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Australia gives world-first approval for fecal transplants to restore gut health

theguardian.com

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Re: Australia gives world-first approval for fecal transplants to restore gut health

#41

Post by tsol »

throwaway920102 wrote: post #24
dirtyid wrote: post #20

I can't wait for celebrities to start selling their poop. On serious note, mostly have followed this over years from weight loss literature, wonder if it will be applied in reverse, find the most efficient gut flora and get transplantees to hold on to calorise more efficiently.

I bring this up to friends like once a year. It's only a matter of time until there is the stool-transplant equivalent to a sperm bank. I often feel very fortunate to have had no mental health problems or struggles in my life, especially as I see depression and anxiety take hold in more and more of my friends in my 20s and 30s and for those who've tried literally everything else to no success I wonder what it would b…

There are already places where people who are healthy can sell their poop. They're apparently very selective. And some people do these things themselves at home out of desperation-- so there's also a sort of underground market for the stool of healthy people who never took antibiotics.

Re: Australia gives world-first approval for fecal transplants to restore gut health

#42

Post by GutThing »

jdhendrickson wrote: post #32
GutThing wrote: post #26

I have a gut problem. I don't really know what it is. It's been like 4 or 5 years since it started. Doctors don't seem to know what's going on but basically my stomach acid destroys my throat and I can even feel the acidity in my mouth but I don't have heartburn or any other common symptoms. I've been on omeprazole and other PPI and several more drugs without any improvement. In all these years it stopped for around…

Have you been to a dentist recently? This could be related to bacteria from bad teeth being washed into the stomach which in turn over reacts.

I have no cavities/bad teeth but I don't think that'll last long due the acidity. My last visit at the dentist was a couple months ago.

Re: Australia gives world-first approval for fecal transplants to restore gut health

#43

Post by nanomonkey »

zug_zug wrote: post #34
Mountain_Skies wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're probably correct that keeping the same diet could kill off the transplanted biome but a better diet can't necessarily improve the gut biome if desired microbes have gone extinct in that person. And there are likely cases where a person had the proper diet but some of their gut biome was destroyed by some other factor like a broad-spectrum antibiotic.

Okay makes sense, but exactly how do these diverse bacteria get into our GI tract in the first place if we can't ingest them?

Your mother, and through introduction from your anus and what you eat (a limited amount of bacteria can pass through your stomach, or are harboring in structures that don't fully break down in your stomach before being passed along).

Re: Australia gives world-first approval for fecal transplants to restore gut health

#44

Post by yetanotherloser »

throwaway5752 wrote: post #18
omnicognate wrote: post #4

Is it possible, once scaled up and using an artificial biome as described in the article, that this could be used periodically by people without specific symptoms, as a prophylactic or to improve general health? Or are there reasons that would be a bad idea? Reducing diversity in gut flora, perhaps?

I am not totally ignorant of this subject, but I'd be concerned about the unknowns involved in messing around with the very long term coevolution of gut biomes with particular diets, groups of people, and factors we might not know about yet. For one example, I don't believe that that gut viromes, the ecosystem of viruses that infect the gut biome bacteria, are very well understood. There is real wisdom in "do no harm…

I'm afraid I think the long term coevolution of gut biomes ship sailed around the time we started indiscriminately slaughtering those gut biomes with antibiotics. (not to mention importing large numbers of unfamiliar alternatives through changes in food systems, and at least in some cases raising kids in crazy-sterile environments). So I tend to agree with you that this doesn't seem like a good thing to rush into, but it's interesting as a possible form of repair.

Re: Australia gives world-first approval for fecal transplants to restore gut health

#45

Post by treeman79 »

GutThing wrote: post #26

I have a gut problem. I don't really know what it is. It's been like 4 or 5 years since it started. Doctors don't seem to know what's going on but basically my stomach acid destroys my throat and I can even feel the acidity in my mouth but I don't have heartburn or any other common symptoms. I've been on omeprazole and other PPI and several more drugs without any improvement. In all these years it stopped for around…

I mentioned to a doctor that my weird symptoms stop when I take doxycycline. He declared I had Sjogrens. An autoimmune condition. Says he’s seen that lots of times.

