Slashdot Mirror
Gut Bacteria Cocktail May End Need for Fecal Transplants
sciencehabit writes "A tonic of gut microbes may be the secret recipe for treating a common hospital scourge. Researchers have pinpointed the exact mix of microbes required to cure mice of chronic infection by Clostridium difficile. The hard-to-treat bacterium infects alomst 336,000 in the US each year and causes bloating, pain, & diarrhea. A similar bacterial cocktail may be able to replace the current controversial treatment involving the intake of a healthy person's fecal matter to restore the right balance of microbes in the gut."
To get an idea of how gut bacteria are that important: we are made of about 10e13 human cells, and we contain 10e14 gut bacterial, for about 2 kg of mass. Let a subset of the gut bacteria population become hostile pathogens, and you see that we can easily be outnumbered by attackers.
It's not inserted into the stomach. Whoever wrote that doesn't know what the hell he's talking about, or is listening to someone who doesn't know what he's talking about. It's inserted into the small bowel via the colon using the same equipment used in colonoscopies. And it's not controversial. If you have C. diff, you are suffering so horribly that grossness of the procedure just doesn't enter the equation. And the fecal transplant method is incredibly effective, and incredibly quick to solve the problem. People who have been in agony for weeks get so much better in a few hours they can be discharged from the hospital. The only issue is that fecal transplants aren't yet covered by insurance. But they aren't that expensive, less than a grand out of pocket.