The first thing that should be maybe adopted by the scientific community is. Being a tad bit specific on its terminology when discussing certain things outside of research papers (and depending who is giving the grant, maybe certain grant applications).
FMT for example, while accurate, makes it a (literally) hard pill to swallow for those less scientifically knowledgeable. The issue of course being the fecal part of FMT. Starting by using just MT or GMT (G for Gut) would make people not as knowledge on the topic more interested in hearing more, rather than instantly turning them off. It would also be better to not use the acronym when bringing it up in a setting outside of, well, the microbiome community really.
Sure, we know it’s fecal, but people who may support the cause in the future may not be as interested in the details, much like how many people who donate or support cancer research don’t necessarily know specific terminology like R-CHOP for example.
The important part is to at least first get people to actually engage in the conversation, and not shut it down because “ew, I’m not taking poop transplants”.
That’s the very first thing that should be used/changed when bringing this up, in my opinion.
There have been efforts to change the “fecal” part of the wording, but it’s largely been unsuccessful. I personally don’t think it’s the biggest problem to focus on. I’d rather try to educate people that healthy poop is not repugnant. They think it’s gross because their own poop is unhealthy.
I mean… There’s a saying that goes “shining a turd” for a reason. Even healthy poop is still poop. That’s why people aren’t usually clamoring to become a gastroenterologist when they grow up. It’s likely a big factor as to why the gut microbiome wasn’t really researched well / discovered until later compared to discoveries in other medical fields.
Trust me, they don’t find poop repugnant because it’s unhealthy, it’s because it’s poop. Even the healthy ones are waste products of the body.
There’s a lot to start with.
The first thing that should be maybe adopted by the scientific community is. Being a tad bit specific on its terminology when discussing certain things outside of research papers (and depending who is giving the grant, maybe certain grant applications).
FMT for example, while accurate, makes it a (literally) hard pill to swallow for those less scientifically knowledgeable. The issue of course being the fecal part of FMT. Starting by using just MT or GMT (G for Gut) would make people not as knowledge on the topic more interested in hearing more, rather than instantly turning them off. It would also be better to not use the acronym when bringing it up in a setting outside of, well, the microbiome community really.
Sure, we know it’s fecal, but people who may support the cause in the future may not be as interested in the details, much like how many people who donate or support cancer research don’t necessarily know specific terminology like R-CHOP for example.
The important part is to at least first get people to actually engage in the conversation, and not shut it down because “ew, I’m not taking poop transplants”.
That’s the very first thing that should be used/changed when bringing this up, in my opinion.
There have been efforts to change the “fecal” part of the wording, but it’s largely been unsuccessful. I personally don’t think it’s the biggest problem to focus on. I’d rather try to educate people that healthy poop is not repugnant. They think it’s gross because their own poop is unhealthy.
I mean… There’s a saying that goes “shining a turd” for a reason. Even healthy poop is still poop. That’s why people aren’t usually clamoring to become a gastroenterologist when they grow up. It’s likely a big factor as to why the gut microbiome wasn’t really researched well / discovered until later compared to discoveries in other medical fields.
Trust me, they don’t find poop repugnant because it’s unhealthy, it’s because it’s poop. Even the healthy ones are waste products of the body.