Instinctually we think of faeces as the opposite of medicinal, but our stinky, messy, healthy stool samples actually contain the key to our functioning gut biomes. Within poo are the trillions of microorganisms that live in our gut-biome. A gut microbiome is made up of thousands of species of bacteria, fungi and viruses among other microbes, and weighs about an astonishing 2kgs in total. It regulates everything from our immunity and our metabolism to our mood.
FMT, like rewilding, is able to regenerate [the microbiome's] natural, balanced state
A damaged microbiome can precipitate serious health problems, which is where reintroducing new microbes comes in. Faecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) works by taking faeces from a screened donor, mixing it with liquid, centrifuging and filtering it to concentrate the bacterial portion and then administering it to a sick person via a retention enema or in causal form. The therapy has resulted in some astounding success stories.
At present, treatment options for intestinal infections involve use of new and expensive IV drugs or antibiotics. FMT presents an option with similar safety and effectiveness without the increase risk of cancer or other adverse effects. The therapy is available to treat a potentially life threatening gut infection Clostridium difficile colitis (C-diff), which kills an astounding 26,000 people a year in the USA alone. However, FMT is thought to have efficacy in treating other serious chronic issues such as autoimmune or inflammatory illness and irritable bowel syndrome and such treatments may soon be available.
The therapy is available to treat a potentially life threatening gut infection Clostridium difficile colitis
Dr Sam Forster, an FMT and microbiota expert from the Hudson Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, used the metaphor of our guts as an internal ecosystem, containing trillions of microorganisms as diverse and complex as a rainforest. Modern diets and pharmaceutical drugs damage the gut biome, and infections toxify it. FMT, like rewilding, is able to regenerate its natural, balanced state.
The studies are small but the results have left some in the medical establishment incredibly optimistic about this organic (and recycled) addition to treatment protocols for serious illnesses.