And the catch phrase for National Fecal Translantation Day is, "I DO give a shlt" ;- } Interersting stuff.
Since it is National Fecal Transplantation Day I thought I would post this bit of info for people to digest.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/13/gut-bacteria-rheumatoid-arthritis-autoimmune-disease_n_1591254.html
It is of interest for a few reasons, since some of us have increased RA issues either due to HCV or as a result of IFN.
I believe that there is also a little more metabolic syndrome associated with either HCV or as a post TX issue. It could be that this could relate to altered gut flora. Anyway...... it kinda tied into Mike's thread and so I thought why not bump it up and add a little to it.
willy
oh geeez, what an article, what a conversation, what a visual.
I agree that it is a rather unusual and offensive approach and yes, I can imagine the jokes.
I recently came across an article which touted a new drug for the disease. I was going to post it but it slipped my mind. I was a little reluctant to reinvigorate the thread but since you have maybe I'll locate that article and post it.
I see quite a few C.diff patients in my job and I had to share this at work! I'm still grappling with the gross factor. LOL I can't help but wonder about the donor process...Can you imagine the jokes in that lab? LOL ~MM
I saw this done on a episode of greys anotomy &thought they don't do that in real life & after reading this I quess it happens ..EEWW!
I don't think topical and fecal belong in the same thread. Unless it's a thread on skidmarks.
From FLguy's link:
The doctor who is in Houston is brilliant and corrected the treatment plan that two other docs were doing. Am on Florastor and Align now which are probiotics. After three weeks, still weak but I am eating almost anything that I want without a problem
Topical:
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/02/08/cdc-deadly-superbug-c-diff-spreading/
So, I wonder....I you are planning a surgery you can stockpile a suppy of your own blood to be used if it's need. Does it stand to reason that you can pile your own stock in case.....
You might considering publishing in one of the scholarly medical journals.
"...Before I'd resort to poop transplants, or antibiotics it would make sense to figure out if the natural bacteriums, reestablished, could help. Lots of irregularities resolve with minimal effort, and for those who don't want to go the yogurt route there are now myriad brands of pills containing a wide variety of the bacteriums known to restore bowel health. They can be found in almost any grocery store now in the OTC section of the pharmacy. ..."
That's cutting edge stuff.
Mike
One thing you might find interesting about C-diff....those foams that hospitals prefer these days don't kill C-diff...only soap and water will. So if you visit anyone on the hospital, please don't touch your face (mouth, nose, eyes) until you've washed thoroughly with soap and water. And then use the foam to kill the rest of the stuff you may have picked up during your visit.
Mike, I can see you are dead serious about all this, and I think it's an important topic as we age. Might want to give thought to posting this to the med side maybe??
I'm thinking I'd go with probiotics before any other attempts are made.
Whether antibiotics are safe long term for the bowel is a big debate right now, example would be all the litigation over accutane and it's brethren of late.
This bacterium exists all the time anyway right? So it's just like strep in the throat, we have it all the time, but only when we get an overgrowth does it become problematic.
that said, many americans take drugs that effect colon health, and/or have poor diets that compromise the delicate balance.
Before I'd resort to poop transplants, or antibiotics it would make sense to figure out if the natural bacteriums, reestablished, could help. Lots of irregularities resolve with minimal effort, and for those who don't want to go the yogurt route there are now myriad brands of pills containing a wide variety of the bacteriums known to restore bowel health. They can be found in almost any grocery store now in the OTC section of the pharmacy.
But, if that didn't work, it's good to know that fixaxominicin might help.
mb
C. Difficile Yields to Novel Antibiotic
By Todd Neale, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: February 02, 2011
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
The investigational antibiotic fidaxomicin was as effective as vancomycin for treating Clostridium difficile diarrhea, a phase III, noninferiority trial showed.
And the new agent resulted in lower rates of recurrence within four weeks of the end of treatment (15.4% versus 25.3%, P=0.005), Thomas Louie, MD, of the University of Calgary in Alberta, and colleagues reported in the Feb. 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
That "represents an important advance in the treatment of C. difficile infection," according to Herbert DuPont, of the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, who noted in an accompanying editorial that efforts should be aimed at reducing recurrence even further.
"The most promising agents for future development should be safe, have low levels of systemic absorption, have low potential for the development of resistance among intestinal and extraintestinal bacteria, provide high levels of active drug in the colon, and be associated with a low rate of recurrence of C. difficile infection after treatment," DuPont wrote.
"Fidaxomicin fits these criteria better than any other agent evaluated so far," he added.
During the past decade, there have been increasing numbers of cases of C. difficile infection, greater morbidity, increased incidence of complications requiring colectomy, and rising mortality rates. C. diff infection is now the most common bacterial cause of diarrhea in the U.S.
