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Farts To The Rescue

2025/1/29
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Short Wave

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Claire Ainsworth
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Claire Ainsworth: 我认为肠胃气体是了解人体内巨大微生物世界——肠道微生物组——的窗口。肠道微生物分解食物,帮助吸收营养,调节免疫系统,并产生肠道气体。但直接且非侵入性地研究肠道微生物组很困难。气体则可以让我们窥探这个生态系统内部的活动,以及它与健康和饮食的关系。全球超过40%的人患有某种功能性肠道疾病,例如胃酸反流、烧心、消化不良、便秘、肠易激综合征和炎症性肠病等慢性疾病。这些疾病可能非常痛苦,因此通过对肠胃气体进行研究,可以帮助我们从根源上治疗这些疾病。我们希望能够实时研究气体在消化系统中的运动,以及它如何对饮食变化做出反应。目前,大多数肠道内部运作情况对我们来说仍然是个谜。 Claire Ainsworth: 这些气体,例如硫化氢或甲烷,可以充当信号分子,影响我们的细胞活动。它们可以影响免疫细胞的反应、肠道血管以及肠道功能,甚至影响身体的其他部位。例如,它们可能促进肠道和肝脏健康。因此,它们不仅仅是废物,而是具有特定功能的物质。 Claire Ainsworth: 肠胃气体成分复杂且动态变化,可以作为了解肠道内部状况的指标。西班牙巴塞罗那大学团队开发了一种精确测量肠胃气体成分的方法,能够区分不同饮食引起的肠胃气体差异。澳大利亚Atmos Biosciences公司研发的可吞咽胶囊能够检测肠道气体,并确定气体来源位置,这对于研究肠易激综合征等疾病具有重要意义。 Claire Ainsworth: 对于患有肠道疾病的人来说,寻求专业医生的证据确凿的治疗方案比自行尝试饮食疗法或服用补充剂更重要。虽然目前的研究还处于早期阶段,但人们正在努力研究。 Emily Kwong: (节目的引言和对Claire Ainsworth采访的引导性问题,字数不足200字,故不计入核心论点)

Deep Dive

Chapters
This chapter explores the science of farts and their potential use in understanding gut health. It introduces the concept of farts as a window into the gut microbiome and discusses the challenges of studying the gut microbiome directly. The importance of studying intestinal gases to treat gut disorders is highlighted.
  • Farts are a potential window into the gut microbiome.
  • Studying the gut microbiome directly is difficult.
  • Understanding the gut microbiome through farts may help treat gut disorders.

Shownotes Transcript

Farts are funny and sometimes smelly. But are they a legitimate topic of research? More than 40% of people worldwide are estimated to suffer from some kind of functional gut disorder from acid reflux, heartburn, indigestion, constipation and irritable bowel syndrome to inflammatory bowel disease. So, yes, freelance science writer Claire Ainsworth) thinks so. Claire speaks with Emily) about two teams of scientists studying intestinal gases, who she profiled in a recent New Scientist) article and why understanding people's gut microbiome through a fart-shaped window may help treat these conditions at the source. **Read more **)**of Claire's reporting for New Scientist.***Have another bodily function you want us to explore or just want to report to us about a funny time you passed gas? Email us at [email protected]).Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave).*Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices)NPR Privacy Policy)