bodies in small doses, in various ways.
One of those ways is flatulence. As our gut bacteria break down sulfur-containing proteins, it results in hydrogen sulfide buildup in our intestines.
Those gaseous bubbles must be removed through the only available exit. So, they leave our bodies as the worst kinds of farts that make you and everyone around you gag.
Not only is hydrogen sulfide responsible for fart stink, but also halitosis. As such, you’d imagine we’d want nothing to do with this stuff.
Stinky but Vitally Important
Yet, your body needs hydrogen sulfide. Outside the poop chute, the gas functions as a neurotransmitter, carrying messages and information to other parts of the body as it seeps through your cells. Hydrogen sulfide is particularly important for the proper operation of your brain chemistry.
However, unlike most other neurotransmitters, our bodies can’t store gases. As such, lower levels of specific gasotransmitters could result in diseases.
That may be the case with Alzheimer’s. Studies have indicated that hydrogen sulfide levels in the brain decrease naturally with aging. Alzheimer’s patients, however, have much lower amounts of hydrogen sulfide in their noggins.
It turns out that the fart gas serves as the traffic cop of your brain. Without it, your brain signals get stuck in a brain-degenerating traffic jam.
Within a healthy brain, hydrogen sulfide allows signaling molecules called GSK3 Beta do their job, altering brain cell functions as necessary. As the gas levels drop, the GSK3 Beta particles get stuck on proteins called Tau.
With Tau hogging up all the GSK3 Beta, the communication network between your brain cells collapses. Eventually, the unused nerve connections begin to die, which then causes the loss of memory and motor function in Alzheimer’s disease.
The Fart Vaccine
Fortunately, it appears that this horrible change in the brain chemistry isn’t necessarily completely reversible. Researchers have found that introducing hydrogen sulfide to the body may help reverse Alzheimer’s symptoms.
In their 2021 experiment, the scientists used mice that had been genetically engineered to exhibit symptoms identical to human Alzheimer’s disease. They then injected them with a compound called NaGYY, which gradually releases hydrogen sulfide as it travels through the body.
After a 12-week wait period, the researchers gave the mice a series of behavioral tests. The results were certainly promising.
The cognitive and motor function of the hydrogen sulfide-treated mice had improved by 50% compared to those that hadn’t received the injections. They remembered locations significantly better and were, in general, more active and playful than the untreated mice.
Silent (but Deadly) Neuroprotector
According to the researchers from the mouse study, their results indicate there’s a strong link between hydrogen sulfide and Alzheimer’s. And indeed, a 2025 scientific review of the gas and brain chemistry went so far as to call it the “silent neuroprotector.”
Now, in all seriousness, it’s unlikely sniffing your (or somebody else’s) farts results in a big enough hydrogen sulfide intake to make a difference for your health. But the results do open doors for possible future Alzheimer’s treatments based on fart particles.
“Understanding the cascade of events is important to designing therapies that can block this interaction like hydrogen sulfide is able to do,” said Daniel Giovinazzo, who studied the interactions of GSK3 Beta.
But hey, it definitely won’t make things worse. So, the next time someone breaks wind, don’t scoot away — if you can suppress your gag reflex.