SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Submitted via IRC for Bytram
Transplanting human donor fecal microbiota into the colon of a patient infected with Clostridiodes difficile (C. diff) may be the best treatment for those not helped by C. diff targeted antibiotics, according to an article in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.
C. diff is the most common healthcare-acquired infection in the United States. It affects nearly half a million patients each year and becomes a recurring infection for nearly a third of them. If untreated, C. diff can lead to sepsis and death.
"Twenty five years ago C. diff infections were easier to manage and often resolved with discontinuation of the initiating antibiotic," says Robert Orenstein, DO, an infectious disease specialist at Mayo Clinic and lead author on this article. "However, these infections have become increasingly common and pernicious."
The standard and FDA-approved treatment for C. diff is a course of oral vancomycin, an antibiotic. However, even the medications used to eliminate C. diff can perpetuate the infection by killing off beneficial microbes. Newer antibiotics that more specifically target C. diff have been developed but they can be prohibitively expensive, according to Dr. Orenstein.
"Think of your gut as a forest and C. diff as a weed," says Dr. Orenstein. "In a thriving forest, weeds barely get a foothold. But if you burn the forest down, the weeds are going to flourish."
Unlike antibiotics, which are destructive by definition, fecal transplants or microbial replacement therapies, repopulate the gut with a diverse group of microbes that may block the C. diff's spore from germinating and propagating disease via its toxins. Transplants have several delivery methods, including enemas, capsules and direct instillation, to replace the diverse flora that maintain health and improve metabolism.
[...] Currently, there are no FDA-approved fecal transplant products and performing fecal transplants is considered an investigational procedure. Dr. Orenstein notes there are several companies with products in Phase 3 clinical trials that could come to market as early as 2020. For this reason he strongly urges healthcare providers to refer patients with recurrent C. diff for these trials rather than for fecal transplants. In the meantime, the FDA reserves fecal transplants for patients who have experienced a second recurrence (third episode) of C. diff infection.
Journal Reference:
Robert Orenstein, Roberto L. Patron, M. Teresa Seville. Why Does Clostridium difficile Infection Recur?The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, 2019; 119 (5): 322 DOI: 10.7556/jaoa.2019.054
(Score: 5, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Friday May 03 2019, @01:55AM (16 children)
Pay attention kiddos, this is what happens when you abuse antibiotics.
Next time you are suffering a weensy little sniffle, ask yourself not what your mom would have done, but what your mom's mom's mom's mom, and 100 generations before her would have done. They toughed it out without medicine beyond tree-bark tea and maybe some steam from a kettle. Wrap up in a blankie, you will get over it, hundreds upon hundreds of generations before you got over it at least long enough to pro-create.
Save the modern miracles for when you're actually in danger of dying, they'll work better when you need them if you do.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @01:59AM
I will do what I saw on TV and inject my ass blood into my face, thank you for your advice though.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday May 03 2019, @02:11AM (5 children)
How dare you poo-poo on my fecal transplant, you insensitive bum. May you become an asstronaut on a voyage to Uranus.
Or...yeah.
harumph.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday May 03 2019, @01:28PM
Not in the least, Og the caveman could have done fecal transplants, it's a perfectly paleo procedure.
Of course, without all the perma-stress and technofood/medicine of modern life, Og didn't need fecal transplants. Og is laughing now.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday May 03 2019, @02:43PM (3 children)
To help ensure correct pronunciation and eliminate any existing or new adolescent jokes about Uranus . . .
The correct pronunciation is like: URINE-us.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Friday May 03 2019, @06:57PM (1 child)
Oxford [oxforddictionaries.com] accommodates both:
/ˈjʊərənəs/, /jʊˈreɪnəs/
I'd say there's more variation than with 'potato'. But feel free to advocate for your preferred option.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday May 03 2019, @08:49PM
I seem to recall years ago vice president Q expected an alternate spelling of potato with an 'e' on the end, like potatoe.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday May 03 2019, @10:45PM
I'm a fan of the original Greek pronunciation: "Ooh-rah-nus". But then the joke doesn't work. I guess we should change the planet's name to Urrectum.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @02:23AM (1 child)
Or garlic.
Not only does it do an excellent job at keeping vampires away, it may shorten the length and severity of the common cold [nih.gov].
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday May 03 2019, @01:41PM
Garlic is a sulfa-drug. There's a lot of good reasons why sulfa-drugs were the most common form of treatment before antibiotics...
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Whoever on Friday May 03 2019, @04:23AM (1 child)
and a lot of them died. Including one of my grandmothers [OK, that was flu, not a bacterial infection]. They also died younger, and did not live with the weaker immune systems older people have.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday May 03 2019, @01:32PM
True enough, and we all still do.
Use the medicine when it's NEEDED. Or, you know, just walk around with a coat of anti-microbial skin cream head to toe, it's your choice.
Even the FDA finally spoke up about hand sanitizers....
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday May 03 2019, @05:05AM
While you're at it, ask them for some of their poop, and preserve it for when you need a fecal transplant from someone hopefully bio-compatible who has some high-quality gut flora. Ooh, and record the conversation, please.
