Drugs/Therapy

Pills Made From Poop Could Cure Gut Infections

By Kamal Nayan | Update Date: Oct 04, 2013 09:38 AM EDT

Bacteria extracted from human poop are the main ingredients of pills that may help treat patients with intestinal infections.

A total of 32 patients were the part of a new study, each of them with recurrent Clostridium difficile. The Clostridium difficile is a bacterial infection that causes severe diarrhea and can be dangerous as well as deadly. The infection might occur after people take antibiotics, which often wipe out “good” bacteria out.

“Pills are a great option because they’re easier for patients to take, and don’t involve costly, invasive procedures,” Louie said in a press release. “And some patients fail to respond to enemas (because of incontinence), and cannot tolerate nose tubes for medical reasons”, he added.

Poop transplants is formally known as fecal microbiota transplantation. It has been previously shown to be an efficient way to treat C. difficlie infections.

Researchers made the pills by first processing donor fecal matter until it contained only bacteria. Then they put the bacteria into three-layer capsules that don’t disintegrate easily.

“Many people might find the idea of fecal transplantation off-putting, but those with recurrent infection are thankful to have a treatment that works. It is still early research, but it may be a good option for patients who just can’t break the cycle of repeated C. difficile infections.” Louie said.

The study was presented on Oct. 3 in San Francisco, at IDWeek. IDWeek is a meeting of several professional medical organizations which also includes the Infectious Disease Society of America and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

Louie is positive with the findings and sees the potential for the poop pills. This involves other people with out-of whack gut bacteria.

“This approach, to me, has wide application in medicine,  So it's not just about C-diff.” he said, according to Fox News.

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