Picture this: you're sick, VERY, VERY sick. You could die. The doctor tells you that there is a treatment that could cure you. You're thinking "Bring it on, what are you waiting for?" Then you're told the treatment is a Fecal Transplant.
GROSS!!!!
Fecal bacteriology, fecal transfusion, fecal transplant or human probiotic infusion are all names for the the same thing: the bacteria from a healthy person's feces transferred into the large bowel or rectum of the patient. (have I mentioned gross?)
The procedure is relatively simple. It is a 5 to 10 treatment in which enemas, made of bacterial flora from the feces of a healthy person, are administered to the sick person in a hospital environment. This procedure has been used to treat cases of c. difficile, ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome. The theory is that these illnesses have been caused by a virus that has destroyed the healthy flora that is normally present in the colon and the infusion of donated healthy flora cures the bacterial imbalance in the patient.
I think most people would be willing to undergo the procedure but I highly doubt that they would be bragging about it in bars or around the supper table afterwards.
What do you think?
[Photo Source: Wikimedia]
Comment Preview