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.
