Awesome (C. Diff, Part 2 of 2)

The "alternative treatment" is actually fairly simple and one that homeopaths would probably appreciate.

Since the problem is caused by a dearth of normal gut flora (bacteria), the solution would naturally be to re-populate the colon with good germs.  And where else to get the good germs that normally reside in your colon but... in somebody else's healthy feces.

The procedure is as follows*: take a little over an ounce of a healthy person's poop (about half the size of a large Snickers bar), mix with two ounces of normal saline, and blend on high until nice and smooth.  Run the mixture through a coffee filter twice, and administer the elixir through a nasogastric tube (i've heard of it instilled via colonsocopy as well).  The recipient must have prepped beforehand with a few days worth of vancomycin and a few doses of omeprazole (very important steps, as you don't want to have to do it again because you forgot to prep the poor patient!).

I've never had the privilege of doing this procedure, but i believe some of the Infectious Disease doctors in our institution have had success with it.  Due to the "ick" factor, it's often a treatment of last resort - prior to calling a surgeon and taking the whole diseased colon out.

This is extremely is fascinating to me, as it illustrates important dichotomies in medicine: antibiotics, powerful drugs that can save lives, can also cause horrible disease and death.  And feces, shunned as disgusting and a vector of disease, can actually promote health and life.  Truly, in many things, there are both awful and awesome sides that need to be respected and understood.

Anyway, the mere mention of Snickers has made me hungry enough for a snack...

After a hard day's work of curing disease and saving lives, one has to unwind with a nice snack.

Mmmm, Snickers (a full two ounces worth).

Chocolate milk to wash it down.  

Got milk? 

*Source: Aas, et al. Recurrent Clostridium difficile Colitis: Case Series Involving 18 Patients Treated with Donor Stool Administered via a Nasogastric Tube. Clin Infect Dis. (2003) 36 (5):580-585.  Link to the article.

Awful (C. Diff, Part 1 of 2)

Antibiotics are not harmless.  

This may come as a shock to some people.  After all, antibiotics kill germs, and germs cause disease. So what's wrong with that?  

A lot, actually.  

For one, the antibiotic you're given may not kill all of your bad germs.  The ones that are left can develop drug resistance (essentially, immunity to the antibiotic) and/or cause an even nastier infection.  

One of the bad infections i've come across is from an organism called Clostridium difficile, which is somewhat affectionately referred to as "C. Diff."  In short, if you've used antibiotics recently and have killed enough good germs in your gut, C. Diff can gleefully step in, take over your colon, and obliterate it.  

One of the hallmark symptoms is diarrhea.  Not just in the soft-and-could-use-a-little-more-bulk-poop kind of way, but in the belly-hurting, toe-curling, run-to-the-bathroom, explosive-and-sometimes-bloody kind of way.  Imagine doing that once after an ill-advised trip to the Chinese buffet.  Then imagine doing it fifteen times in one night.  See what i mean by "obliterate?"  

(Interestingly, when i was in the RP, C. Diff struck me as kind of a semi-mythical beast, like PE (pulmonary embolism), which was only typically talked about in CPCs (clinico-pathologic conferences).  Or maybe i just wasn't exposed enough.)  

Left unchecked, this type of infection can kill not just your social life, but YOU.  So it's always important to talk to your healthcare provider about whether or not antibiotics are really needed for your current illness, or if you can fix it with just rest and fluids.  It's not advisable to press him or her for them "just in case it helps."  

Thankfully, there is a treatment for C. Diff, if not a guaranteed cure.  But ironically, it mostly consists of... more antibiotics.  If however this treatment didn't work (or if you just flat-out refused to take any more antibiotics - which i'm certainly not advocating, since they do have their place), there is another way that is near and dear to my heart.  

TO BE CONCLUDED