Discussion on:

Fecal transplants hold promise, but face regulatory hurdles

Really, that's full of crap.

While this procedure may be direct and effective, there are less invasive and not so disgusting options available to repopulate good bacteria in a persons intestinal tract.

What other options are you talking about? The usual response is a course of antibiotics but the complications is that we are breeding antibiotic resistant bugs. The article pointed out that the species of bacteria has developed immunity and can cause problems from diarrhea to death.

The problem is that the results are clinical experiments and not the full research to confirm if this treatment is effective. I think that the super bugs are only dangerous because they developed immunity to antibacterial drugs that kill off their competition. The super bugs may be easily killed by other bacteria that are beneficial to health.

when the medical establishment figures out a way to charge lots of money for it. Because, right now, anyone can do it at home. You just need a healthy donor, a blender, an enema bag, and the courage to do what needs to be done.

The original premise that science only presents facts is a bunch of crap too. Scientists and researches will present the "facts" that will get them published and garner more grant money. Just ask any climate scientist that tries to publish articles against anthropomorphic climate change and see how many there are. Those who allocate grant money for research want to see research that supports their agenda. YES scientists do care who their facts offend. Especially when they offend the people who dole out government grant money.

Wow can I have some of what you are smoking. This is out there.

Will they be looking for paid donors? if so I am your man???..

you're full of it.

If this is turns out to be a viable treatment I would be concerned about using healthcare workers as donors. Massive and at times indiscriminate use of antibiotics has been the cause of these "superbugs" many of which seem to be bred out of hospitals. The last place I would look for donors would be in this sort of environment.

A lot of the problems are caused by patients failing to complete their course of treatment: the bacteria are not quite all disposed of, and those that survive, mutate, and become resistant. A bit Darwinish. Survival of the fittest.

... the day sh*t is worth money, the poor will be born without ars*holes?

That day may have arrived!

In college in the early 90's I heard a lecture from a doctor who had discovered a new antibiotic after an extremely persistent case of giardiasis.
In an effort to cure himself he searched the world over and found a new antibiotic by examining bacteria from the catacombs of Rome, Delhi or another large city. He mentioned offhandedly that a mother had cured her son of the same type of infection by using a fecal enema, which the doctor dismissed with a shudder. Considering all the doctor's suffering and that the infection brought him near death I thought that he was prideful and foolish to not at least try the low tech method.

The biggest hurdle to this treatment is the Big Pharma that created the need for it in the first place!

Why did you have to end it with such a sh*tty pun?

Probably for the same reason you wrote your comment the way you did!

Whatever happened to probiotics? Shouldn't they be tried before resorting to something as revolting and expensive as this? If probiotics don't work, why not? It would seem that finding the answers to these questions would be a useful follow-up to this article.

Part of the problem???at least here in the U.S.???is that there is no meaningful legal definition of "probiotic," so there are products on the market using/containing strains of bacteria that are irrelevant at best (and potentially harmful at worst) in terms of healthy gut bacteria. There are certainly reputable companies as well. For example, I recently learned that the cultures Renew Life uses in their Ultimate Flora: Critical Care product are descended from cultures obtained from healthy human donors???in other words, a cleaner & less invasive way of introducing these bacteria than the method presented in this article.

From personal experience, I would say that you are right & probiotics are the FIRST thing people try. However, when the disease/disorder gets to a certain level of severity, probiotics simply are not enough.

I would think and hope that before they start giving a lot of antibiotics that they would already have tried probiotics. Unless the doctors skip it knowing that it is mostly a marketing product.

I guess for some, this could be considered the first brain transplant...

Will all the Americans be trooping up to Canada for the cure? Canada has a Universal Health Care system, much like what Obama touts. Too bad the selfish 'I'm not paying for someone else' won't get the cure, if they have their way. Most of them must be stupid Republicans, or HMO employees. Don't they understand how Wal-Mart works...the more people that buy, the less you pay.

I had c. diff, 3 trips to the ER with critically low potassium. 3 rounds of treatment, during which I discovered that Vancomycin had been bought by a different company & a course of treatment went from about $200 to $1200. Even with probiotics & yoghurt it cam back. Dr. finally did another round of Flagyl, & halfway through did a colon cleanse similar to colonoscopy prep. Reasoning was that 'let's clean it all out & see what grows back'.
It worked. By that time a fecal transplant would have been OK with me. If you've never been that sick you can't know what you'd do to get better.

It is so childish the vein in which this article is presented.

It is simply transplanting the intestinal flora of a healthy person into a sick one.

Childish sensationalism is all this is.

I think it is the opposite - it presents the information in a way that gets past the unpleasant connotations

This treatment is very interesting, but also very gross.

Have you ever had Ulcerative Colitis or C. Diff or Crohn's? Now that is really gross! It's gross every day, multiple times per day & bloody gross.

A friend did the procedure at home for severe U.C. that was no longer responding to other natural remedies, extreme drugs, etc. She was facing colon removal. Major surgery & talk about a life-changer! Within days, she became symptom-free & remains so for the past year. Say what you will, but if you or your child were suffering, you might change your mind. Don't poo-poo the idea just because you don't understand it. The naysayers are the ones full of crap. When the pharmaceutical companies discover how to make a profit from this process, you will see ads on TV. So get used to the idea, it's some great sh**.