The following is on the top of my most embarrassing problem list. The passing of gas (farting) is hard to have and harder to talk about. In many cultures, excessive human flatulence is regarded as embarrassing and repulsive, even to the point of being a taboo subject. Most people in polite company will work hard at not expelling gas for fear of stinking up the place or making some horrible sound.  It has never been prooven that doing this is harmful on the body and in the end it is a personal preference. 

We will discuss the world of farting but it is important to remember that your doctor is an important source of information and has pretty much seen and heard everything.

We have all been in a situation where someone around us has farted.  It can be humorous or if you are the person doing it, it can be devastating. One of my most embarrassing times in my life, and this I can remember 40 years later as if it happened yesterday has to do with farting. I was giving my first speech in 8th grade and yes right in the middle of it, one slipped out, a rather loud toot. I was humiliated and though I finished the speech to this day I can remember how it felt.

Social considerations

The passing of flatus is actually a very normal reaction of the body and it is something that the medical field look upon as important.  In fact if you go to the hospital for surgery you will not be released from the hospital to go home until you have passed gas.  Yes, nurses will ask, doctors will ask and it will become part of your official hospital record.  So not passing gas is important as well as passing to much gas can be.  To much passing of gas can mean that your body is out of rhythm as in having Irritable bowel syndrome or another tummy disease.  Some people have lifetime problems with gas, but if you suddenly are having lots of gas, pain or bloating that lasts longer than five days then you should see your doctor.

The word "fart" is both a noun and a verb and comes from the Old English "feortan" which means to break wind. It is really only when we get excessive gas in our intestines that we use the medical term of flatulence. Flatus is a Latin word meaning a puff or blowing of a gas such as air.  So putting this all together we come up with the word flatulent to mean that someone with gas is full  of air and wind.

There are many names for farts; the following are just a few:

• Anal salute
• Backfire
• Bake brownies
• Bark
• Bend a valve
• Blast the chair
• Blow dirt
• Blow dust
• Blow a fart
• Blow a gasket
• Blow kisses
• Blow mud
• Blow smoke
• Blurt
• Boff
• Butt burp
• A boofer
• Colon bowlin
• Cut a gasser
• Cut a melon
• Cut one
• Cut the cheese
• Cut a stinker,
• Cut the wind
• Deal one
• Drop a cookie
• Drop a fart
• Drop a rose
• Erupt one
• Flatulate
• Grunt
• Guff
• Honk
• Humrrhoids
• Kill the canary
• Launch a wifter
• Let a beefer
• Let one
• Make a stink,
• Make cheese
• Make methane
• Pass gas
• Pass wind
• Piffle
• Pop off
• Rip one
• Spider's barking
• Start a Harley
• Toot
• Toot your own horn
• Trouser trumpet
• Vent

What Causes Flatulence?

When bacteria begin to break down undigested food in the large intestine or colon, gas is formed. This causes the intestine to distend (swell), which can cause cramping pain. If the intestinal wall is inflamed, it can become more sensitive than usual to normal amounts of flatus. Even though it can cause discomfort, excessive gas is usually not a serious symptom.

There are many causes of flatus and they may vary depending on your age, gender, and associated complaints.

Some of the more common causes include:

• Eating non-digestible foods such as fiber
• Eating beans - There are carbohydrates in beans that cannot be digested by our enzymes so the bacteria in the colon have to break it down. The result is colonic gas.
• Acute pancreatitis
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Mal absorption (which occurs when your intestine is not able to absorb nutrients) often accompanied by diarrhea.
• Use of antibiotics

Foods that cause gas

• cabbage
• broccoli
• breads
• artichokes
• sweet potatoes
• cheese
• beans
• milk

Gas is pushed down through your digestive system just as if it were food.  It gives you the same feeling if not more of fullness and when it hits the end of your digestive tract it will cause you to feel urgent and with a great need to release it.  The fine nerve endings in your anus and rectum know the difference between air and stool, but like it was said in the Bucket List movie, never trust a fart!