[bio101student]

Hi everyone,
   I have a question and don't know where to post so I decided to post it in here.  My question is.....where does the gas coming from if the person is dead?..if the body is bigger than normal and it's swollen after a few days.....where does the gas come from?

[gregpawin]

If you hunt any game you would know that to keep the meat longer, you'd need to gut the thing and remove its entrails.  The digestive tract, or GI as med school students would call it, is sometimes considered as part of the outside of the body.  There are several species of bacteria both good and bad living in the GI tract some of which are necessary for good digestion and have to be replenished with yogurt after taking strong antibiotics.  After death, these bacteria are left unchecked and start breaking down the digestive system itself and creates a bloated stomach, which can sometimes explode with the right conditions.

[bio101student]

thanks for the replied gregpawin

hmmm so it doesn't have to do anything with co2?

[gregpawin]

Well, I'm sure there's CO2 but there's everyother kind of gas you can think of when there's rotting matter including lots of thiol compounds which are very "sticky".  People who encounter rotting dead bodies in their line of work often learn to wash out their nasal passages with water unless they can live with the smell of dead things stuck in their nose for weeks.

[xiankai]

similar topic @

http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?board=19;action=display;threadid=4140