Guardian: "DIY faecal transplants carry risks including HIV and hepatitis, warn experts"

Andy

Andy

Retired committee member
Concerns have been raised about the growing trend for DIY faecal transplants, with experts fearing such attempts could put individuals at an increased risk of HIV and hepatitis as well as conditions ranging from Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis to obesity and sleep disorders.

The transfer of faeces from one human to another has gained attention as a growing number of studies have suggested links between microbes in the gut and a host of health problems, from autoimmune diseases to anxiety.

Currently, implanting a “healthy” gut microbiome into a recipient is one of the treatments used in medical settings to tackle the superbug Clostridium difficile. But with some claiming the procedure could help a wide range of conditions, a plethora of YouTube videos have sprung up revealing in how to carry out faecal transplants at home.

Experts have raised concerns, stressing that screening is vital to prevent problematic microbes, including those linked to MS and Parkinson’s, from being transferred to recipients – a particular concern for those attempting a DIY procedure.
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https://www.theguardian.com/science...isks-including-hiv-and-hepatitis-warn-experts
 
Well yeah ....fairly obvious if biology has decided to excrete it ...it's probably not a good idea to play around putting it back in the body.

Sometimes it feels like the world has gone a bit mad and there is no boundary to the level of stupid out there.

" Self hack" Reads to me "Prat tip" (I toned that down)

time for a magic beans thread I think ?
 
Parkinsons indeed, terrible disease, and the protein believed to clump and kill brain cells has been proven able to travel from the gut to the brain. How that affects the disease, if it initiates or maintains it is unknown so far, it may even be coincidental but then again it may be the cause, we don't know yet.
 
The risk of inadvertently transferring either diseases or problematic microbes, he added, are even greater for individuals taking matters into their own hands – a trend Knight said is growing. “It is regrettably something that is increasing in frequency,” he said, noting that in particular those with incurable diseases are often willing to try anything, even if evidence for a procedure is scanty.
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This just suggests to me that more and more people are being ignored or sent away with anti-depressants and/or anti-anxiety medications. The doctor often makes no attempt to diagnose the patient, isn't interested in symptoms, and doesn't examine the patient. I wouldn't be at all surprised if desperation is the biggest medical problem in the UK with the numbers of desperate patients growing all the time.

But many doctors pretend they don't understand desperation. For example - imagine a patient has a serious health problem that the doctor doesn't believe in or dismisses. They may do a basic blood test e.g. a Full Blood Count. Next time the doctor sees the patient they say "Good news, Mrs X!" (sometimes in a relentlessly cheerful tone of voice) "Your blood test results are all normal!" And if Mrs X is disappointed that she won't get any treatment for the problem she has (and shows it) the doctor gets annoyed, and mentally classifies the patient as an ungrateful hypochondriac. And after the patient has left the room they probably write that in the patient's notes.

I have hypothyroidism. It's very common. On the thyroid forum I frequent I often read of patients who are told by GPs and endocrinologists that their symptoms are irrelevant, it's their TSH that counts, nothing else. And so the numbers of people using the forum grows and grows and grows, with more and more patients asking where they can buy thyroid meds of various kinds so they can treat themselves. So the fact that people take risks with faecal transplants doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Nor do I expect the numbers doing it to reduce any time soon.

Edit : Grammar
 
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