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Summarised by Centrist
Healthy human stool is becoming a valuable medical resource as demand rises for faecal microbiota transplants, or FMT, which use screened donor samples to restore gut bacteria in very sick patients, especially those with recurrent C. diff infections.
As one doctor puts it, “some people are horrified” by the work, but for the right patients, it can be lifesaving.
In the US, successful donors can earn about £900, or roughly NZD $1,800, in a month, though fewer than 2 per cent of volunteers make it through the screening process.
There is a real “ick factor” around the process, and even those who qualify find that “it’s actually a lot of work for them”, with strict testing, scheduling and lifestyle requirements.
FMT has only been accepted as a modern treatment since 2013, after clinical trial results one British researcher called “jaw-dropping” and a “paradigm shift in treatment”. Recurrent C. diff can often be cured after just one treatment, with success rates as high as 94 per cent. Some patients take the treatment orally in double-encapsulated capsules, jokingly dubbed “crapsules”.
Researchers are also testing whether FMT could help with conditions linked to the gut microbiome, from inflammatory bowel disease and blood cancer complications to some neurological and psychiatric conditions.
Ideal donors are usually young, healthy, slim, active, low on alcohol, free of recent antibiotics, and able to provide samples on schedule. One doctor says they tend to “eat a bit of everything”, and a single donation can produce 100 to 150 capsules. In Britain, donors volunteer unpaid. In America, some are compensated. As one donor puts it, “simple poo is actually saving people’s lives.”
