# Fecal transplantation: Is it for you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158 "2011-01-10T23:35:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/41 "2011-01-11T20:02:17Z")
> [@lisacurl](#): > > It’s not actually poo, it’s just the bacteria from someone else’s gut? Sure, I don’t have a problem with that. It sounds like it _is_ actually poo—without undigested food, says Dr. Mercotan. > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Actually, they do process it, removing the undigested food. But it contains such a wide number of different species of bacteria, and subspecies to boot, that trying to grow them all in the correct ratios in a petri dish would be rather difficult. A strain or three that turn out to be vital for positive effects might not thrive there, and then be absent from the transplanted material. You’d have a hard time convincing me that this is worse than dying of a horrible infection. But it still seems so barbaric. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/42 "2011-01-11T20:17:44Z")
Yeah. You’d think with all the great advances in technology we’ve made that we’d have gotten to a point where we wouldn’t have to insert poo into people to cure them. Then again, sometimes I feel that way about childbirth. With all our great scientific/medical strides, there’s no neat, clean easy way to just decant a kid Brave New World style. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/43 "2011-01-11T20:54:34Z")
“…donor stool is delivered from below through a colonoscope or retention enema, **or from above through a nasogastric or nasoduodenal tube** …” [faints] ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/44 "2011-01-11T21:06:46Z")
You’d have to convince me that I wasn’t being filmed for the New Candid Camera show (or something of that sort). But after I was certain that it wasn’t an elaborate prank, I would be ok with it. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/45 "2011-01-11T21:11:04Z")
I had a very bad experience with C. Diff. I was in India about 10 years ago and fell victim to a bad GI infection (from eating street food). I went from 165 to 145 pounds in 3-4 days. So my uncle, the doctor, prescribed an antibiotic that worked. Unfortunately, he never told me to stop taking it once my symptoms got better. I assumed that I should take the whole course, since that was the rule with all the antibiotics I’d ever taken. I felt great until I got back home and started having the same symptoms. After a week of torture, my doc here found C. Diff. So I took some other antibiotic to fix the flora issue. But it was torturous. If a fecal transplant was necessary, I would do it in a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/46 "2011-01-11T21:30:13Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I want you all to know I’m here for you, and I know you’d do the same for me. Group hug! I’d expect someone with your nick to have serious reservations about handing over perfectly good shit … 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/47 "2011-01-11T21:35:41Z")
> [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](#): > > There was a [NY Times article](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/science/13micro.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&ref=science&adxnnlx=1294711233-iDa6+cGWrDIwFCQcWdJAog) about this over the summer. > > I’d do it, no problem. From your link: \* “The cost of goods is low, unlikely to be in short supply, and unlikely to be addictive. It is obvious that feces have the right stuff,” Dr. Gerding said. \* > > Also, _“You need to dedicate a blender” for the procedure, Dr. Bakken noted._ And, _“Severe [C. difficile infection] represents the single situation when you should be willing to take crap from your spouse,” Dr. Bakken joked._ > > I guess these guys have had a lot of time while blending turd slurries to come up with some good jokes. Blending turd slurry. Blending. Turd. Slurry. Blending. Turd. Slurry. Oh my God I am going to vomit. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/48 "2011-01-11T21:40:00Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I’d expect someone with your nick to have serious reservations about handing over perfectly good shit … 😉 For some reason, there always seems to be enough to go around. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/49 "2011-01-11T21:50:59Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > I had originally read the title as “Fecal trepanation”. > > That seemed problematic, logistics wise. Unless you use coprolites I suppose. \_\_\_\_ \\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/50 "2011-01-11T21:51:40Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > For some reason, there always seems to be enough to go around. My nick hints at why this may not be the case … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/51 "2011-01-11T22:31:45Z")
So - all the AtM porn is now considered Public Service announcments? ---
**Author:** ![Kalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/df705f/32.png) [@Kalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalypso)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/52 "2011-01-11T23:15:55Z")
Sure I’d do it. I’d even opt for it before antibiotics If I could. Antibiotics generally make me a bit ill, and I’m allergic to several kinds. The fecal transplant sounds like it works really fast with no ill effects, and it’s not as if I’d be going at a plate of poo logs with a knife and fork or anything like that. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/53 "2011-01-11T23:29:27Z")
Would do it. Shit, yeah. Incidentally, we would use the same concept when starting a new fish tank. Get an old, dirty sponge or bit of gauze from the filter of an existing healthy tank and put it in the new one. The sponge would be chock full of fish poop and various other flotsam and jetsam from a fish tank – along with (and this is key) an active, stable bacterial culture. Works like a charm to establish a new tank, and you don’t need to buy any additives (providing your local water just has chlorine in it). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/54 "2011-01-12T01:15:34Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I heard that the infants of some animal species, such as koalas, consume their mother’s feces in order to build up a colony of digestive bacteria. I’d undergo the procedure (not orally natch, but by transplantation, just to clarify things.) if my life depended on it. I assume all sterile precautions would be undertaken to prevent infection by undesirable illnesses as a result of the operation. It is a common medical procedure to simmer Koala feces in hot water and serve the resulting tea to those encountering various illnesses. Recently Mercy Hospital resumed this practice, but received complaints that there were chunks of Koala crap floating in the concoction. Patients were informed that… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/55 "2011-01-12T01:19:06Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > “…donor stool is delivered from below through a colonoscope or retention enema, **or from above through a nasogastric or nasoduodenal tube** …” > > [faints] Does anyone else picture a a tube going from one person’s ass to the other’s nose? “Okay…you inhale and you push” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/56 "2011-01-12T01:21:44Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Does anyone else picture a a tube going from one person’s ass to the other’s nose? > “Okay…you inhale and you push” I think there was a scene like that in **Jackass II**. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/57 "2011-01-17T20:00:27Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Why would they sedate you for an enema? I don’t think it’s a simple enema. They insert a tube up into the colon or even into the small intestine. They want to get the donation as high into the gut as possible. When I’ve had colonoscopies, I’ve been sedated. Folks who haven’t say they are painful. I imagine it’s similar, and would rather be out for the whole experience. > [@Scarlett67](#): > > William A. Nolen has an anecdote about this procedure in his book _The Making of a Surgeon,_ about his surgical training at Bellevue Hospital in NYC. That may have occurred, but it is not _this_ procedure. This procedure might blend it with milk, but inserts a tube all the way down to the stomach or below, and feeds the concoction through the tube. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/58 "2011-01-17T20:22:19Z")
I think this happened to a crazy friend of mine once. Of course it was totally by accident. ---
**Author:** ![llazzllo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@llazzllo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llazzllo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/59 "2011-01-18T14:21:45Z")
Oddly enough, my sister has been suffering with C.Diff for over a year now. I forwarded the article to her… ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/60 "2011-01-18T21:49:38Z")
If they use a nasal tube, I would demand that it not be of the clear variety. You see the “mixture” sloooooowly coming up the tube… closer… closer! : shudders : I’d do it if necessary, but like a firing squad, a blindfold is necessary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158.md?page=4)