During our discussions of IBD these past weeks, the helminthic treatment kept reminding me of an equally gross treatment: fecal transplant. I mentioned it in class, but decided to do a bit more research on it and share it with you guys. Typically, fecal microbotia transplant (FMT) is used to treat Clostridium difficile, a bacteria that causes severe diarrhea and other intestinal issues, which occurs in people who are usually in and out of the hospital and have been on several antibiotics for an extended period of time. The antibiotics wipe out the "good bacteria" in their gut and the C. difficile bacteria takes over. FMT has proved to be very successful in treating and overcoming C. difficile, and patients agree that the relief from this devastating infection (which can sometimes lead to life-threatening issues) far outweighs the "gross factor" associated with the treatment which involves infusions of a donor's stool (sometimes a relative's) either through enema, colonoscope, or nasogastric tube.
During my research of FMT I came across some articles and blogs that mentioned FMT as a treatment for IBD. Most of the research is relatively new and inconclusive, however, one article, presented a few cases from research articles where recurrent FMT was successful in actually reversing IBD. According to researchers from the Center for Digestive Diseases in Australia, "FMT may act as an antagonist to etiological infective agent(s) and aid
in re-establishing depleted bacterial species, thereby reversing IBD." The article describes the gruesome, painful symptoms that the IBD patients experience, similar to the article we read with the women with IBD/IBS testimonials. I wonder if those women would consider FMT as a treatment.
Since this article is from 2011, I only hope more research is being done on FMT treating or even reversing IBD. I wonder which treatment would work better; helminthic or FMT, and which would patients choose?
Article can be found here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111031114945.htm
When I first heard this in class, I was quite disturbed just because the thought of using a donor’s fecal matter as a treatment for IBD and putting it in my body sounded horrifying. After the initial shock of this idea, I was interested to find out more about it. I found FMT and helminthes very interesting because they’re far from the conventional methods of treatments we use in the US. I didn’t think the usage of helminthes as a treatment was that farfetched because there people all around the world who eat insects for recreational and medicinal purposes. On the other hand, FMT seemed like something only done by animals such as rabbits and koala bears. I know that immediately after birth, these animals ingest feces from their mothers in order to obtain certain gut microbiota which is important for proper digestion. I’ve looked at a few articles as well and they appear to be going off the same concept. The articles I’ve looked at are fairly new and have been published within the past couple years. I believe this method of treatment has great potential in treating IBD because a lot of patients with IBD possess an abnormal level of gut microbiota which causes damage. I want to say FMT is a better option for a treatment because the concept seems connected to the cause of this disease, but too little research has been done to make a definitive answer. The majority of research that has been done showed inconclusive results and a clear connection between gut microbiota and IBD has not been made. I wonder if both helminthes and FMT were administered simultaneously, would the results of successful treatments be greater.
ReplyDeleteI work in a nursing home and work with many patients who have or have had C. difficile. It is a disease that really gets in the way of living your life normally and not worrying about when you will get a sudden spell of diarrhea. Even though a fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) sounds disgusting, it is worth it because of the relief it gives these patients.
ReplyDeleteI would think the FMT would work better to treat inflammatory bowl disease because it is bacteria that should be in your body and is part of a natural human body process. The helminths aren't naturally in our body, so I feel like there could be more issues or long-term problems by this method of treatment.
I tried to do some research but as Anny was saying, I couldn't find much on studying FMT as a method of treatment for IBD. I think that there should be more research done on this topic because it would be great if FMT would work as a treatment.
As disgusting as this treatment sounds, if I had IBD and had to pick between the current treatment and this procedure, I would probably choose the latter. Using Crohn’s as an example, current treatments include medications such as mesalamine, corticosteroids, and immunosuppressive drugs. Mesalamine and corticosteroids are primarily used to control the inflammation, relieving the symptoms of Crohn's disease and immunosuppressive drugs are used to block the inflammation, however they have quite intense side effects. Surgery can also be used to treat Crohn's disease when pharmaceuticals fail to control the symptoms, however this only relieves symptoms for a short time. Although limited, the majority of evidence suggests that Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) may be an effective and largely safe alternative treatment for IBD. Most patients feel improvement after just one treatment, and it seems that there is no disadvantage in using donors who are not genetically similar. This also opens the possibility of making artificial or modified stool transplants to make the treatment more effective, safer, and adaptable to the patient. Maybe I might wait since this procedure is still in it’s early stages and not readily available at all major hospitals but research is promising, and as mentioned earlier, commonly seen in the animal kingdom.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/crohns-disease/DS00104/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs
http://treato.com/Fecal+Transplant/?a=s