Empowered Patient Podcast: Correcting Imbalance in the Gut Microbiome to Treat Clostridium Difficile Infections with Dr. Tom Lendvay Tend
Dr. Tom Lendvay is the Chief Medical Officer of Tend, which addresses the gut microbiome of the severe intestinal infection Clostridium difficile CDIF. Currently, recurrent Clostridium difficile is the only FDA-regulated disease for the use of microbiome transplants outside of a clinical trial. Clinical trials are also underway applying microbiome transplants to intestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel diseases, irritable bowel syndrome, and even other diseases outside of the gut. Tom explains, "Tend is focused on two types of offerings. One is a device called the CAP device, a collection processing device that allows a clinician or a researcher to collect a sample and process it, mix it, filter it and encapsulate it into orally ingestible capsules that can be stored in a freezer." "The other side is the data side, which is understanding. So, doing microbiome analyses on the donors, on the recipient ill patients and seeing how their microbiome changes over time and learning who's the best donor for the best recipient. Those two offerings do not exist today, and right now, the process for a clinician, for a researcher to provide microbiome transplants to their patients is extremely onerous and laborious." @Tend_Health #FMT #CDIF #Microbiome #GutMicrobiome #MedicalDevice #Healthcare #Patient
