Question

1. Currently FMT can only be used to treat C. difficile infections if a hospital is enrolled in a clinical trial. Fecal transplants have been proposed to treat Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis (an autoimmune disease), obesity, and a host of other diseases. Discuss the appropriateness of this therapy for these diseases

2. When babies are born by Caesarean section, they do not get exposed to the same microbes as babies delivered by vaginal birth. Research suggests there may be negative consequences to this and studies are now being conducted where babies born by C-section are smeared with gauze incubated in their mother’s "lady part" to pick up the microbes that would colonize a baby born by vaginal birth. What are your thoughts on this? Are there any potential negative consequences to this

3. Companies such as Ubiome allow you to send in samples from various parts of your body and they will send you an analysis of your microbiome for a fee. Is this information valuable

Answer 1

A) FMT (Fecal microbiota transplant) is a process in which fecal bacteria and other microbes from a healthy individual is being transfered to a recepient to fight with the diarrhea causing C. difficile microbes.

Crohns disease is a long term condition in which the GI tract becomes inflamed and the main symptoms are diarrhea and stomach pain.

FMT can be used to treat Crohns disease ,it can help to control the symptoms but it does not cure crohns disease.

The success rate of FMT on Multiple sclerosis and obese patients are still a topic for many research.It can help to control the symptoms but it does not cure the disease condition.

B)while normal vaginal birth baby get exposed to the mothers vaginal microbes that can cause potential infections to the baby especially if the mother is having STDs.

Exposing baby to the vaginal microbes can be dangerous as it can cause severe infections to the newborn.