Internet spawns DIY faecal transplant instructions

Patients claim successes after administering donor stool to themselves or their kids

Patients are turning to DIY faecal transplants after following online how-to videos, US doctors warn.

Gastroenterologists surveyed 84 patients, recruited through social media pages and websites such as The Power of Poop, who had tried DIY faecal microbiota transplants (FMT) on themselves (80%), their own children (12%) or a spouse (2%).

Most said they followed enema techniques they discovered on the internet and 65% said they screened their donor via laboratory blood or stool tests, or with a health questionnaire.

Almost all patients chose a donor who was known to them.