Danish scientists are working with their international colleagues to find out if human faeces can be used to create treatments for a range of maladies including allergies, asthma, obesity, diabetes, arthritis and even cancer. The research is focused on intestinal bacteria and its effect on health.
“There is evidence of a direct link between many chronic diseases and the composition of our gut bacteria,” microbiologist Peder Worning from Hvidovre Hospital told Metroxpress.
Faeces transplant
One of the methods being researched is the transferal of faeces from a healthy person into the intestines of a sick patient.
Worning believes that these types of bacterial treatments will become especially important in dealing with bacteria that has become resistant to other methods.
“I believe that within a maximum of ten years we will know exactly which bacteria have healing effects,” researcher Henrik Bjørn Nielsen told Metroxpress. “We will then be able to develop synthetic bacterial cocktails that we will be able to transplant with a high degree of safety.”
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Help for children
Professor Hans Bisgaard from the Danish Paediatric Asthma Centre is convinced intestinal bacteria can improve the health of chronically ill children.
“All evidence points to a number of our growing and chronic inflammatory diseases being dependent on our intestinal bacteria,” he said.
