fecal transplant

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A Black Market Has Emerged for DIY Poop Transplants

Slate looks at the risky treatment under FDA scrutiny

(Newser) - Fecal microbiota transplants involve transferring healthy bacteria from a donor's gut microbiome to another person's colon—a poop transplant—and are as experimental as it gets. The FDA has greenlit just one type of FMT treatment in recent years, to treat a bacterial infection known as C. diff....

After Death of Fecal Transplant Patient, a 'Cautionary Tale'
After Death of Fecal Transplant
Patient, a 'Cautionary Tale'
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

After Death of Fecal Transplant Patient, a 'Cautionary Tale'

Journal article details how patient died due to E. coli-contaminated stool

(Newser) - What the New York Times calls "a frank and public act of self-examination" has emerged from a Boston medical center following the death of a fecal transplant patient after receiving contaminated stool. In an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine , doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital document...

A Patient Is Dead After a Fecal Transplant

FDA halts clinical trials after case involving drug-resistant bacteria

(Newser) - Fecal transplants, though experimental, have been lifesaving, reports the New York Times , citing the cases of some patients who were being ravaged by "uncontrollable diarrhea" caused by the the bacterial infection C. difficile. But in one recent case, such a transplant was deadly. The FDA announced on Thursday a...

At 'Rogue' Clinic, Requests for Poop Milkshakes Are Normal

At least they're not taken orally

(Newser) - Preparing the sample takes about 45 minutes. A little water is added to the frozen brown mass and blended with a hand mixer until the substance is just thicker than a milkshake. The next part takes less than five minutes: A syringe collects the slurry, then puts it into a...

Cyclist Tried Poop Doping, and It May Have Worked

Biologist says transplant boosted race times

(Newser) - It probably won't ever become the focus of a hit sports movie—not even if they call it Poosiers—but "poop doping" is a real thing and could possibly give competitive cyclists an edge. That's according to microbiologist and mountain biker Lauren Petersen, who tells Bicycling magazine...

To Lose and Keep Off Weight: Poop Transplant?
To Lose and Keep Off Weight:
Poop Transplant?
NEW STUDY

To Lose and Keep Off Weight: Poop Transplant?

Research is young but promising

(Newser) - Stool transplants already appear to be helping fight the hospital-acquired superbug C. difficile, and they're also being tested against ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. But could the radical treatment go so far as to help obese people shed weight and not gain it back again? Researchers at the...

Cure for Obesity: Freeze-Dried Poop?

Clinical trial aims to find out

(Newser) - Atkins, paleo, juice cleanses … people will try most anything to shed some pounds. How about freeze-dried poop? A clinical trial set to start this year will involve 20 obese patients taking capsules filled with freeze-dried stool from healthy donors to test researchers' hunch that intestinal microbes can influence people'...

New Cure for Terrible Diarrhea: Frozen Poop Pills

Now available frozen

(Newser) - Might want to put down your sandwich while you read this one: Clostridium difficile, an infection of the intestines associated with terrible cases of diarrhea, is linked to some 14,000 American deaths each year. But researchers have found a promising treatment in the form of fecal transplants , in which...

Introducing the Nation's First Poop Bank

But save the jokes, because it might save lives

(Newser) - Think of it, in the words of Science News , as the "Brown Cross." OpenBiome , started by grad students, has the distinction of being the nation's first stool sample bank, and its creators make a convincing case that it's long overdue. Consider that about 14,000 Americans...

New Anti-Obesity Weapon: Skinny People's Poo?

Study finds gut bacteria help determine weight

(Newser) - The size of many people's bellies may be determined by some of the billions of bacteria living in their guts, according to new research. Scientists took pairs of human twins—one twin obese, the other thin—and transplanted some of their gut bacteria into young mice that had been...

Your New Wonder Cure: Fecal Transplants

Patients with bacterial infection are good as new after treatment, says study

(Newser) - Gross-sounding, yes. But "fecal transplants" work like a charm for patients suffering bacterial ailments, according to new research. The Netherlands study found that people with the common Clostridium difficile infection, or CDI, were quickly cured after receiving the feces of a healthy donor. (It can be diluted and transferred...

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