Got Diarrhea? Pop a Poop Pill

[Ben]

Frozen poop pills cure chronic diarrhea. In a transparent capsule so you can see what you get.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/10/13/study-frozen-poop-pills-could-cure-diarrhea/?intcmp=obmod_ffo&intcmp=obnetwork

[Scout26]

Sorry, I'll die first before I swallow anyone's poop.

 

[charby]

Sorry, I'll die first before I swallow anyone's poop.

 

I guess you can be one of the 14K that die in the US from Clostridium difficile each year.

[vaskidmark]

Just be careful whose poop you pop.  There's a report out of (f)GB of a historically skinny lady getting a poop transplant from her obese daughter and gaining something like 34 pounds in a year.  http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/woman-becomes-obese-after-fecal-transplant-overweight-donor

Which of course set of a round of speculation about what might happen if fat people were given skinny people's poop.  AFAIK nobody is doing human trials on that notion - yet.  But I'm willing to bet that somewhere Mrs. Jack Spratt is having a discussion with her hubby.

stay safe.

[zxcvbob]

I guess you can be one of the 14K that die in the US from Clostridium difficile each year.

Kind of turns ESAD on its head, don't it?

[Regolith]

Kind of turns ESAD on its head, don't it?

ESOD?

[zxcvbob]

ESOD?

That works!   

[MechAg94]

So does it cure diarrhea only to give you constipation?  That can be worse IMO.  I think I will pass on the poop pill also.

[lee n. field]

Everything I'm seeing in casual reading says gut flora is more important than the assured results of "Science!" used to think.

So, how do you fix it, without a pill (or running a pipe up the aft)?

(Post surgery, the gut hasn't been the same.  I suspect a couple courses of antibiotics screwed things up a bit.)

[wmenorr67]

Can you just collect and freeze your own?  Sort of like going in and donating blood for yourself before surgery.

[charby]

Everything I'm seeing in casual reading says gut flora is more important than the assured results of "Science!" used to think.

So, how do you fix it, without a pill (or running a pipe up the aft)?

(Post surgery, the gut hasn't been the same.  I suspect a couple courses of antibiotics screwed things up a bit.)

I had a systemic bacterial infection 10 years ago, I took cocktail of antibiotics that killed everything in my gut. I'm still not right from that treatment, I had pretty normal GI before the infection and now I have IBS.

[Marnoot]

So does it cure diarrhea only to give you constipation?  That can be worse IMO.  I think I will pass on the poop pill also.

This isn't for garden variety diarrhea. This has generally been used to treat IBS-like issues after eliminating a C. Diff infection, or as part of actually fighting a C. Diff infection.

[Ron]

http://americangut.org/

[T.O.M.]

I had a systemic bacterial infection 10 years ago, I took cocktail of antibiotics that killed everything in my gut. I'm still not right from that treatment, I had pretty normal GI before the infection and now I have IBS.

My father was almost killed by antibiotic "overdose" because it did kill off everything in his system.  I was only 4, so I don't know what they did to bring him back to normal. 

[BobR]

I would be willing to bet anyone that eats at places with salad bars, raw lettuce (Tacos, etc), and other raw food stuff have eaten more than a tiny bit of poop in their lifetimes. That is why I am an advocate of Hep A vaccinations for everyone and as early as possible.  

Sometimes you just don't want to think about things like fecal-oral route when you are out with the little woman having a (reasonably) nice dinner.  

At least with a pill, you know it is (probably) disease free, what it is and why you are taking it.

bob

[MillCreek]

C. diff infection is a major, major problem in hospitals and incurs additional length of stay, medical costs and patient morbidity up the wazoo.  Fecal transplants have been tried for a while to treat this, and this is one of the most esthetically-pleasing methods of performing one.

[BobR]

For C-Diff it does make it much easier to get the transplant in place, going the other route is ofeten difficult because of the amount of outflow that can accompany the C-Diff infection. There is a reason rectal tubes were invented!! 

bob

[Neemi]

If you don't want to swallow it, they can always just do a direct fecal transplant. *shudders*

[charby]

My father was almost killed by antibiotic "overdose" because it did kill off everything in his system.  I was only 4, so I don't know what they did to bring him back to normal. 

Yogurt and blue cheeses are my friends.

[roo_ster]

Yogurt and blue cheeses are my friends.

Have not had such a systemic infection, but I hit the yogurt hard when on antibiotics.

If you don't want to swallow it, they can always just do a direct fecal transplant. *shudders*

And some folks would pay the recipient for such a treatment.

[lee n. field]

Yogurt and blue cheeses are my friends.

But is yogurt the "right stuff"?

[charby]

But is yogurt the "right stuff"?

 

[just Warren]

As much as I sometimes let my inner 12 year old free I can't joke about this subject because I'm just so happy that this option exists for people.

It's like a magic reset button that solves a really difficult problem.


Ok, one joke:

Doctor: "Sir, your intestinal flora is weak and is limiting your digestion."

Man "Well, what can I do about it?"

Doctor: "I want you to try these gel-craps."

[MechAg94]

C. diff infection is a major, major problem in hospitals and incurs additional length of stay, medical costs and patient morbidity up the wazoo.  Fecal transplants have been tried for a while to treat this, and this is one of the most esthetically-pleasing methods of performing one.

Yeah, the capsule is probably the least of other bad options.  If I ever need one, I hope they don't tell me what is in the pill before I take it.

[lee n. field]

Yeah, the capsule is probably the least of other bad options.  If I ever need one, I hope they don't tell me what is in the pill before I take it.

"Here, take this."

just make it a nice nameless opaque pill that won't come apart until it's far past where I'll taste it.