Here’s why you shouldn’t do a fecal transplant yourself

2023-11-28 10:00:00

Numerous studies focus on the interest of fecal matter transplant to treat certain diseases. Fecal microbiota transplants, also called stool or poop transplants, involve collecting stool from a healthy person, which is then processed in the laboratory before being transferred to patients.

If the results are encouraging, there is no question of playing apprentice doctor at home. As revealed by Daily Mail (source 1), some curious patients have attempted to perform this transplant without resorting to a doctor. On social networks, some users explain how they carried out this transplant at home in order to treat certain health problems. For this, they collected the excrement of loved ones before transferring the material into their own intestines by performing an enema. Like a 36-year-old woman who used her husband’s stool to perform the procedure herself in order to treat ulcerative colitis. She claims to have performed this procedure more than 100 times in two years. In a documentary, she assures that the treatment cured her symptoms and helped her “get her life back”.

Pay attention to mental health

But carrying out this protocol at home would not really be a good idea. “The idea that people are doing fecal microbiota transplants at home is very scary. This is incredibly dangerous and can cause serious damage “, warns Julie Thompson, head of information at the charity and dietitian specializing in gastroenterology, cited by the Daily Mail. Even if people know the donor, for example if it is a friend or family member, they cannot test stool safety at homeshe warns.

The specialist explains that “studies carried out on animals have even shown that it could be possible to transfer mental health problems such as anxiety and depression via bowel movements. Although it has not yet been proven in humans, it is important to test both the effect and side effects of new therapies in carefully controlled clinical trials.” Before reminding: “Poop donors are subject to a rigorous selection process, with a complete health questionnaire, blood and poop samples. Poop samples are strictly controlled.”

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