Patent ID: 7438899

Claim:
A method of treatment of a gastrointestinal dysfunction in a human, animal or bird wherein the gastrointestinal disfunction is a gastrointestinal disease, gastrointestinal infection or diarrhea resulting from a bacterial infection of the gastrointestinal tract comprising administering to said human, animal or bird a polymer of molecular weight of at least 1000 comprising: (i) a repeating unit selected from the group consisting of units of formula 1 wherein R is H or C 1 to C 4 , alkyl and units derived from the unit of formula 1 selected from the group consisting of: the hydrated, hemiacetal and acetal forms thereof, and (ii) wherein the polymer has been prepared by a process of homopolymerization of acrolein by ionic initiation and heating the resulting acrolein homopolymer with ample air at a temperature of up to 100° C. whereby the polymer comprises carboxyl groups at a concentration of from 0.1 to 5 moles of carboxyl groups per kilogram of polymer.