REVOLTING REMEDIES

DisgusTing medical treatments. This week: Faecal transplants. TRANSFERRING gut bacteria from a healthy person to the stomachs of those infected by potentially lethal superbugs such as C.diff has proven very effective. The good bacteria from the healthy person quickly outnumbers the infectious bacterial bad guys.

A study by the University of Colorado published last November reported that the transplants can also aid children with inflammatory bowel disease. And researchers at the University of Minnesota report that evidence suggests stool transplants may benefit children with autism, according to the journal Archives of Medical Research.

The tra n s p l a n t involves swallowing capsules containing material previously screened and freeze dried. However, experts writing in the journal Science say ‘some people self-administer microbial transfers orally using stool samples from family or friends’ and warn that these ‘have not been analysed for disease’.