Microbiome Restoration

  • Home
  • Our Microbiomes
  • Location
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Microbiome Links
  • Microbiome Transplant
  • Microbes: How They Help Us
  • Education and Dictionary

Cleveland Clinic 2014 Medical Innovations – No. 6 Innovation: Fecal Transplant Fights Disease

13th May, 2015 · rushman

Bringing balance back to your gut

Cleveland Clinic asked more than 100 of its top experts about the innovations set to reshape healthcare in the coming year. These are their answers — the Top 10 Innovations for 2014.

The microbiota, or mix of microbes, in your intestines exists in a delicate state of balance. Sometimes, antibiotics used for treatment can undo that balance by killing both aggressive and friendly bacteria.

When this happens, hardy C.diff (short for Clostridium difficile) microbes live on — often with disastrous results when they spread infection from person to person. Many gastroenterologists are fighting this problem with a novel approach called fecal microbiota transplantation, a.k.a. human stool transplants.

 

Restoring balance

In this therapy, doctors use a colonoscopy or enema to transfer a liquid suspension made from a healthy person’s fecal matter into a sick person’s colon. The goal is to restore bacterial balance and fight infections and diseases.

Fecal microbiota transplantation could become a primary therapy not only for C.diff infection, but also for inflammatory bowel disease.

C.diff poses such high risks because of how it spreads, particularly in hospitals. It can be transmitted to hands, food, utensils, sheets, countertops and curtains as spores. When passed to another person, these spores lead to intestinal inflammation, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, C. diffinfections have increased to 500,000 cases each year in the United States. That includes 15,000 deaths annually.

Fecal transplantation might help bring those numbers down.

Clinical study results have been positive. Some people who have had multiple C. diff infections have realized benefits from the therapy hours later, have been cured of their symptoms within 24 hours, and have had no further infections.

As research continues, experts expect that fecal microbiota transplantation could become a primary therapy not only for C.diff infection, but also for inflammatory bowel disease. It even holds promise for treating conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and Parkinson’s disease.

 

See original article…

Share this:

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Posted in Uncategorized |
« The Excrement Experiment
Athletic equipment microbiota are shaped by interactions with human skin »

RSS ScienceDaily – Top Health Articles

  • Genome-editing tool TALEN outperforms CRISPR-Cas9 in tightly packed DNA
  • Pace of prehistoric human innovation could be revealed by 'linguistic thermometer'
  • Genetically-modified mosquitoes key to stopping Zika virus spread
  • A benchmark for single-electron circuits
  • Vaccine shows potential against deadly leptospirosis bacteria
  • Wirelessly rechargeable soft brain implant controls brain cells
  • New control mechanism in innate immune system
  • Gut microbiota reveals whether drug therapies work in inflammatory bowel diseases
  • Finding a way to stop chemotherapy from damaging the heart
  • Toddlers who use touchscreens may be more distractible

RSS Gastrointestinal Problems News — ScienceDaily

  • Gut microbiota reveals whether drug therapies work in inflammatory bowel diseases
  • Better post-surgery care would dramatically improve cancer survival
  • Vegan diet significantly remodels metabolism in young children
  • For some, GI tract may be vulnerable to COVID-19 infection
  • Fatty acid may help combat multiple sclerosis, study finds
  • Simple, cheap test can help save lives from colorectal cancer, study shows
  • Scientists reveal mechanism that causes irritable bowel syndrome
  • Feces and algorithms: Artificial Intelligence to map our intestinal bacteria
  • Poor gut health connected to severe COVID-19, new review shows
  • Researchers engineer novel disease model to identify potential targets for ulcerative colitis drugs
© Microbes R My Friends
  • Home
  • Our Microbiomes
  • Location
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Microbiome Links
  • Microbiome Transplant
  • Microbes: How They Help Us
  • Education and Dictionary