Researchers assessed FMT effects in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 52 adult patients with moderate-to-severe IBS. FMT or a placebo were delivered through 25 capsules every morning for 12 days, preceding a bowel cleansing and a colonoscopy.
Here’s what you should know:
1. The placebo group had significantly greater improvement in IBS disease severity than the FMT group did at three months.
2. Eight FMT group patients experienced at least a 50-point improvement in the IBS-severity scoring system, compared to 19 patients in the placebo group.
3. Patients in the placebo group also indicated significantly greater improvement in life quality.
Researchers said, “There is no evidence for FMT providing symptomatic benefit in patients with IBS in this trial. Although our study shows a better effect of a bowel cleansing than a bowel cleansing followed by FMT treatment on IBS symptoms, we still believe that FMT can be the way forward.”
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