Doctors try ‘poo pills’ to flush out dangerous superbugs 2 hours ago James Gallagher Health and science correspondent•@JamesTGallagher UK doctors are attempting to clear dangerous superbug infections using “poo pills” containing freeze-dried faeces.
Early data suggests superbugs can be flushed out of the dark murky depths of the bowel and replaced with a mix of healthy gut bacteria.
‘,” says Dr Merrick.
If poo pills are proven to work against superbugs in larger studies then the researchers think they could be used for both treatment and prevention in people at risk.
“A lot of these individuals come to a lot of harm from drug resistant organisms,” Dr Merrick.
To get rid of harmful superbugs, doctors try “poo pills.”.
Two hours earlier.
James Gallagher.
• @JamesTGallagher, health and science correspondent.
UK doctors are trying to use “poo pills” made from freeze-dried feces to treat dangerous superbug infections.
The stool samples are full of beneficial bacteria and come from donors who are in good health.
According to preliminary findings, a variety of beneficial gut bacteria can replace superbugs once they are flushed out of the bowel’s murky, dark interior.
It is a novel strategy to combat antibiotic-resistant infections, which are estimated to kill one million people annually.
Dr. Blair Merrick, who has been testing the pills at Guys and St. Thomas’ hospitals, says the focus is on the intestines because they are “the biggest reservoir of antibiotic resistance in humans.”.
Superbugs that are resistant to drugs have the ability to spread from their intestinal home and cause problems elsewhere in the body, including bloodstream or urinary tract infections.
Dr. Merrick explains, “There is a lot of interest in ‘can you get rid of them from the gut?'”.
The notion of poo-pills isn’t as absurd as it may appear. Trans-poo-tion, another name for fecal transplants, is already authorized to treat severe diarrhea brought on by the Clostridium difficile bacteria.
However, researchers found indications that fecal transplants for C. Superbugs also appeared to be eliminated by difficile.
Patients who experienced an infection from drug-resistant bacteria within the previous six months have been the focus of recent studies.
They received medications made from feces that had been donated to a stool bank.
After removing any undigested food and testing to make sure there are no dangerous insects present, each stool sample is freeze-dried to create a powder.
This is contained in a pill that can travel easily through the stomach and into the intestines, where it dissolves and releases its powdery, poopy payload.
The trial was conducted on 41 patients at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ hospitals in London in order to establish the foundation for a more extensive investigation.
It revealed that patients were willing to take a poop pill and that, at least a month later, the donated bacteria were still found in the intestines.
Dr. Merrick claims that there are “really promising signals” that poo pills could help combat the growing problem of superbugs. He also suggests that donor bacteria may be engaging in a microbial war with the superbugs as they vie for food and space on the gut lining, either driving them out of the body entirely or “reducing them down to a level that doesn’t cause problems.”.
“I find it really thrilling. “We now realize that bacteria and viruses are absolutely necessary to our overall health, whereas twenty years ago, they were thought to be harmful,” Dr. Merrick says.
Scientists demonstrated earlier this week that the beneficial bacteria our bodies come into contact with in the hours following our birth appear to cut the risk of hospitalization for lung infections in young children by half.
Our microbiome, which includes bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms, outnumbers the human cells that make up our bodies.
This has prompted studies that link the microbiome to mental health, cancer, and Crohn’s disease.
The researchers believe that if poo pills are shown to be effective against superbugs in larger studies, they could be used to treat and prevent superbugs in vulnerable individuals.
The body may become more vulnerable as a result of medical treatments that weaken the immune system, such as organ transplants and cancer treatments.
“Drug-resistant organisms cause a great deal of harm to many of these people,” Dr. Merrick said.
There are currently over 450 microbiome medications under development, according to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency, the UK’s drug regulator.
The MHRA’s head of microbiome research, Dr. Chrysi Sergaki, stated, “I do think we will see them coming through quite soon, as some of them will succeed.”.
In the long run, there is a lot of promise that we might eventually use microbiome [therapies] in place of antibiotics. “..”.
