Not all animals breathe through
their noses and mouths, like us.
Some creatures breathe through their skin while
others can breathe through
their butts.
While you may think this is gross and unnecessary,
others may see it as a superpower.
Turtles can survive below freezing temperatures during
hibernation because of their ability
to breathe through their butts.
New findings show that pigs can breathe this way too.
And butt-breathing animals could
save people from COVID-19.
Stick around to find out.
Intestinal or cloacal breathing is common among reptiles,
amphibians and aquatic creatures like loach fish,
sea cucumbers, turtles and sea snakes.
The freshwater loach fish, which lives in the rivers and
creeks of Eurasia and northern Africa, has a portion of its
intestine dedicated to breathing when the fish is in a
low-oxygen environment.
This changes the structure of their guts, increasing blood
vessel density and decreasing digestive function.
Turtles, which are ectotherms or cold-blooded, change their
body temperatures depending on the
temperature of their environment.
When it gets cold, a turtle's metabolism slows down,
and it needs less water, food and oxygen to survive.
Its cloaca, an opening used for reproduction and
digestion, contains numerous blood vessels that transport
oxygen throughout the turtle's entire body from
water it sucks in through its anus.
That is both weird and remarkable.
Since intestinal breathing helps other species increase
their oxygen intake when they have trouble breathing,
scientists wanted to find out if this could work for humans.
It could be essential, as we are facing one of the worst
respiratory-based pandemics in history.
The first recorded study of intestinal breathing in
humans occurred in 1959, and there was a clinical trial
in Russia in 2014. The findings showed an increase in
oxygenation, but further clarification
and research were needed.
More recently, scientists have begun testing mammals,
including mice, rats and pigs.
Dr. Takanori Takebe of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
is leading an intestinal breathing experiment in
mammals and hoping to apply the findings to critical
COVID-19 patients due to shortages of ventilators
and artificial lungs. The experiment could lead to an
alternative treatment that provides patients with the
oxygen they need when ventilators are
nonexistent or inaccessible.
One treatment for respiratory ailments is extracorporeal
membrane oxygenation. It uses a machine to oxygenate
a patient's blood. But its risks include excessive bleeding
and blood clots.
While butt-breathing research and experiments are still in
the early stages, there have been some
interesting findings so far.
According to Medical News Today,
researchers reversed respiratory failure in mice and
pigs by giving them oxygen
through their anus in gas or liquid form.
And of course, new theories bring controversy.
Many scientists are skeptical about the treatment's
effectiveness, and there is a debate over which part of the
gut is responsible for intestinal breathing.
Some researchers think it's the upper gastrointestinal or
GI tract, including the small intestines and stomach.
Another group thinks it happens in the lower
GI tract, particularly the rectum.
While it's too soon to draw any conclusions,
it's never too soon to have hope.
These butt-breathing animals may hold the key to saving
human lives. Only time and science
and butts, will tell.
Breathing through their butts and reversing respiratory
illness is what
intestinal-breathing animals do.
And that's what makes them Crazy Creatures.