Article: A Promising Pill, Not So Hard to Swallow

Previously:

Studies show that transplanting feces in liquid form from healthy people to patients with stubborn Clostridium difficile infections can stop the wrenching intestinal symptoms (pain, cramping, diarrhea], apparently by restoring healthy gut bacteria.

The current process is long and labor intensive. However, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston found they could make a capsule version that is easier to administer.

Inside the experimental capsule is human feces — strained, centrifuged and frozen. Taken for just two days, the preparation can cure a dangerous bacterial infection that has defied antibiotics and kills 14,000 Americans each year, researchers said Saturday.

Their study was small and preliminary, but results were striking: 19 of 20 patients with C. difficile infections were cured of diarrhea and related symptoms. Most saw improvements after one two-day round of pills, the rest after two or three rounds, said Dr. Ilan Youngster, the lead investigator.

The coolness factor here is the counter-intuitive simplicity of the treatment (fecal transplantation) in the first place.  And that people are being cured.