Frozen Poop to Fight Obesity? Experts Believe Freeze Dried Feces Pills Can Improve Weight Loss
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Scientists are attempting a novel way of tackling obesity. By using fecal matter from a healthy person's gut, 20 volunteers will see if the transplanted microbes can affect a person's weight.
A team of scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital, led by Elaine Yu, will select 20 overweight patients to undergo the study listed under ClinicalTrials.gov. Men and women, between 25 and 60 years of age, will be asked to take a pill containing freeze-dried poop every day.
According to the Medical Daily, half of the patients will be given a daily dose of the drug while the rest will be given a placebo. No restrictions will be placed on the individual's current diet or work out habits.
Daily Mail says the weight and health of the respondents at the 3rd, 6th and 12th month. Depending on the results, there is a possibility that the study will last for more than a year.
A Quartz report indicated that this is not the first study involving fecal matter. Last year, tablets containing frozen poop were given to patients to see if the microbes could help treat a deadly infection in the gut.
The fatal bug was identified as the Clostridium difficile. By introducing healthy microbes, the UK-based publication said that the ailment was successfully treated in 18 out of 20 patients.
Tests involving obese and lean mice show how microbes can influence weight gain. In 2013, Mirror reported that Jeffrey Gordon from St. Louis' Washington University conducted an experiment using mice.
Microbes were taken from a set of twins where one was overweight while the other was slim. Each mouse was given a set of microbes from either the lean or obese donor.
According to the source, although all the subjects were given the same diet, the mice that received the overweight donor's microbes gained weight while the mice that received the lean donor's microbes remained slim.
Administering fecal manner using capsules has one critical challenge, which is how to make the fecal matter remain solid until it reaches the small intestine. The medical website says feces is normally watery, potentially dissolving the capsule's walls within minutes.
OpenBiome has figured out a way to make the feces remain in solid form before it hits the small intestine.
The Sun Times said that researchers are looking into conducting additional studies into microbes. If the volunteers do lose weight then further studies will be conducted to see which specific microbes affect weight.
