People suddenly caught fire, making medicine impossible to explain

On September 17, 70-year-old John Nolan, who was traveling on the streets of London, suddenly caught fire mysteriously.

According to Independent, Nolan was quickly put on fire by the road man and taken to the hospital. However, due to severe burns, the former construction worker died. Three months passed, the scientific community still wondered about the cause of Nolan's death.

"We talked to a lot of witnesses, but the reason for the fire was unknown , " said Damien Ait-Amer, the head of the investigation team.

In fact, Nolan is not the only case of spontaneous combustion. Over the past 2,000 years, the literature has recorded nearly 150 cases similar to common traits such as the victim's body being destroyed but the surrounding environment is intact and no large heat source is close enough to cause a fire.

Self-igniting cases made science wonder.(Photo: MH).

Talking to the BBC, biologist Brian Ford said the most likely cause behind the strange is alcoholism."When you drink too much alcohol, the tissues will sink in alcohol and burn more easily , " he explained.

However, this argument is not convincing because since 1851, chemist J. von Leibig (Germany) has shown that samples stored in 70% ethanol solution do not catch fire. Even testing on mice showed that mice with continuous ethanol injection did not ignite.

Another hypothesis is that the previous ones were in poor health. In principle, when sick, glycogen in the blood is used as fuel for muscle to be easily depleted, fat molecules break and become an alternative energy source. Combined with chronic illness or a strenuous gym session, this process produces acetone. Not only does it catch fire quickly, but acetone can also mix with water and fat and travel throughout the body.

While waiting for the scientific community to give the most satisfactory answer, don't be too worried because the ability of people to self-ignite is still very small. In addition, experts recommend following the following tips to protect yourself optimally:

• Limit behaviors with diets that increase the concentration of ketones (including acetone) such as alcoholism, fasting, too little intake of caramel or too much fat and protein.
• Avoid large heat sources, especially when you are sleepy and do not smoke.