Doesn't halfhuman.org just sound like a spooky website?! Zombies maybe?
Is there a day in the US that more sweets are consumed by kids than Halloween? Imagine all the resulting microbiome effects...the sugar loving microbes LIVE for this day. They are having a big party, while all the other bacteria are sitting around rolling their eyes Onward! Jimmy
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The first fecal transplantation case that I reviewed involved a gentleman who was very ill with a common antibiotic-induced colon condition called C. difficile colitis. Despite multiple trials of treatment with the usual medications, his condition worsened. He was advised to undergo a fecal transplant, whereby stool from a healthy donor is "transplanted" into the recipient's intestines. He refused. This was an educated man, an attorney, but he just couldn't get past the idea of someone else's poop inside him. Only after his condition substantially deteriorated to the point of being admitted to the ICU did he agree to the simple procedure. He was discharged home, asymptomatic, within 3 days.
“eat s#*t and die”
The definitive definition: “I command you to eat s#*t (which is the most putrid experience one can imagine as a living being) and then die (which many view as the most undesirable state of being….).” —Urban Dictionary Since first learning of lifesaving “fecal transplants” being done on patients suffering complications of antibiotic therapy, I have been fascinated with the idea that one can actually “eat sh*t and live.” Imagine. More than half of the DNA in our bodies is not our own; it’s not even human. Let that sink in. In 2001 Joshua Lederberg coined the term “human microbiome” to “signify the ecological community of…microorganisms that literally share our body space and have been all but ignored as determinants of health and disease.” I recently read of the case of a thin woman who, upon becoming severely ill after taking antibiotics, received a successful fecal transplant from her obese sister…only to subsequently gain substantial weight herself. Scientists have used such cases to support evidence that our microbiomes strongly impact—if not control—human conditions as varied as obesity, diabetes, and depression. Over recent years, I have watched my own grandfather progress from what was initially only a mild tremor in one hand to having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Research has shown that patients with such neurological conditions have certain unique features in their microbiomes, and I am determined to learn more about this. While I may not be able to impact my grandfather’s life, perhaps I can help further our knowledge in such a way to help my parents, my friends, or my children. Jimmy Underwood January, 2018 |
AuthorWhen Jimmy Underwood isn't blogging, he's probably either singing, studying in his room, or binge-watching The Office...or perhaps all of the above. Archives
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