'Sewer Gas' Induces Suspended Animation Without Decreasing Blood Pressure

... Hydrogen sulfide gas can induce a state of suspended animation in mice while maintaining normal blood pressure, a finding that researchers hope will one day help treat critically-ill patients and protect cardiac patients during surgery. The gas, which produces a noxious odor often described as a rotten egg smell, occurs naturally in swamps, springs and volcanoes. The study will be presented during a poster session at Comparative Physiology 2006 in Virginia Beach, October 8-11. ...