Vince
Super Moderator
Preserved stool samples, chilled down to negative-112 degrees Fahrenheit, could hold the secret to curing illness later on in life, according to scientists from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
The proof is in the poop, say researchers who, in a recent report published in Trends in Molecular Medicine, noted that changes to the average gut microbiome in recent decades have correlated with increased rates of chronic diseases such as asthma, allergies, digestive system ailments and Type 2 diabetes — leading scientists to believe that gut and immune health are somehow intertwined.
That’s why they’ve suggested that banking samples of young and healthy fecal matter, which contains all the same microbes as found in the gut lining, could “rejuvenate” the aging body, thanks to the reintroduction of those young and healthy microbes.
Researchers described an approach in which potentially decades-old frozen fecal matter would be thawed and reintroduced to the same patient from which it was harvested. The process is referred to as an autologous (meaning, obtained from the same individual it’s being given to now) fecal microbiota transplant, or an auto-FMT.
It’s not yet known if people today have anything to gain from turning back the clock on their own microbiome, researchers note. But fecal transplants are already being studied and applied in some areas of medicine. For example, healthy donor feces have recently emerged as a treatment for C. diff, or Clostridioides difficile, which infects half a million Americans annually and kills about 29,000.
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The proof is in the poop, say researchers who, in a recent report published in Trends in Molecular Medicine, noted that changes to the average gut microbiome in recent decades have correlated with increased rates of chronic diseases such as asthma, allergies, digestive system ailments and Type 2 diabetes — leading scientists to believe that gut and immune health are somehow intertwined.
That’s why they’ve suggested that banking samples of young and healthy fecal matter, which contains all the same microbes as found in the gut lining, could “rejuvenate” the aging body, thanks to the reintroduction of those young and healthy microbes.
Researchers described an approach in which potentially decades-old frozen fecal matter would be thawed and reintroduced to the same patient from which it was harvested. The process is referred to as an autologous (meaning, obtained from the same individual it’s being given to now) fecal microbiota transplant, or an auto-FMT.
It’s not yet known if people today have anything to gain from turning back the clock on their own microbiome, researchers note. But fecal transplants are already being studied and applied in some areas of medicine. For example, healthy donor feces have recently emerged as a treatment for C. diff, or Clostridioides difficile, which infects half a million Americans annually and kills about 29,000.
Preserving your poop could help save your life: Harvard scientists
The proof is in the poop, say researchers who note that changes to the average gut microbiome have correlated with increased rates of chronic disease.
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