Okay well not exactly. Fecal
transplantation is performed via colonoscopy, enema, or through a tube into the
top of your small intestine.
Wait a second! Fecal what?!!!
Yes, you read that right, fecal (that is poop) transplantation, an
increasingly widely used treatment for recurrent diarrhea. Okay now that you’re either horrified or
cautiously intrigued, it’s time to become more open minded to the power of
poop. Gross, right? Well so is recurrent diarrhea.
Diarrhea is a major public health issue that we’ve all had some
experience with in one way or another (come on, it’s true). A
common cause of diarrhea is a bacterial infection with Clostridium difficile or
C. diff. for short. This infection is
especially common in people who have taken antibiotics, and is becoming more
frequent and severe. In fact, it was estimated that in 2010,
500,000 people were diagnosed with a C. diff. infection, and 20,000 died as a
result. That’s a big problem, right? One explanation for the increase in severity
and number of infections is that the traditional treatment for C. diff., which
includes antibiotics, is becoming less effective, resulting in recurrent
infections in up to 50% of patients.
This is where fecal transplantation comes in. In an article published earlier this year in
the journal, Gastroenterology,
researchers from various hospitals in Finland described the effectiveness of
treatment of recurrent C. diff. infections with fecal transplantation. Yup, they took poop from a relative, someone
in close contact, or a healthy volunteer, blended it with water and
transplanted it into patients with recurrent C. diff. Well guess what? It worked.
The diarrhea stopped and tests for C. diff. were negative in over 90% of
the patients who had this procedure.
We have good bacteria in our gut that help us to digest and absorb our
food. In people with C. diff. infections
or other intestinal ailments, these bacteria are often compromised. Diarrhea
is not only inconvenient and uncomfortable, but when the good bacteria are not
working properly, people can become dehydrated and important parts of our food
such as vitamins and minerals may not be absorbed. The idea behind fecal transplantation is that
it restores the good bacteria that is damaged or missing. What’s really cool about this treatment is
that it’s easy to perform, inexpensive, and highly effective!
Additionally, fecal transplantation may have implications for use in
treatment of other intestinal ailments such as Crohn’s Disease. Emory University’s Andrew
Gewirtz, PhD, has even described uses of fecal transplantation in people
with pre-diabetes (that is they don’t have full-blown diabetes but they’re
headed in that direction). He states,
“They took persons who have metabolic syndrome, which means they’re in a state
of pre-diabetes and they’re also obese, and they were able to partially correct
some of their abnormalities by giving them a transplant of intestinal
bacteria……I think it just highlights the increasingly appreciated importance of
intestinal bacteria in many diseases associated with inflammation such as
obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and inflammatory bowel
disease.”
But I Really Don’t Want a Fecal
Transplant
Not suffering from recurrent diarrhea, but still concerned about your digestive
health? As noted earlier, fecal
transplants replenish the good bacteria in your small intestine. Well, you may also be able to increase the
good bacteria in your system by eating probiotic foods, such as certain
yogurts. In addition, a good way to
improve your overall digestive health is to eat more fiber-rich foods such as fruits,
vegetables, and whole grains.
Ellen Smith is a first year PhD student in Nutrition and Health
Sciences at Emory University. She
thinks Austin Powers was comedic genius.
Mattila, E., et al. “Fecal
Transplantation through Colonoscopy, is Effective Therapy for Recurrent
Clostridium difficile Infection.” Gastroenterology. 2012 Mar;142(3):490-6. Epub 2011
Dec 7.
