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C diff (Clostridium difficile) sounds an awful lot like a rapper from the '90s, but it's actually a strain of bacteria that lives in all of our stomachs. Usually, it's pretty chill and gets along great with all the other bacteria living in our guts. But our bodies are an incredibly delicate ecosystem — just look at what happens when your body temperature goes up a few degrees. If something upsets your internal balance, the consequences can be dire.
So when that C diff bacteria starts to outnumber the rest of its bacteria buddies, look out.
The most common symptoms are severe diarrhea and intense abdominal pain, which don't sound that bad until you realize over half a million people in the United States suffer from a C diff infection every year — and about 1 in 30 of them die as a result.
Even worse? C diff is a particularly unwieldy bacteria to treat. Antibiotic treatment tends to just wipe out even more of the good bacteria in our guts, allowing the C diff infection to grow stronger and stronger.
GIFs from MinuteEarth.
This is where your poop comes into play. Yes, yours!
The founders of OpenBiome, James Burgess and Mark Smith, opened their doors after watching a close friend suffer through a brutal seven-month battle with Clostridium difficile.
James Burgess and Mark Smith. Photos from OpenBiome.org.
Fortunately, that friend turned out OK in the end.
Because a poop transplant saved their friend's life.
Yep. That's right. A fecal microbiota transplantation, or FMT. Think of it as a blood transfusion, only, you know, with poop.
Ever since their friend's ordeal, Burgess and Smith have dedicated their lives to improving access to and the effectiveness of these "poop transplants." And they need poop donors like you and me to make it all happen.
Here's how FMT works:
When it comes to your basic case of diarrhea, a doctor might recommend some probiotics, like yogurt or other dairy products. But these simple treatments just don't offer enough good bacteria to overpower the growing C diff in an infected patient's gut.
In an FMT, someone with healthy bacteria (or normal poop) donates a sample to be given to the C diff patient — usually through one of the two horrible ways noted in the video below (nanogastric tube or fecal enema).
OpenBiome, however, has pioneered a frozen capsule method that's far less invasive.
From there, it (usually) doesn't take long for the transplanted bacterial community to become dominant, which stabilizes the patient's digestive system and makes the diarrhea go away. Hooray!
It all hinges on donations from healthy folks like yourself. And OpenBiome is willing to make it worth your while.
Bet you never thought someone would be willing to pay you up to $40 for a sample of your poo, but that's exactly what Burgess and Smith are proposing. If you're up for donating five times a week, you could wind up pocketing nearly $13,000 per year!
Now the bad news. It's REALLY tough to get approved to be a donor. For starters, you have to be near one of OpenBiome's Massachusetts collection centers to donate. You also have to be between the ages of 18 and 50 and able to make at least four donations a week, which may or may not be a problem for you.
But if you can, join the program and donate your healthy waste to people who need it.
This kind of icky science has a hard time gaining support (because you know, ICK!) even though it's currently saving lives in more than 290 hospitals in 45 states and five countries.
If you can't give a sample, at least spread the word about the amazing work OpenBiome is doing.
One way or another, they need people to start giving a crap. Literally.
And don't forget to check out the video below from MinuteEarth for more on how FMTs work.
Should a man lose his home because the grass in his yard grew higher than 10 inches? The city of Dunedin, Florida seems to think so.
According to the Institute of Justice, which is representing Jim Ficken, he had a very good reason for not mowing his lawn – and tried to rectify the situation as best he could.
In 2014, Jim's mom became ill and he visited her often in South Carolina to help her out. When he was away, his grass grew too long and he was cited by a code office; he cut the grass and wasn't fined.
But several years later, this one infraction would come back to haunt him after he left to take care of him's mom's affairs after she died. The arrangements he made to have his grass cut fell through (his friend who he asked to help him out passed away unexpectedly) and that set off a chain reaction that may result in him losing his home.
The 69-year-old retiree now faces a $29,833.50 fine plus interest. Watch the video to find out just what Jim is having to deal with.
The former first lady has overtaken the number one spot in a poll of the world's most admired women. Conducted by online research firm YouGov, the study uses international polling tools to survey people in countries around the world about who they most admire.
In the men's category, Bill Gates took the top spot, followed by Barack Obama and Jackie Chan.
In the women's category, Michelle Obama came first, followed by Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie. Obama pushed Jolie out of the number one spot she claimed last year.
