Fecal Transfusion May Treat the Following Diseases and Conditions

Fecal transfusion is the process of taking stool from a normal healthy person and transplanting it into someone who is suffering from a disease in an attempt to treat or cure that disease. We present many of the theories about why some diseases and conditions might be treatable by fecal transfusion.

Chronic Constipation and Fecal Transfusion
Many of the first patients treated with fecal transfusion were suffering from chronic constipation. Often these patients suffered not only constipation, but bloating, gastric reflux, esophageal reflux, and heartburn. These patients, who suffered from tiny, hard stools, were often taking laxatives for years before treatment. After fecal transfusion, their intestinal flora was restored, they began to have large bulky stools again, and the constipation went away.

It has already been shown that stool from constipated humans placed into lab rats will cause constipation in the laboratory rats. The theory is that constipation may be an infection or a toxin inside the gut. By replenishing the intestinal flora, making it normal again, some forms of constipation can be treated or cured.

Bloating and Heartburn
Bloating and heartburn may be caused by constipation. Once the colon is diseased with abnormal flora, everything backs up, causing bloating and heartburn. Of course, another well known cause of heartburn is the bacteria helicobacter pylori, which is now thought to be the major cause of peptic ulcer disease thanks to research by Australian physicians.

Diarrhea
The National Institute of Health defines diarrhea as: "Diarrhea = loose, watery stools occurring more than three times in one day." The NIH defines chronic diarrhea as diarrhea that lasts for more than three weeks.

Viruses, bacteria, and parasites are all known to cause diarrhea. Fecal transfusion can sometimes treat diarrhea by rapidly restoring the intestinal flora back to normal.

There are many bacteria that classically cause diarrhea such as

• Salmonella enteritidis
• Campylobacter jejuni
• Escherichia coli (E. coli)
• Shigella
• Staphylococcus
• and Clostridia difficile.

Diseases caused by these bacteria include:

• Montezuma's revenge
• cholera
• food poisoning
• salmonellosis
• shigellosis
• campilobacteriosis.

Many diseases are also associated with diarrhea; diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and many others.

Other things such as lactose intolerance, food allergies, and stress are also said to cause diarrhea.

Clostridium difficile diarrhea and Fecal Transfusion
The very best documented indication for fecal transfusion is chronic Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection of the gut. C. difficile is a spore forming bacteria. It produces spores, which you can think of as little seeds that are more difficult to kill by heat, cold, or antibiotics.

Classically, people are given antibiotics for one problem, and this causes C. difficile to grow, or overgrow inside the gut, giving them another problem! C. difficile infection can cause a condition known as "pseudomembranous colitis." So, C. difficile causes a classic antibiotic associated diarrhea, because the normal flora is altered and the pathologic bacteria overtakes the gut.

C. difficile produces a toxin, which can be tested for in the stool. C. difficile infection causes foul smelling, watery stools, and blood and mucous may appear in the stool.

Some medical papers about fecal transfusion curing C. difficile infection include:

"Flora Power"––Fecal Bacteria Cure Chronic C. difficile Diarrhea.

Thomas J. Borody M.D., F.R.A.C.P., F.A.C.G.

Centre for Digestive Diseases, Sydney, Australia.

The American Journal of Gastroenterology, Volume 95, Issue 11 , November 2000, Pages 3028-3029.

Treatment of Recurrent Clostridium difficile-Associated Diarrhea by Administration of Donated Stool Directly Through a Colonoscope.
Persky SE, Brandt LJ. Division of Gastroenterology, Montefiore Medical Center, The Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10467, USA.

Ulcerative Colitis
Ulcerative colitis literally means ulcers inside the colon. It is also more broadly defined as inflammation of the colon.

The NIH says: " Theories about what causes ulcerative colitis abound, but none have been proven. The most popular theory is that the body's immune system reacts to a virus or a bacterium by causing ongoing inflammation in the intestinal wall." (http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/digest/pubs/colitis/colitis.htm).

A report has appeared in the medical literature in which several patients were cured of ulcerative colitis by fecal transfusion therapy.

Treatment of ulcerative colitis using fecal bacteriotherapy.
Borody TJ, Warren EF, Leis S, Surace R, Ashman O.

Centre for Digestive Diseases, 144 Great North Rd, Five Dock NSW 2046, Australia

Clin Gastroenterol. 2003 Jul;37(1):42-7.

Six patients with ulcerative colitis were treated with fecal transfusion after their bowel was prepped with antibiotics and oral polyethylene glycol massage. By four months post-treatment the patients were cured.

(Abstract (c) July 5, 2003 FecalTransfusionFoundation.org).

Irritable Bowel Disease
Irritable Bowel Disease, or IBS, has puzzled doctors for years. It is said to be a disease in which "the intestines do not function normally." Whatever that means!

A new theory is that irritable bowel disease is caused by abnormal or harmful flora inside the gastrointestinal system. By replacing the abnormal flora with normal flora, the intestines may start to function normally again.

