Healthy adults fart an average of 32 times a day, scientists say

Researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) created a kind of "smart underwear" to map the entire spectrum of human flatulence, and found that healthy adults pass, on average, 32 farts per day.

According to UMD scientists, by tracking the hydrogen present in intestinal gas, the device helps scientists reevaluate long-held assumptions about how often people actually pass gas. It also opens up a new perspective for measuring gut microbiota metabolism in everyday life.

For decades, doctors have struggled to help patients with complaints of intestinal gas. As gastroenterologist Michael Levitt wrote in 2000: "It is virtually impossible for the physician to objectively document the existence of excess gas using currently available tests."

To address this challenge, researchers led by Brantley Hal, assistant professor in UMD's Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, developed Smart Underwear - a tiny wearable device that fits discreetly into any underwear and uses electrochemical sensors to monitor intestinal gas production 24 hours a day.

In a study published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics:

Individual variation in the survey, however, was extreme, with daily totals ranging from just four flatulence events to 59.

Previous research has relied on invasive techniques in small studies or self-reports, which suffer from the possibility of undetected events, imperfect memory and the inability to record gas during sleep.

Visceral sensitivity also varies greatly: two people may produce similar amounts of gas but experience it in very different ways. "Objective measurement gives us the opportunity to increase scientific rigor in an area that has been difficult to study," said Hall, the study's senior author.

*Under AR supervision.

Source: CNN