patrick.net

There was a story in the news about a procedure done last year sometime involved this.

Zzyzzx, you have to stop. We need more feral cat memes.

This is actually an important milestone. Fecal transplants will become standard soon to treat all kinds of chronic conditions where the gut may be involved.

Yep, this procedure has been around for quite a few years. It is a perfect example of a procedure that is cheaper and more effective than the drugs used to treat the same problems. However, it is little known because there is not much money to be made in selling poop-transplants and a lot of money to be lost in pharmaceutical sales.

leo707 says

However, it is little known because there is not much money to be made in selling poop-transplants and a lot of money to be lost in pharmaceutical sales.

Plus this poop transplant procedure has DIY potential.

This "movement" (pun intended) has been gaining steam for years. Antibiotics have screwed up so many people who now suffer from IBS, constipation, and diarrhea that a better treatment was becoming obvious. If you have the wrong bacteria in your gut, get the right sort from your friend and start living better. It's kind of a "duh" thing that the medical mafia is no longer able to fully suppress.

Other animals learned this on their own, long ago, with no medical degrees at all:

http://www.A2y_LEbdEVE

Dogs and monkeys do the same. The dog owners are shocked, but the dogs are following their noses to find what they need. It's a balance of risks - e.g. there might be parasites - but it doesn't cost anything so there's been no $ for studies.

Call it Crazy says

I don't think I'll be volunteering for that clinical trial any time soon

You'd be surprised how many drugs and other products are derived from urine and other waste. Geishas cover their faces in guano, and Japanese men seem to find it very attractive. It's a wild world.

Anyway as the article noted, a clinical trial would probably involve a capsule, no taste. Current practice is to mix with water and use a tube to deliver directly to the intestine.

Haven't they heard of probiotics? Or is it they like the idea of a more expensive shitty procedure?

Actually lack of probiotics is the cause of some of the most expensive medical cases ever.

I know of one case that went from just Crohn's disease to a major yeast infection - person was put on IV drip meds for candidiasis and ended up with IV feeding. I remember that the cost of the IV feeding (which had to be specially prepared by the pharmacist) cost so much that you could hire a couple pharmacists full time just for yourself. (It was over $20,000 per month and that was more than 20 years ago).

Never once did I ever see anything in a report or on a bill about restoring the gut flora.

And there is always someone on a transplant list because of too much antibiotics. Usually they give antibiotics until they discover fungal balls in the urine or something like - and the next thing is the anti fungal medicine (which can kill you) and then comes liver or kidney failure.

Zlxr says

Haven't they heard of probiotics?

Elephants, dogs, and monkeys all had to evolve before retailers began selling probiotics, so they seek out natural sources. Probiotics are beginning to get some clinical research, including proven benefits:

http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update0905c.shtml

Probiotics are cheap so there isn't a big research budget but there should be. The current system puts research $ into things that can be more lucrative, not cheap things. BTW, there's nothing magic about probiotics - the active ingredient is simply live bacteria, which is what the elephant was reaching for, though the probiotics might not contain all the species needed.

And generally once you hit the $1,000,000 mark (if you have decent insurance) the insurance company cuts you off.

Regarding dogs, they aren't picky.

I witnessed a dog eat some dog shit that had a whole lot of worms standing up in the air. It was so gross.

Bye the way - that was on my way to school in 2nd grade. Obviously it made a lasting impression.

Zlxr says

worms

Helminthic therapy? We look at dogs and assume that much of their behavior must be terribly unhealthy, but somehow they rarely stay sick for more than a day. They rely on evolution, not advertising. Of course they benefit enormously from vaccines and other new technology, but most of their ancestors had to find a way to survive without all that stuff.

Zlxr says

I witnessed a dog eat some dog shit that had a whole lot of worms standing up in the air. It was so gross.

I watched my GF's Yorkie during hurricane Andrew. When the storm came over... well this isn't that story. But while I had the dog, I heard him smacking his lips in a dinky sounding "smack-clack-smack" and I was like "Hey what are you eating?" I stuck my finger in his mouth(because my GF said he was pronged to swallowing house hold items. ) and discovered it was his own crap.

Now every time I hear that over compression on NPR where the people talking all have this lip smacking cracking when they talk, it reminds me of that stupid poop eating dog.

Can we get 121212/ThedayToday to eat his own crap to see if it cures his terminal GASBAG syndrome??