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Gorski contacted the doctors at Mass General and begged them to seehis daughter. No response. He tried other doctors around thecountry -- no luck. Then one gastroenterologist -- whose hospitalhad barred him from performing the operation on a child -- agreed tohelp. The doctor taught Gorski how to perform this minimahealth asthma Whats Driving Interest in at-Home Fecal Transplants to Cure Disease?lly-invasive procedure at home, which involves using colonoscopy instruments to squirt a diluted stool sample into the large intestine.
In desperation, Gorski scoured the Internet for other cures. Thatshow he learned about a two-year-old girl -- very much like his daughter-- who had beenhealed by a fecal transplantat MassachusettsGeneral Hospital. The doctors collected feces from the girls ther,and they then transplanted his feces into the childs intestines following a bowel-cleansing routine. The goodbacteria from the healthy ther took root in the girls body andrepaired her gastrointestinal tract. Within two days,all traces ofc. difficilevanished from her body.
Gorskis plan may sound medieval, but he could be at the forefrontof a revolution. We are entering the age ofliving medicineswith a growing interest inprobiotics, or microorganisms introduced into the body for their beneficial qualities.Scientists in labs around the country are racing to identify thethousands of bacteria that live in our gut, and to figure out which ofthese species help human beings fight off disease. Ideally, they willbe able to pick out the bugs that help our bodies ward off diabetes,or obesity, or asthma.
Last spring, Maya developedc. difficile, a bacterial gut infectionthat can cause dangerous diarrhea. She caught it aftertaking high doses of antibiotics, Gorski said. Maya stillsuffers from bouts of diarrhea, and Gorski worries that the infectionwill destroy the lining of her intestines and affect her for the restof her life.
health asthma Whats Driving Interest in at-Home Fecal Transplants to Cure Disease?,- Pagan Kennedy is the author of ten books in a variety of genres. A regular contributorto theBoston Globe, she has published articles in dozens ofmagazines and newss, including several sections of theNewYork Times.
Lately, stories about the success of at-home fecal transplants have been spreading across the Internet, and respectedscience writersand researchers have expressed support for the procedure.People are buzzing about thepossibilities.Dr. Lawrence Brandt, the chief ofgastroenterology at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, told methat he receives several emails a week from people begging for fecaltransplants. It used to be just thec. difficilesufferers. But now hehears from people who are hoping to beat diabetes, autism, or obesity.Its not clear whether a gut bacteria can help with these complaints,but nonetheless many patients are hoping for a miracle.
It sounds medieval, but more and more people believe were at the forefront of a revolutionary new kind of medical treatment.
In the meantime, thebest approximation weve got is, well, crap. A healthy persons feces teems with bacteria that keep his or her body running smoothly. Somepatients believe that theyre sick, in part, because theyre missingcrucial species of bacteria. Medical studies show they may be right --childhood asthmaandCrohns disease, for instance, appear to berelated to a disruption of the gut.
Some patients believe theyre sick because theyre missing crucial species of bacteria. Medical studies show they may be right.
Now, Gorski says, Im getting my stool and blood tested to make surethat I dont carry any pathogens. That way Ill be prepared, if thetime comes and I need to donate my bacteria to Maya.
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If his four-year-old daughter gets sick again, Chris Gorski will take adrastic step. He will collect some of his own stool, strain it, andthen transfer it into his daughters body. This procedure -- known as afecal transplant-- has been shown to help people like Chriss daughterMaya. Meanwhile, other patients and scientists hope that this bizarretransplant might work as medicine for a range of diseases, fromasthma to MS.
