Believe it or not, this isn't just some gross playground rumor. It’s actual, peer-reviewed science. If you’ve ever wondered can pigs breathe out of their butt, the answer is a shocking, technically-accurate "yes," though they usually don't do it for fun. It’s a medical backup plan.
Evolution is weird. Most of us are stuck with the standard-issue "air goes in the nose, down the windpipe" setup. But nature loves a workaround. In 2021, a team of researchers from the Tokyo Medical and Dental University published a study that sounded like a joke but ended up being a literal lifesaver. They proved that pigs—and rodents, for that matter—can absorb oxygen through their intestinal walls.
It’s called Enteral Ventilation via Anus, or EVA for short.
Think about that for a second. While we're all panicking about ventilators and lung capacity, scientists were looking at the other end of the digestive tract as a potential oxygen intake valve. It sounds ridiculous. It feels wrong. Yet, in a clinical setting, it works.
How Intestinal Breathing Actually Works
The biology here is fascinatingly disgusting. Basically, the lining of the distal rectum is incredibly thin. It’s packed with blood vessels. Normally, these vessels are there to soak up water or electrolytes, but they don't really care what they’re absorbing as long as the molecules are small enough.
Takanori Takebe, the lead researcher on the study, realized that some aquatic organisms like loaches or sea cucumbers already do this. They breathe through their hindgut when the water gets murky and low on oxygen. Takebe wondered: why can't mammals do that too?
The team started with mice and then moved up to pigs. They didn't just pump air up there, though. That would cause bloating and probably wouldn't deliver enough oxygen to the bloodstream to matter. Instead, they used a specialized liquid called perfluorodecalin.
👉 See also: Why the Ginger and Lemon Shot Actually Works (And Why It Might Not)
This stuff is a "liquid fluorocarbon." It has an insane capacity for carrying oxygen and carbon dioxide. You might recognize the concept from the movie The Abyss where the guy breathes liquid. It’s a real thing. By delivering this oxygen-rich liquid into the pig’s rectum, the researchers found they could keep pigs alive in low-oxygen environments that would otherwise have been fatal.
The Experiment: Can Pigs Breathe Out of Their Butt Under Pressure?
To test the can pigs breathe out of their butt theory, the scientists had to get a bit grizzly. They put the animals into a state of hypoxia—basically, they lowered the oxygen levels until the pigs couldn't sustain themselves.
The control group? They didn't make it.
The group getting the "butt-breathing" treatment? They survived much longer. Their skin color improved, their oxygen saturation levels stabilized, and their hearts kept pumping. It was proof of concept. The pigs were effectively absorbing enough oxygen through their intestines to supplement their failing lungs.
It wasn’t just a tiny bit of oxygen, either. It was enough to make a systemic difference.
There’s a catch, though. For the oxygen to pass through efficiently, the scientists had to slightly abrade (basically, scrub) the intestinal lining of the mice to make it even thinner. Fortunately, for the pigs, the liquid fluorocarbon worked well enough without needing to damage the tissue. This is crucial because if you’re going to use this on humans one day, you can't exactly go around sandblasting people's insides.
✨ Don't miss: How to Eat Chia Seeds Water: What Most People Get Wrong
Why Does This Even Matter for Humans?
You might be thinking, "Cool party trick for the pig, but so what?"
Well, think about the COVID-19 pandemic. Remember the desperate shortage of ventilators? Ventilators are invasive. They require intubation, sedation, and they can actually damage lung tissue if used for too long. If we can figure out how to deliver oxygen through the "back door," we could potentially save people with severe respiratory distress without ever touching their lungs.
This could be a game-changer for:
- Newborn babies with underdeveloped lungs.
- People suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
- Emergency situations where a ventilator isn't available.
It’s not meant to replace breathing. You’re never going to see someone walking down the street with an oxygen tank hooked to their trousers. It’s a bridge. It’s a way to keep someone’s brain and organs alive while their lungs recover from an infection or injury.
The Hurdles and the "Ick" Factor
Honestly, the biggest barrier isn't the science; it's the stigma. Our society is pretty weird about anything involving the rectum. But in medicine, we already use the "butt route" for plenty of things. Suppositories, enemas, certain types of screenings—it’s a standard entry point.
There are also technical hurdles. The body isn't designed to have liquid sitting in the lower intestine for days on end. We don't know the long-term effects on the gut microbiome. We don't know if it causes irritation or if the body eventually starts rejecting the oxygen delivery.
🔗 Read more: Why the 45 degree angle bench is the missing link for your upper chest
But the initial data is strong. The pigs in the study didn't show signs of major distress or long-term side effects from the procedure. They just... lived.
Reality Check: Don't Try This at Home
Seriously. If you’re ever in a situation where you can’t breathe, do not—under any circumstances—think you can MacGyver a solution based on this.
The pigs in these studies were under intense veterinary supervision. The liquids used were highly specialized, medical-grade chemicals. You can't just pump air into yourself and expect it to work. In fact, doing that would likely cause an air embolism, which is a very fast way to die.
The question of can pigs breathe out of their butt is a testament to how desperate and creative science can be. It’s about finding a "plan B" for the human body.
Actionable Insights for the Future of Respiratory Health
While we wait for human trials to finish (which are actually in the works, by the way), there are things this research teaches us about our own biology and the future of medicine.
- Check the Progress of EVA Trials: If you or a loved one has chronic respiratory issues, keep an eye on clinical trials involving perfluorocarbon-based therapies. It's the cutting edge of critical care.
- Support Med-Tech Innovation: This research was funded because people were willing to think outside the box. Support for basic biological research is what leads to these "weird" breakthroughs.
- Understand Secondary Absorption: Realize that your intestines are far more than just a waste disposal unit. They are a massive, highly-vascularized surface area capable of absorbing more than just nutrients.
- Diversify Medical Knowledge: This story is a great reminder that the "standard" way the body works isn't the only way it can work in an emergency.
The next time you see a pig, you might look at it a little differently. They aren't just farm animals; they're the pioneers of a bizarre new frontier in emergency medicine. If this technology ever hits the mainstream, it won't be because we wanted to turn into sea cucumbers. It’ll be because a few researchers dared to ask a ridiculous question and found a life-saving answer.