A vot’ santé ! :-)
Poop Therapy: More Than You Probably Wanted to Know About Fecal Transplants
►http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/10/what-is-fecal-transplant-difficile-bacteria
Gross as it sounds, an infusion of good bacteria—in the form of someone else’s excrement—seems to help fight some infections.
Fecal transplantation isn’t a new idea; the first reported case of someone receiving the treatment was in 1958. Undoubtedly, the “ick” factor has limited its appeal. But given the emerging evidence of effectiveness in some hard-to-treat cases, doctors and patients are taking much more notice. So here are some things you might want to know.
First, is a ’fecal transplant’ what it sounds like?
Yes, pretty much. In the treatment (also called fecal microbiota therapy or fecal bacteriotherapy), a small amount of human waste is inserted into the patient’s gut, or gastrointestinal system, via colonoscopy, enema, or nasogastric tube. Some doctors obtain the “medicine” from the patient’s spouse, child, or friend; others find it preferable to work with anonymous donors. While most prepare a liquid solution, frozen feces have also been used successfully; so far no one has standardized the treatment protocol.
Of course, it’s not the fecal matter per se that’s of interest, but the fact that it’s swarming with microbes. (Donors are screened for the presence of any infectious diseases that could be transmitted through their feces.) The goal is to restore the natural balance of organisms in the gastrointestinal tract. Any number of factors and conditions can knock this balance out of whack, including many antibiotics that are used to fight infections. The drugs kill the pathogens but they also wipe out the beneficial bacteria that live in the gut; the fecal transplant allows these helpful microbes to recolonize the digestive organs.