(Score: 3, Touché) by coolgopher on Friday May 03 2019, @07:39AM (1 child)
Let me just say, that in comparison to tradition remedies, this is a shit solution.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday May 03 2019, @02:59PM
Maybe political speeches contain the necessary microbes to work as the transplant material in this treatment?
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday May 03 2019, @01:49PM
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday May 03 2019, @02:40PM
I can personally say, except for the dying part, that is also excellent advice for prescription narcotic pain killers.
Use them only when actually needed. Don't build up a tolerance. They will work great, every time, when you do need them. It is just a tool. Not a toy.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Friday May 03 2019, @02:19AM (3 children)
Only in America could we turn a waste product that people literally flush down the toilet daily and turn it into an expensive and tightly controlled medication.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @02:41AM
It used to be called night soil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_soil [wikipedia.org]
Do try to keep up with technology from hundreds of years ago.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday May 03 2019, @02:46AM (1 child)
Not only [racp.edu.au] in America, and not only in public health [mvscentre.com.au] (last link only provided as example of a private practice that does it, I'm not affiliated with nor endorse them here).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by sjames on Friday May 03 2019, @06:45AM
The difference is that your links speak of procedures (and there is no question that there would be a treatment protocol, while TFA speaks of product development and "drug" approvals in the U.S.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Friday May 03 2019, @02:22AM
and her book Gulp.
It's about time she cranks out a new book, she's an awesome read. Packing For Mars is a classic.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @02:25AM (9 children)
Like I keep telling all you motherfuckers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @02:36AM (8 children)
Dogs eat the tootsie rolls out of the cats litterbox... so I guess it works.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @03:55AM (1 child)
Thanks, now I'll never eat another Tootsie Roll for as long as I live.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Saturday May 04 2019, @04:11PM
My sincere thanks as well. Tootsie Rolls are highly processed blobs of nearly 100% sugar. It's terribly unhealthy.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @04:16AM (5 children)
Oh god, that reminds me of a friend who described his dog snarfing up all the tootsie rolls.
The dog the promptly barfed up said tootsie rolls on my friend's bed.
To this day, the dog is "The tootsie roll fiend."
Next up cat farts into CPAP with not so hilarious results. True story I'll never fully recover from.
Cat farts are evil incarnate.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday May 03 2019, @04:23AM (1 child)
That dog was smart to learn the lesson after being lucky enough to survive - cocoa is poisonous to dogs and cats [wikipedia.org]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday May 03 2019, @02:47PM
Common household poisons for dogs.
Chocolate. They darker the more toxic it is. Hyper. Jittery. Panting.
Onions. Garlic. Destroys red blood cells. Extremely poisonous to dogs.
There is no evidence garlic kills fleas. So don't feed it. Tons of evidence garlic kills dogs.
Macadamia nuts. Too expensive for dogs. Causes hind end weakness and paralysis.
Grapes. Kidney failure. Raisins inconclusive but best to avoid.
Xylitol. Artificial sweetener. Sugar free gum. Low fat yogurt. Causes extremely low blood sugar. Seizures. Destroys liver. This sweetener is the one item people know about the least.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday May 03 2019, @05:06AM
Really? I'm laughing already.
(Score: 1) by redneckmother on Friday May 03 2019, @05:24AM
Too Much Fucking Information.
All the while, funnier than Who Shit Where!
Mas cerveza por favor.
(Score: 1) by Goghit on Saturday May 04 2019, @02:33PM
Goddamn! Lauging so hard.
My cats aren't flatulent but I'm still going to look at blockading access to the CPAP machine.
(Score: 2) by black6host on Friday May 03 2019, @02:52AM (2 children)
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Folk Uke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlIOI3fDz5c [youtube.com] (Shit Makes the Flowers Grow) and Margaret Cho in the other corner with: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P01oCgnhbsQ [youtube.com] (Eat Shit and Die).
I look to the POTUS to make his bid for which is best for the country!
(Score: 1) by redneckmother on Friday May 03 2019, @05:26AM (1 child)
Well, when POTUS pulls his finger out, sniffs and licks it, we'll learn.
Mas cerveza por favor.
(Score: 1) by redneckmother on Friday May 03 2019, @05:28AM
Oh {shit|crap}, I just became a target. 'Scuse me while I go and hide.
Mas cerveza por favor.
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @07:57AM
Lagomorphs, copraphagists, all of them. Seriously, if they do not eat their shit, they die! Rather like Republicans in Congress of late . . .
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday May 03 2019, @02:55PM
This medical treatment is in desperate need of a new and better name.
I never thought I would thunk1 marketing could do anything useful.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1A piece of code with enclosing environment passed and then called back as a function. What we would call a Lambda function with a Closure. The term Thunk was coined, because when this happened, the cpu cabinet made a faint thunk sound. So I read somewhere long, long ago. Possibly the Hackers Dictionary on Usenet or thereabout. But too long ago to source where I read it.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @06:18PM
Leaving valuable drugs all over their roadways and sidewalks.