It may smell of flatulence and have a reputation for being highly toxic, but when used in the right tiny dosage, hydrogen sulfide is now being being found to offer potential health benefits in a range of issues, from diabetes to stroke, heart attacks and dementia. A new compound (AP39) could hold the key to future therapies, by targeting delivery of very small amounts of the substance to the right (or key) places inside cells.
Scientists in Exeter have already found that the compound protects mitochondria - the "powerhouse" of cells, which drive energy production in blood vessel cells. Preventing or reversing mitochondrial damage is a key strategy for treatments of a variety of conditions such as stroke, heart failure, diabetes and arthritis, dementia and aging. Mitochondria determine whether cells live or die and they regulate inflammation. In the clinic, dysfunctional mitochondria are strongly linked to disease severity.
Abstract: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2014/MD/c3md00323j#!divAbstract
(Score: 4, Funny) by frojack on Friday July 11 2014, @10:42PM
Just when I had the wife convinced aroma therapy was bunk...
I will never hear the end of this.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 11 2014, @10:48PM
I feel like there must be a scat joke in here somewhere. Where the Germans right all along?
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday July 12 2014, @12:11AM
This [soylentnews.org] tutorial is a great place to start for a good introduction to hydrogen sulfide.
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Saturday July 12 2014, @06:54PM
Try sniffing glue...but just the right amount...
(Score: 1) by NewMexicoArt on Saturday July 12 2014, @12:57AM
maybe its the newest miracle chemical
http://phys.org/news/2013-04-key-ingredient-mass-extinctions-boost.html [phys.org]
just don't use too much
(Score: 3, Interesting) by anubi on Saturday July 12 2014, @01:36AM
Interesting...
I applied about 50 pounds of elemental sulfur to my lawn a few years ago. I remember Grandpa doing it on his farm. Plain sulfur. Yellow colored granules. Very inexpensive. Came in a 50 pound bag. ( Petrochemical companies almost give the stuff away so they don't have to pay someone to haul it away, as you can't sell fuel with sulfur in it, but the crude oil coming in is loaded with it ).
Anyway, a lot of life's proteins contain the amino acid cysteine, where the sulfur bonds form the glue that holds proteins in their folded position. So, sulfur is a very important part of life's chemistry.
And I also wanted it because it is the precursor to sulfuric acid ( and sulfates ) when oxidized, which can be either by outright burning or by soil bacteria. I chose the latter. I have very alkali soil, and was wanting to raise the pH of it. I had done that before with diluted sulfuric acid, but it wasn't cheap. Did not want to use pool acid as I did not want the chloride ion all over the place in my soil, however, the sulfuric would react with the limelike material I have ( why I have alkali soil in the first place ) to form gypsum.
I knew a small amount of hydrogen sulfides were being given off, as I could smell it. Faintly, but it was there.
Its been several years since I did that, but things have grown very well on that soil ( adobe-type stuff ) after I treated it with sulfur.
Another thing I need to keep replenishing is the standard NPK type stuff, albeit I find where I live potassium seems to be plentiful, phosphorus needs to be replenished, and I can get ample amounts of nitrogen from urea. ((NH2)2CO). Unfortunately, where I get my chemicals does not stock ammonium phosphate.
This gives more credence to why the grass was always the greenest right over the septic tank...
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by Leebert on Saturday July 12 2014, @11:40AM
That quote always bothered me. The grass is greener over the drain field, not the septic tank! :)
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday July 12 2014, @01:43AM
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 1) by NewMexicoArt on Saturday July 12 2014, @04:37AM
thanks for the sulfur tip, will have to try it on the land here. sounds like a lot of future potential for h2s use in different areas.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday July 12 2014, @09:35AM
NMA, Glad you could use the info...
Check out farm supply stores. That's where I get my chemicals. They get "the good stuff" at a really good price, but be prepared to buy it in 50 pound bags. Helps to know your chemistry too, as the people where I get my stuff seem extremely well versed on exactly what each product they stock does. If you are like me, I did not recognize a single brand name, as this is not the stuff they market to the typical homeowner at way jacked up prices. But I did recognize the chemical formulas for the compounds in the bag. They had good stuff at really good prices. This was some time ago, but it seems I remember paying about $10 for the sulfur.
Sulfur is not a fast-acting thing...it took mine about a year for it to start break down. I believe some five years later, its still breaking down. I used the granular form... really slow stuff. But once I got the soil slightly acidic ( pH around 6 or so ), things started growing a lot better. It appeared to me that the alkali nature of the soil was causing soil nutrients to bind up in insoluble forms, but once the pH crossed that magical 7.0, it seems they became soluble and available to plant life and other little soil buggies. The soil also broke up and became much less like concrete. Resist the temptation to overdo it as you will not see immediate results from the treatment. You may want to read up on "sulfur fertilizer" on the internet.
Incidentally, the farm supply store I frequent has started stocking up on boutique products for marihuana growers. Way-way-way overpriced stuff. When you look at the chemical manifest, you can see you could buy hundreds of pounds of fertilizer, mix it to those proportions, and be way ahead of the game and still have the same stuff.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday July 12 2014, @09:42AM
I forgot something, NMA... if you decide to sulfur your stuff, I would definitely recommend the granulated over the powder. The powder will indeed be faster, but it is miserable to apply, as the dust becomes airborne at the first opportunity and is quite an irritant.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 3, Informative) by kaszz on Saturday July 12 2014, @01:31AM
To make use of this one has to find a molecule that will target the mitochondria like the molecule moiety triphenylphosphonium (TPP+) that they joined with a H2S donor molecule. So what food contains this?
Wikipedia suggest these sources:
* Animal sources: pork, poultry, eggs, dairy
* Plant sources: red peppers, garlic, onions, broccoli, brussels sprout, oats, granola, wheat germ, sprouted lentils.
Garlic is suggest directly with H2S so it perhaps is a prime source? although with that famous smell..
But this also means that farting has very little to do with this. Unless gas uptake of said compound is significant and that it will be transported from blood or through tissue osmosis into the mitochondria of cells.