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Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)

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Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)

#71

> Because they are highly dense, perfluorocarbons can also help flush mucus out of the intestine > Introducing oxygen to the intestines would probably kill the microbes involved in digestion Combining these two for any significant amount of time seems like a recipe for microbiota dysbiosis. It would be interesting to somehow determine if most of the oxygen is absorbed in the small or large intestine. Mucus is what ke…

People have no idea how important the microbiome is to their health. At the very least, one should make a "backup" of the microbiome so it can be repopulated later in case something goes pear-shaped. Messing with stuff can cause all kinds of endotoxin / auto-immune issues.

Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)

#72
post #2

This reminds me of the scene in The Abyss where the rat is forced to breathe in oxygen-rich perfluorocarbons[1]. I think this idea of introducing oxygen through perfluorocarbons has been explored but not sure it’s made much headway in humans to date [2]. This paper seems like a clever idea to introduce the liquid anally where oxygen can diffuse through the linings, and to also use same liquid (because of its viscosit…

The fact that it was an actual rat actually submerged in actual perfluorocarbons and actually breathing the stuff still blows my mind.

Cameron seems to make a big deal of "the rat really survived" (5 rats, in fact), glossing over the fact that the shocking animal cruelty was also real. It's rather hypocritical to pride yourself on the realism of the scene, while cutting all the parts where the rats defecate from panic.

Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)

#74

> Because they are highly dense, perfluorocarbons can also help flush mucus out of the intestine > Introducing oxygen to the intestines would probably kill the microbes involved in digestion Combining these two for any significant amount of time seems like a recipe for microbiota dysbiosis. It would be interesting to somehow determine if most of the oxygen is absorbed in the small or large intestine. Mucus is what ke…

Right, First do no harm

No post body was provided.

Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)

#78
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that it was an actual rat actually submerged in actual perfluorocarbons and actually breathing the stuff still blows my mind.

Cameron seems to make a big deal of "the rat really survived" (5 rats, in fact), glossing over the fact that the shocking animal cruelty was also real. It's rather hypocritical to pride yourself on the realism of the scene, while cutting all the parts where the rats defecate from panic.

You better not know what else scientists do to rats. And please, don't even start on the argument that they do it for science and not for entertainment. Entertainment in the form of science fiction is crucial for inspiring new generations of scientists.

Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)

#79

> Because they are highly dense, perfluorocarbons can also help flush mucus out of the intestine > Introducing oxygen to the intestines would probably kill the microbes involved in digestion Combining these two for any significant amount of time seems like a recipe for microbiota dysbiosis. It would be interesting to somehow determine if most of the oxygen is absorbed in the small or large intestine. Mucus is what ke…

People have no idea how important the microbiome is to their health. At the very least, one should make a "backup" of the microbiome so it can be repopulated later in case something goes pear-shaped. Messing with stuff can cause all kinds of endotoxin / auto-immune issues.

I'm no medical science person, but I had surgery a year ago for some type of severe gangrene, and while I miraculously came out whole, I'm still suffering horrible digestive issues that had nothing to do with it, presumably from the antibiotics needed to nuke the bad bacteria (because of intolerance to the one that was more efficient they had to use more indiscriminate solutions).

It didn't specifically cause the issues you mention, but it sure caused some.

Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)

#80

dumb question -- is it not possible to just directly oxygenate blood? like what stops having a special IV that takes blood out, oxygenates it, and puts it back in?

Not a dumb question. What you've just described is an ECMO machine ("extracorporeal membrane oxygenation", related to the surgical machines oft known as a heart-and-lung machine). The act of putting the patient on it is called putting them "on bypass" and involves cutting through some of the most major blood vessels in the body, administration of large doses of heparin as a blood thinner, and a team of about ten to t…

Is the heart that much better of a pump than the ECMO? I didn't realize there was mechanical stress on the blood itself from the ECMO machine.
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