S04 · E17

Student Debt & Fecal Medicine

'Student Debt' - Americans owe $1.3 trillion in student loans --second only to home mortgages. The rise in student loan borrowing is tied to skyrocketing tuition rates, which are up 226% since 1980. VICE reports from America's college campuses to explore how a spigot of easy money from the federal government is jacking up the cost of higher education and even threatening our international competitiveness. 'Fecal Medicine' - For years, medical science was powerless against one of the most of severe intestinal infections. But a new treatment shows tremendous promise -- if patients aren't too squeamish to try it. Fecal transplants use the stool from a healthy person to repopulate life-sustaining bacteria in the colon of the patient. This technique is so effective that researchers are testing its potential to treat disorders far beyond the digestive tract, pointing to breakthrough treatments for a broad range of the most stubborn diseases. VICE reports from the labs and lavatories where this medical revolution is taking place.