Unsurprising, really, because what's not to love about Michelle Obama? She is smart, kind, funny, accomplished, a great dancer, a devoted wife and mother, and an all-around, genuinely good person.
She has remained dignified and strong in the face of rabid masses of so-called Americans who spent eight years and beyond insisting that she's a man disguised as a woman. She's endured non-stop racist memes and terrifying threats to her family. She has received far more than her fair share of cruelty, and always takes the high road. She's the one who coined, "When they go low, we go high," after all.
She came from humble beginnings and remains down to earth despite becoming a familiar face around the world. She's not much older than me, but I still want to be like Michelle Obama when I grow up.
Her memoir, Becoming, may end up being the best-selling memoir of all time, having already sold 10 million copies—a clear sign that people can't get enough Michelle, because there's no such thing as too much Michelle.
Don't like Michelle Obama? Don't care. Those of us who love her will fly our MO flags high and without apology, paying no mind to folks with cold, dead hearts who don't know a gem of a human being when they see one. There is nothing any hater can say or do to make us admire this undeniably admirable woman any less.
When it seems like the world has lost its mind—which is how it feels most days these days—I'm just going to keep coming back to this study as evidence that hope for humanity is not lost.
Here. Enjoy some real-life Michelle on Jimmy Kimmel. (GAH. WHY IS SHE SO CUTE AND AWESOME. I can't even handle it.)
What will future generations never believe that we tolerated in 2019?
Dolphin and orca captivity, for sure. They'll probably shake their heads at how people died because they couldn't afford healthcare. And, they'll be completely mystified at the amount of food some people waste while others go starving.
According to Biological Diversity, "An estimated 40 percent of the food produced in the United States is wasted every year, costing households, businesses and farms about $218 billion annually."
There are so many things wrong with this.
First of all it's a waste of money for the households who throw out good food. Second, it's a waste of all of the resources that went into growing the food, including the animals who gave their lives for the meal. Third, there's something very wrong with throwing out food when one in eight Americans struggle with hunger.
Supermarkets are just as guilty of this unnecessary waste as consumers. About 10% of all food waste are supermarket products thrown out before they've reached their expiration date.
Three years ago, France took big steps to combat food waste by making a law that bans grocery stores from throwing away edible food.According to the new ordinance, stores can be fined for up to $4,500 for each infraction.
Previously, the French threw out 7.1 million tons of food. Sixty-seven percent of which was tossed by consumers, 15% by restaurants, and 11% by grocery stores.
This has created a network of over 5,000 charities that accept the food from supermarkets and donate them to charity. The law also struck down agreements between supermarkets and manufacturers that prohibited the stores from donating food to charities.
"There was one food manufacturer that was not authorized to donate the sandwiches it made for a particular supermarket brand. But now, we get 30,000 sandwiches a month from them — sandwiches that used to be thrown away," Jacques Bailet, head of the French network of food banks known as Banques Alimentaires, told NPR.
It's expected that similar laws may spread through Europe, but people are a lot less confident at it happening in the United States. The USDA believes that the biggest barrier to such a program would be cost to the charities and or supermarkets.
"The logistics of getting safe, wholesome, edible food from anywhere to people that can use it is really difficult," the organization said according to Gizmodo. "If you're having to set up a really expensive system to recover marginal amounts of food, that's not good for anybody."
Plus, the idea may seem a little too "socialist" for the average American's appetite.
"The French version is quite socialist, but I would say in a great way because you're providing a way where they [supermarkets] have to do the beneficial things not only for the environment, but from an ethical standpoint of getting healthy food to those who need it and minimizing some of the harmful greenhouse gas emissions that come when food ends up in a landfill," Jonathan Bloom, the author of American Wasteland, told NPR.
However, just because something may be socialist doesn't mean it's wrong. The greater wrong is the insane waste of money, damage to the environment, and devastation caused by hunger that can easily be avoided.
The world is dark and full of terrors, but every once in a while it graces us with something to warm our icy-cold hearts. And that is what we have today, with a single dad who went viral on Twitter after his daughter posted the photos he sent her when trying to pick out and outfit for his date. You love to see it.
After seeing these heartwarming pics, people on Twitter started suggesting this adorable man date their moms. It was essentially a mom and date matchmaking frenzy.
