Fecal microbiota transplantation, or FMT, isn’t new. It’s been used for a few decades now to combat a variety of conditions—from ulcerative colitis and cancer to autism. Thanks to some new research from Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, we can add diabetes to the list of medical conditions that can be treated by ingesting some medical-grade poop.
People with diabetes may also suffer from gastrointestinal issues as a side effect of the condition. The researchers found that folks with type I diabetes who are suffering from these digestive problems can have some of their tummy issues alleviated by ingesting FMT pills that help adjust a patient’s gut microbiome.
In other words, it’s a pill filled with donated poop that, while sounding disgusting, is quite helpful. That poop is filling your gut with the good bacteria it needs to function properly. There’s some research out there that has shown that people with type I diabetes have completely different gut microbiomes than those who don’t, and that difference might be making diabetes symptoms worse.
Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Treatment of Autoimmune-Mediated Type 1 Diabetes
The trial tested the effectiveness of FMT in improving digestive symptoms for 20 people with type I diabetes who experienced moderate to severe gastrointestinal distress. Those 20 folks were randomly given either an FMT or a placebo. The regimen required the test subjects to take 25 pills containing donor feces, or in the case of the placebo folks, pills they thought contained donor feces.
When the testing was all done, the researchers found that the people who received FMT pills had significantly fewer gastrointestinal symptoms compared to the placebo group. The effect was measured using a questionnaire called the Patient Assessment Of Gastrointestinal Symptom Severity Index.
The group that had been taking FMTs saw their median assessment scores drop from 42 to 25. The placebo participant’s median number dropped from 47 to 41. No major side effects were reported other than the one positive of noticing good changes to the participants’ gut microbiome.
Just to hammer home how effective FMTs were, in the second round of testing, all the patients were given FMT pills—including the previous placebo group. Their median scores dropped in line with the original FMT group. Who knew that telling someone to “eat shit” would one day have a positive connotation.
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