What causes human combustion ?

Question

and does it really exist ?

Answer 1

I think it can happen but do not really know the cause..I have wondered if it is somehow related to the high levels of hydrogen in the human body..maybe mixed with methane or something..but I am in no way a chemist..

Answer 2

Spontaneous human combustion (SHC) is the alleged burning of a person's body without a readily apparent, identifiable external source of ignition. The combustion may result in simple burns and blisters to the skin, smoking, or a complete incineration of the body. The latter is the form most often 'recognized' as SHC. There is much speculation and controversy over SHC. It is not a proven natural occurrence, but many theories have attempted to explain SHC's existence and how it may occur. The two most common explanations offered to account for apparent SHC are the non-spontaneous "wick effect" fire, and the rare discharge called static flash fires. Although mathematically it can be shown that the human body contains enough energy stored in the form of fat and other tissues to consume it completely, in normal circumstances bodies will not sustain a flame on their own.

Answer 3

The stories are interesting, but I tend not to believe them. Yes, the human body contains enough energy to combust, but the trick is releasing that energy.

Cells break down glucose and pipe hydrogen (not H2, or hydrogen gas, but H+, hydrogen bound to carrier molecules, which are not flammable) to mitochondria. The hydrogen then passes through proteins in the mitochondrial membrane, and the proteins convert ADP to ATP, which can be used directly by many processes in the cell (think of it like a waterwheel, where the protein is the wheel, the H+ is the water, and the ATP is whatever is being produced by the attached mill). The by-product is heat (which keeps us at a comfy 98.6 degrees).

The waterwheel analogy goes even further. If you were to disconnect the wheel from the mill, there would be less resistance (since the wheel wouldn't have to power the mill machinery), and the wheel would speed up. The same thing happens in the mitochondria during what is called decoupling. There are chemicals that will break the connection between the part of the protein that deals with H+ and the part of the protein that produces ATP. Without the ADP-->ATP limiting factor, the reaction goes crazy and produces lots of heat but uses lots of glucose without producing ATP. Basically, it converts the energy in nutrients to heat but not to a form that is useable by cells. It occurs naturally in a special kind of fat in babies, where cells the mitochondria produce lots of heat to keep the baby warm. It has also been investigated as a diet medication (but to my knowledge, was too dangerous for real use).

The problem with combustion is that once the body heat gets too high, the proteins in the body would denature and become useless, thus stopping energy release. Additionally, since there is a finite amount of available glucose (most of the glucose in your body is stored as glycogen in the liver, and is not immediately accessible) and metabolic proteins (there are only so many mitochondria in so many cells), a rapid release of energy from all available glucose would be impossible.

Since glucose/fat/proteins are not "burned" in the body ("burning calories" is just an expression), and are broken down entirely by enzyme-mediated processes, there's no chance of a runaway reaction, let alone one that would produce enough heat to cause spontaneous combustion.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, this is a very real phenomenon. During the 80s, the drummer from the rock band "Spinal Tap" spontaneously combusted. For more information on this occurance, I suggest you you rent the band's documentary, "This is Spinal Tap."

Answer 5

Is the alleged process of a human body catching fire as a result of heat generated by internal chemical or nuclear action. While no one has ever witnessed SHC, several deaths involving fire have been attributed to SHC by investigators and storytellers.

Answer 6

Fire. Ask your friendly neighborhood crematorium. I guess they use gas or oil and fire. It exists. Your friendly neighborhood crematorium can only exist because it does work.

If you mean spontaneous human combustion no.

Answer 7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_human_combustion
http://skepdic.com/shc.html

no one really knows. here is some good info though