Butt-breathing: the surprising new medical technique that could save lives

Just when you thought medical science had reached its limits and you'd heard it all, along comes something so unusual that it makes you question everything.

Welcome, “butt-breathing”. Yes, it sounds like a fart joke, but researchers say there’s real science behind it and it could save lives.

Globally, millions suffer from lung diseases that make breathing a daily struggle.

According to the World Health Organization, over 3 million people die each year from chronic respiratory diseases, while South Africa alone has high rates of conditions like asthma, COPD, and tuberculosis-related lung damage.

For patients with blocked airways, traditional oxygen delivery isn’t always enough, which is where this unconventional method comes in.

The idea comes from nature. Loaches, a type of bottom-dwelling fish, usually breathe through their gills. When oxygen runs low, they swim to the surface, gulp air, and pass it through their digestive tract.  Oxygen is absorbed into the bloodstream, and the rest is expelled through the rectum.

Other creatures, including turtles, sea cucumbers, dragonfly nymphs, and even pigs, can absorb oxygen in similar ways when their lungs can’t keep up. Some turtles can breathe through their rear end using specialised tissues, allowing them to stay underwater for months while hibernating.

Inspired by these animals, scientists developed a method called enteral ventilation for humans. It works similarly to an enema, a medical procedure where liquid is inserted into the rectum to stimulate the bowels.

In this case, a lubricated tube delivers oxygen-rich liquid straight into the rectum, with the goal of passing oxygen through the intestinal walls and into the bloodstream, bypassing the lungs altogether.

Early animal tests were promising, showing the treatment could stave off respiratory failure without major complications.

So researchers in Japan recruited 27 healthy men to test tolerance. Varying amounts of a liquid called perfluorodecalin, up to 1.5 litres, were inserted into their rectums for 60 minutes. Twenty of the participants managed the full hour.

Yes, it was uncomfortable, with reports of bloating, but there were no serious side effects. Importantly, the liquid wasn’t oxygenated; this was purely to see if humans could tolerate the procedure.

“This is the first human data, and the results are limited solely to demonstrating the safety of the procedure and not its effectiveness,” said Dr Takanori Takebe, a co-author of the study.

He added that the next step is to test oxygenated liquid to figure out how much is needed and how long it must be held to meaningfully boost blood oxygen levels.

It’s bizarre, yet it’s brilliant. When one organ fails, sometimes another part of the body steps in to save the day, even if it’s somewhere you’d rather not think about.

With further testing, butt-breathing could eventually become a last-resort lifesaver for patients with severe lung disease, proving once again that science sometimes finds the most unusual ways to keep us alive.