

Discovery: Taste receptors found in lungs - goalieca
http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-10-discovery-receptors-lungs-people-asthma.html

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nl
This doesn't surprise me. I'm pretty sure I have taste receptors on the
outside of my throat (ie, the front of my neck).

I first noticed it when I tasted blood after cutting myself shaving. I've done
a few experiments on myself with sugar vs salt solutions, and I could identify
the sugar solution pretty well.

Apparently this is uncommon, because when I tell people they look at me
weirdly (although I guess that could be because they think I'm some kind of
odd mutant and might sprout metal talons or something).

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kordless
I have asthma. When I was a kid, and if I had an attack, my mom would have me
hold my head over the sink running hot water and then put a towel over my head
to keep the steam in.

Anyone have an ideas for some liquids or foods which are bitter and could be
easily made into an aerosol? I'd be halfway interested in seeing if the theory
works. Asthma sucks.

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hugh3
I wonder what could have caused these to evolve.

After all, our ancestors spent the vast majority of their time outside in the
open air. Air quality really shouldn't have been an issue almost all the time,
and on the odd occasions when it was (eg you somehow get into a cave where the
air is bad) this wouldn't help much.

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forensic
Makes a lot of sense. People talk about tasting the air.

I've always kind of felt like fully inhaling stuff through the mouth gives you
more than just the smell. This was always just a very subjective experience
though.

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AngryParsley
From the article:

 _The researchers say that in the lung, the taste receptors are not clustered
in buds and do not send signals to the brain, yet they respond to substances
that have a bitter taste._

The bitter-sensing cells in your lungs aren't connected to the brain, so you
can't get any sensory information from them. They just cause passageways in
the lungs to dilate.

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forensic
I did read that.

My thought was that, if your lungs have bitterness receptors and you
experience physiological change based on them, then inhaling certain kinds of
air that lack the bitterness may flush out the bitter taste and produce
physiological change that corresponds to a lack of bitterness.

It's hard to separate out the effects of oxygenation and heat and focusing on
the specific point when the air enters your lungs though.

So yeah I'm being unscientific.

