Ghent — Belgian scientists are looking for people to donate their faeces to help with research into illnesses ranging from bowel disorders and allergies to neurological diseases. At Ghent University hospital, researchers are performing faecal microbiota transplants on patients. They extract good microbiota, tiny organisms living in the colon, from donors to transfer them to sick patients in hope of repopulating their guts. "How do we find donors? That’s not so easy. People do not always want to donate their faeces. It is also hard to talk about, but we started this campaign in the press here in Flanders," said biomedical researcher Hannelore Hamerlinck. Beyond bowel disorders, faeces may prove to be an asset in finding remedies for many other diseases, scientists say. Over the past decade, there have been growing number of studies showing positive associations between the healing properties of faeces and the treatment of depression, cancer, autism, Parkinson’s disease and allergies....
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