It might sound gross, but a
is something an estimated 10,000 Americans do at home each year.
The procedure is done by transferring stool from one person to another,
and it's done to fight infections associated with diarrhea,
abdominal cramping, and even fever.
We're talking to a principle investigator in the fecal transplant study
to learn more about this procedure and understand why
anyone would want to put someone else's poop in their mouth.
This treatment isn't new. It's been around for a long, long time and there's
stories of people who, in the 1950's, would give people
or on a sandwich.
Fecal transplants are believed to
During the 4th century, Chinese scholar Ge Hong made
The treatment even made its way to World War II where German soldiers
switched it up a bit and ate camel stool to treat dysentery.
Today, the procedure is used to treat
or C. diff, a bacterial infection that affects the colon.
C. diff can weaken patient's immune systems and affect their treatment for
things like pneumonia, cancer, and other illnesses.
Each year the illness affects 450,000 Americans and
C. diff is traditionally treated with antibiotics, but this doesn't always work
as antibiotics can also kill good bacteria, worsening the patient's condition
and making it more likely for the infection to return.
Our digestive system is home to thousands of bacteria, both good and bad,
that are released in our stool. So the theory is when you eat healthy poop
the good bacteria ends up in your gastrointestinal tract,
which can help to knock out the C. diff.
and kind of compete with the C. diff for resources
and kind of grow and kind of crowd out the C. diff.
Another possible mechanism is that the good bacteria come in and they
themselves produce antibiotics as a byproduct
which are effective against C. diff.
And there are more kind of complicated mechanisms that they're looking
into that have to do with our bodies metabolism of bile and bile acids. With
researchers at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix
say they have a
in fecal microbiotic transplants.
through an enema or a colonoscopy.
Fecal transplants are just now being done professionally,
but they were actually first adopted by DIY communities.
Fun fact, with the popularity of fecal transplants on the rise,
Companies like OpenBiome pay the $40 for a stool sample
and $50 if you drop off poop five times a week. So you can make up to
off something you would flush down the toilet anyway.
The pre-screening process is rigorous though.
Only 4% of potential donors are accepted.
Researchers say acquiring stool for transplant is similar to the process
of donating blood to a blood bank. Donors are asked questions
about their health, given blood tests, and must have no GI conditions.
And all of this is done before their stool is sent to a lab for further rigorous testing.
Fecal transplant is now supported by the Infectious Disease Society
and the GI Society in Europe and in the U.S. as strongly supported
in treatment from multiply recurrent C. Diff infection.
Most big cities, big hospital systems have one or more providers
that are offering fecal transplant. There is a fecal transplant foundation
that tries to maintain a list to help people find someone near them.
So if you are suffering from recurrent C. diff, if you've had two or more
recurrences, if you've failed to improve even after a long course of
vancomycin,
Fecal transplants have showed promise in results, but there are still
many unknowns. Researchers at the AGA Center of Gut and Microbiome
Research and Education currently have a study underway that will track
4,000 people who've received transplants. The study will
and explore the effectiveness of fecal transplants
as well as its long and short-term effects.
Now there's nearly 200 clinical trials worldwide looking at fecal transplant
for all different kinds of conditions. I think the next one that's shown some
signal of benefit is ulcerative colitis, which is a form of
inflammatory bowel disease. Further afield they're looking into other
autoimmune diseases, obesity. Everybody's looking for something that.
If you could
I think all of those are much more complicated. C. diff was the low hanging fruit.
So if a fecal transplant seems like a possible treatment for you,
make sure you consult with your doctor, as you should with most health issues.