Those trends have occurred in conjunction with the emergence of a highly virulent strain, called BI/NAP1/027.
Although infected patients generally respond to vancomycin or metronidazole, the rate of recurrence with these two agents is high -- 20% to 30%.
Louie and his colleagues performed a phase III, randomized, double-blind, noninferiority trial comparing fidaxomicin, a novel agent first in the class of macrocyclic antibiotics, with vancomycin.
They enrolled 629 patients with C. difficile diarrhea from 52 sites in the U.S. and 15 in Canada. About one-third (35.9%) had the BI/NAP1/027 strain.
The patients had 10 days of treatment with either oral fidaxomicin 200 mg twice a day (plus two placebo doses) or oral vancomycin 125 mg four times a day.
Adherence to treatment was high -- greater than 91% -- in both groups. Rates of all adverse events and serious adverse events were similar in the two groups.
The primary endpoint was clinical cure, or a resolution of diarrhea with no need for further therapy as of the second day after the end of treatment.
A similar percentage of patients in each group was cured (88.2% with fidaxomicin versus 85.5% with vancomycin in the modified intention-to-treat analysis).
There were nonsignificant trends toward a faster resolution of diarrhea with fidaxomicin.
Recurrence within four weeks was a secondary endpoint, and was significantly reduced with fidaxomicin in both the intention-to-treat and per-protocol populations.
However, the benefit was not found in patients with the highly virulent BI/NAP1/027 strain (24% recurrence rate with both antibiotics).
In patients with other strains, the infection recurred in 7.8% of patients who received fidaxomicin and 25.5% who received vancomycin (P<0.001).
Louie and his colleagues explained in their paper that fidaxomicin likely reduces recurrence because it kills C. difficile rapidly, whereas vancomycin inhibits the growth of the bacteria.
In addition, they wrote, fidaxomicin has a prolonged post-antibiotic effect against the bacteria that vancomycin does not and does not suppress components of the normal gut flora that vancomycin does.
"The anaerobic bowel flora maintains 'colonization resistance,' which prevents the introduction or persistence of pathogens and may inhibit the reemergence of C. difficile," the researchers wrote. "Preservation of the intestinal flora should also theoretically reduce the likelihood of selection for overgrowth of vancomycin-resistant enterococci."
http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/GeneralInfectiousDisease/24661?utm_content=GroupCL&utm_medium=email&impressionId=1296720676434&utm_campaign=DailyHeadlines&utm_source=mSpoke&userid=235671
Now at long last I can truly say Mike you have brought us a load of $hit ; )
I suppose now someone will have to invent a collection vehicle...
the Brown Cross maybe??? Now there's an image!
hilarious!!
mb
I think the medical term is an "allocrapt"
I have been known to say "eat -hit and die"' Never thought it would make one healthy""'
All thanks for the education and the laughter.. I think I can sleep now finally.. I must say I could not bear to read it all. yuck, but enjoyed the humor that came out of all with the P transplant... Watch out goofy dad..." This one brought out some other Goofys..." lol...
I couldn't resist sharing ....
Oh, so glad you did. I ought to let old fishdoc know there is a good poop thread again. Too bad she can't remember her password.
I am good Mike. Just biding my time . THis summer should be interesting on MHY.
Kathy
I wasn't Googling Kathy. I subscribe to many different alerts about HCV, liver disease, organ transplantation and gastroenterology. When I get the email alerts I look at the titles of the articles and follow up on what interests me. I couldn't imagine what the title of the subject article referred to vis-a-vis a medical procedure so I took a look at it.
I couldn't resist sharing it because although there is a humorous aspect here there may also be a viable approach to a very serious disease.
I hope all is well with you Bean.
Mike
I wander if there is a market for this. I have a Strainer, Blender, and an old Seal-A-Meal in the Attic. I’ve been thinking about changing careers and I think I would be pretty good at this.
actually Mike, it makes sense. You were probably googling transplantation.
bean
I knew I could count on you. And it's good that you were kinda subtle. Directing people to the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJQsEf70Ti8&feature=related just wouldn't be right.
Now this is too much. Mike, do you sometimes think you have too much time to google? What were you googling anyway?
Hey, goofydad -- I went to Mexico a few years ago and wanted to see a beautiful butterfly called a Malachite which is a bright emerald green - nothing like it in the states. When I finally did spy one, it was on a file of human poop someone had conveniently left on the walking path. The next Malachite I saw was hovering around a public bathroom. Now if anyone mentions that pretty butterfly I just shake my head.
I don't know what you're talking about Eric.
If it's a joke I'm missing it.
Mike
Perhaps the doctor never heard of acidophiles pills. I hate to think of all the people that ate sh*t for nothing.
"Image" problem, yes... but that's the least of its offenses to the senses.
To think all these years I've been flushing good medicine down the toilet...