Went and got tested. Doctors told me I was nuts and antibiotics have nothing to do with autoimmune. All results came back positive. Doctors still say nothing related.

Re: Australia gives world-first approval for fecal transplants to restore gut health

#46

Post by atombender »

GutThing wrote: post #26

I have a gut problem. I don't really know what it is. It's been like 4 or 5 years since it started. Doctors don't seem to know what's going on but basically my stomach acid destroys my throat and I can even feel the acidity in my mouth but I don't have heartburn or any other common symptoms. I've been on omeprazole and other PPI and several more drugs without any improvement. In all these years it stopped for around…

I also have GERD without many symptoms. Have you done an upper endoscopy, a barium swallow, and been tested for _H. Pylori_?

I did all of it, which showed mild damage to my esophagus, as well as some signs of stomach inflammation, which I thought was interesting. The radiologist said "everything is just coming right back up" and told me I had severe GERD. Negative for _H. Pylori_.

PPIs (lansaprazole, omeprazole) appeared to do nothing, so I stopped, given that the long-term health risks are negative.

Interesting that you think gut bacteria are related. In medical terms the gut refers to the intestines, not the stomach. I assume you mean stomach bacteria here. There's apparently not a lot that can survive the environment of the stomach, but strep bacteria can.

I recently read that getting more fiber in one's diet can help GERD.

Re: Australia gives world-first approval for fecal transplants to restore gut health

#47

Post by GutThing »

atombender wrote: post #46
GutThing wrote: post #26

I have a gut problem. I don't really know what it is. It's been like 4 or 5 years since it started. Doctors don't seem to know what's going on but basically my stomach acid destroys my throat and I can even feel the acidity in my mouth but I don't have heartburn or any other common symptoms. I've been on omeprazole and other PPI and several more drugs without any improvement. In all these years it stopped for around…

I also have GERD without many symptoms. Have you done an upper endoscopy, a barium swallow, and been tested for _H. Pylori_? I did all of it, which showed mild damage to my esophagus, as well as some signs of stomach inflammation, which I thought was interesting. The radiologist said "everything is just coming right back up" and told me I had severe GERD. Negative for _H. Pylori_. PPIs (lansaprazole, omeprazole) appe…

I had an endoscopy, yes. They said my cardia was always open but that's not usually the cause for my symptoms and even if that was the problem, all the PPI I took would make me feel better.

I've been tested for H. Pylori a couple times, both negative.

I also had a manometry and pHmetry. Esophagus is working well and acidity seems normal.

A part of me feels like it's a lost cause maybe that's why when I see something about stomach/gut research I tend to think it's related to my problems.

Re: Australia gives world-first approval for fecal transplants to restore gut health

#48

Post by samingrassia »

GutThing wrote: post #26

I have a gut problem. I don't really know what it is. It's been like 4 or 5 years since it started. Doctors don't seem to know what's going on but basically my stomach acid destroys my throat and I can even feel the acidity in my mouth but I don't have heartburn or any other common symptoms. I've been on omeprazole and other PPI and several more drugs without any improvement. In all these years it stopped for around…

What you are describing is LPR/respiratory reflux/silent reflux. It’s likely caused by diet, stress and posture that causes issues with the lower esophageal sphincter and unlikely to be bacterial overgrowth.

Check this whole blog out if you can: https://jamiekoufman.com/silent-reflux-silent-night/

Re: Australia gives world-first approval for fecal transplants to restore gut health

#50

Post by AussieWog93 »

throwaway920102 wrote: post #24
dirtyid wrote: post #20

I can't wait for celebrities to start selling their poop. On serious note, mostly have followed this over years from weight loss literature, wonder if it will be applied in reverse, find the most efficient gut flora and get transplantees to hold on to calorise more efficiently.

I bring this up to friends like once a year. It's only a matter of time until there is the stool-transplant equivalent to a sperm bank. I often feel very fortunate to have had no mental health problems or struggles in my life, especially as I see depression and anxiety take hold in more and more of my friends in my 20s and 30s and for those who've tried literally everything else to no success I wonder what it would b…

>It's only a matter of time until there is the stool-transplant equivalent to a sperm bank.

We've had one in Australia for a few years now!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-09/first-public-poo-bank...

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