FMT (Fecal Microbiota Transplantation) Super-donors and Abandoning the “One Stool Fits All” Approach
Not all stools were created equal There was a comment recently left on this blog posing the question of what makes a good donor for FMT ( Fecal Microbiota Transplantation), or a “poop transplant” in plain English. FMT is actually an approved therapy for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). Research has shown FMT to be more effective than the antibiotic vancomycin . To quote from the research, “ The infusion of donor feces was significantly more effective for the treatment of recurrent C. difficile infection than the use of vancomycin” . FMT might not be for discussion at the dinner table, but it is highly effective in some instances. FMT is actually far more widely used than you might imagine. In one of today’s papers from China they had treated 1,387 people using 20 donors, for a wide variety of conditions. In the US, autism researchers at Arizona State University showed a benefit that was maintained after a period of two years. Autism symptoms reduced nearly 50 p...