Parasites
Many parasites can cause abdominal trouble. Many of them, such as Giardia lamblia (giardiasis), Entamoeba histolytica, and Cryptosporidium, are known to cause diarrhea. And they can be chronic, difficult to treat, infectious.

Blastocystis hominis is also a worldwide parasite, often in the water supply, and exactly what symptoms it causes are controversial. It may cause all kinds of problems, including heartburn, constipation, and diarrhea.

Often patients with abdominal symptoms don't even get tested for parasites. The theory is that by treating parasitic infection with antiparasitic medications, or antibiotics, the gut can be cleaned of the parasites. And by then doing a fecal transfusion, the patient can be assured of the gut returning to normal, instead of over-growth of some harmful microbe occurring again.

Beer Belly
Men who drink beer on a daily basis often seem to develop what is called a "beer belly," meaning a protruding abdomen. What causes "beer belly," seems to be unknown. One theory is that alcohol poisons the nerve endings inside the intestines and causes decreased intestinal motility, which slowly backs up the intestines, increasing its pressure on the abdominal muscles, and thus the gut protrudes.

Another theory is that alcohol, especially beer, may alter the flora of the gut. Beer may contain live yeast, and it is possible that yeast is the culprit, perhaps replacing normal bacterial flora. So, the theory is that fecal transfusion therapy might fix a slow-downed intestinal system due to beer drinking.

Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease, according to conventional medicine, has no known cause. Recently Parkinson's has received renewed publicity because the television and movie star, Micheal J. Fox, is suffering from it. What many people don't realize is that Michael J. Fox was only one of "four people who worked at a Canadian TV studio in the 1970s that came down with Parkinson's disease." (Source Michael J. Fox website.)

The theory is that Parkinson's disease may be cause by a bacterium that gets inside the gut, probably from ingesting food, and that the bacteria takes up residence and then begins to secrete toxins which slowly poison the brain causing Parkinson's disease.

This could explain the cluster effect that is sometimes seen with Parkinson's disease.

Autism
Autism is a disease that affects young children during the first three years of life. It is said to affect 2 to 6 per 1,000 individuals. Traditional medicine has not found a cause for autism.

Some suspect that autism may be caused by an intestinal infection or toxin. One theory is that it is caused by a toxin secreted by a clostridia strain of bacteria, perhaps similar to Clostridium tetani, the bacteria that cause tetanus.

It may even be that it is the mother who is infected and the bacterial toxin crosses the placenta during pregnancy.

The important thing is that, if autism is caused by an intestinal infection or a toxin being secreted by a harmful bacteria inside the gut, the disease might be treatable and reversible if the gut is cleared of bad bacteria and replaced with good bacteria via fecal transfusion.

This is a very interesting line of inquiry and could lead to a treatment for horrible disease with no known cause or cure.

Weakened Immunity Improved by Fecal Transfusion
Our large and small intestines have a huge impact upon our immune systems. When we are born our intestines begin to be seeded by beneficial bacteria that come from breast feeding, or bottle feeding, and eventually by the intake of food and water.

Our bowel flora is literally a living organ that provides us with nutrients and vitamins throughout life. The problem is, the longer we live, the more we are exposed to harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites that might take up residence in our intestines. These harmful bacteria don't provide us with the nutrients or vitamins that we need. Indeed, they may even produce toxins that directly poison us. These all drags down our immune system and allows things to flare up, such as normally suppressed viral infections, or other health problems that a healthy immune system would otherwise keep in check.

The theory says that by doing fecal transfusion, a person's immune system could be revved up or restored to normal. Things such as chronic fatigue, tiredness, arthritis, or mental cloudiness might disappear.

Arthritis
Are all the aches and pains of old age really normal, or are they caused by the accumulation of harmful bacteria inside the gut as people get older? That is the question one theory poses about arthritis being caused by bacteria or toxins.

If true, by replacing a persons old, abnormal, diseased flora, with the gut flora of a young healthy person, many of the aches and pains of old age could go away.

Nocturia
Nocturia means waking up at night and having to urinate. A lot of things are know to cause nocturia such as drinking too many fluids near bedtime, intake of drugs such as caffeine, theophylline, and alcohol, and heart problems with peripheral edema, congestive heart failure, and prostate or bladder problems.

Another cause of nocturia may be having an abnormal gut flora. The intestines are our bodies' "third space," where water is stored after the blood, and the cells. If the intestines are infected, or microbes are producing toxins inside the gut, there can be abnormal fluid retention according to this theory. Then when the person lays down at night to sleep, the extra fluid may go into the bloodstream, be flushed by the kidneys, and then enter the bladder causing nocturia.

Viruses
Many viruses can cause diarrhea. Some of the classic ones are rotavirus, Norwalk virus, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, and viral hepatitis. But since most viral infections of the gut are acute and self-limiting, little research has been done on chronic viral infections that may be cause gastrointestinal symptoms.

Copyright
Copyright © July 5, 2003 FecalTransfusionFoundation.org

The first version of this essay was written July 5, 2003.