Induced hibernation
2005/07/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria
Several mice have been hibernated at the University of Washington,
USA. Prolonged use of small doses of hydrogen sulfide gas reduces the metabolism of mice. According to the researchers, this hibernation situation can be used in medical treatments if a human condition is achieved.
Hydrogen sulfide is a toxic gas at high doses, but researchers have found that ingesting small respiratory doses for six hours causes hibernation of mice. On the one hand, the body temperature drops twenty degrees. On the other hand, they breathe very slowly, about ten breaths per minute, which causes a low oxygen consumption.
In fact, high oxygen consumption is a barrier to humans in certain treatments such as heart attack or other trauma. Hibernation can reduce this need. On the other hand, treating cancer with radiation therapy would help prevent the death of many healthy cells, since the effectiveness of the technique varies depending on the level of oxygen.
However, for this, they should influence the man without side effects. They have achieved it in the mouse, have not suffered significant side effects when clean air has returned to normal state by inhalation. At the moment, the next step is to try with larger mammals.
