Poop Transplants - A Podcast

[David]

In a nutshell: throughout civilization, human feces has posed considerable health hazards; when it gets into the water supply, for instance, a lot of bad things can happen. But in recent years, a variety of medical researchers, many of them gastroenterologists, have pushed for a greater understanding of poop, and have made some startling discoveries.

To paint it with a very broad brush: it could be that many maladies — from intestinal problems to obesity to disorders like multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s and perhaps even cancer — are related to damaged or missing gut bacteria; the solution therefore may lie in transplanting healthy bacteria into a sick person.

How is this accomplished? (Okay, hold your nose for a moment.) A fecal transplant. Yes, you read right: taking the stool from a healthy person, mixing it with a saline solution, and injecting it into an ill person. The procedure resembles a colonoscopy; it’s a sort of combination of organ transplant and blood transfusion, which one doctor in our podcast calls a “transpoosion.”

More information and the podcast

 

[Keona]

okay - not sure I really know if you're joking or not ..and too afraid to click on the link.. haha..but in all seriousness, if I was told that would make me feel "normal" again...sign me up!!

 

[David in Seattle]

I've read a number of articles on fecal transplants. The technique is indeed not a joke, and is very intriguing. It's most commonly done to treat severe C. Difficile infections. The hospital where I see my current GI has done it on occasion. Usually, it's done with a variation on the colonoscopy rig, but it's even possible to "do it yourself", so to speak, with a suitable supply of feces, a blender, an enema bag, and some rubber hose. No, I'm not kidding. I'd try it in a heartbeat of I had a supply of material from a healthy donor. I don't know why so many people cringe at the concept, compared to some of the drugs many of us have been on, it's pretty damned benign.

All natural, too.

I'll have to give a listen to the podcast, thanks, David.

 

[Keona]

"transpoosion"
tell me thats not funny??