After reading a post yesterday suggesting that using DNA or Gut Microflora testing may help me see into the Future of my long term health my curiosity was peeked . Is the Bioflora of my gut the " forgotten organ" with insight into the probability of my chances to get another autoimmune disease or cancer?
Could my current illnesses , not just digestive issues but even things like my GCA and PMR have been predicted years ago in my poop?
I know many of you will have raised a skeptical eyebrow. Yes , many forum members will have been doing a creditable impression of Roger Moore over your probiotic yoghurt but were you wrong to dismiss it . Well , after some members showed an interest in taking the test themselves Auntie Bee decided to do a little research herself to see if having a private Gut Microflora test was worth us spending our precious pennies on and this is what I discovered.
The short answer is a definite , No.
Gut Bioflora / DNA testing is in its infancy , it involves a lot of hype but not much hard and usable fact , it may be a test that will revolutionise Medicine in the future , but that future will be a distant one . Gut Testing is yet another one of these things that needs to be relegated to the " Don't try this at Home yet " pile much like Bicarbonate of Soda or the multifarious forms of sleeping aid or over the counter , unregulated or tested products including CBD.
But Why? Auntie Bee , can expand on her decision.
As yet , Microfloras ability to predict ,or help in the diagnosis of most illnesses , even simple stomach infections has not been researched enough to the point that even Gut Flora Specialists have a systematic set of guidelines to use themselves. The big Bio Boffins know that in the future with greater research the tale of our future woes could be told in our poo , just as the tale of a poor digestive system is already evident in the shape and size of our stools but they are not there yet. Until they have thoroughly researched how to do this , and created data that can state the amount of specific bacterias in our guts are required to prove a diagnosis the results of a Bioflora analysis will never be relied upon to predict your future Health . It won't even be relied upon alone to Diagnose a common bout of the trots.
People whom have read a lot about Digestion and Gut Health may be wondering why I'm not using the well quoted word Microbiome in discussing this. Microbiome , or Biome is a word regularly used while discussing this growing area of scientific interest but it has also been misused. I chose not to do the same , as it turns out it is not a word used regularly by Researchers themselves and came into common parlance with its use by one of the original creators of the Gut DNA Home Test kits , a group called Ubiome . From 2012 , Ubiome, have gained huge business investment and a collection of over 250,000 private , paid for, poop tests from their citizens project whilst promoting the idea of " Biome" being the predictor of autoimmune diseases and cancers . Although their poop tests could be a thing of the future the work itself may not be in use for decades as a credible form of Health Prediction. The group itself is also under investigation by the FBI for billing irregularities and information errors.
If you pardon the pun, this particular Companies ethics are not my only reason for "poo pooing" spending out anything upto £150 on this test. It is simply because a test like this , on its own, from the advice of researchers and gastroenterologists ,will not tell you anything much and even if you had it done , or your doctor took a free poo test , it would not be used alone to make a diagnosis or cause them to recommend a change in your health routine.
I particularly liked an analogy I read by a Gastroenterologist from the University of Southern California , Rosh Modi. They said, would you take one photograph of your garden at a specific time or day , send it to a friend and then expect them to predict how well your garden will grow all year round?
Of course not , because one photo could not predict what other things might affect the health of that garden over the year or even later that week. Microbiological tests of stools must be viewed in the same way. You would need more tests at different points to run a comparison just in case the food you had the week before affected your results and then you would still need blood and other tests for confirmation of what your gut was telling you. Most Doctors at the moment choose to jump a step to predicting chronic illness by just using clinic conversation , symptoms and blood tests instead. The questionnaire that comes with the tests concerning what you ate before testing is as good an indicator of a future blighted by Obesity or Diabetes than the results from the stool itself.
An perfect example is of one person whom tried a test and had virtually no Probiotic Bacteria despite having a high probiotic diet and had , had a negative full set of tests for Coeliac disease but got a low score of bacteria required to process gluten. Her poop was really not telling the whole tale. Research has already proved that low probiotics in the bowel are common , even in people whom take prescribed supplements because the bacteria are processed further up the digestive system. And even though low gluten bacteria may suggest an intolerance , it can also suggest that you already have a gluten free diet by choice. Even the indicators of Coeliac or H.pylori B in the blood or breath can be altered to give a false negative if you do not eat gluten or digest certain things, which is why they may ask you to eat , or not eat certain things , for weeks before a test is given . Most other important bacterias that do not present in the blood are only confirmed by Breath Tests and Biopsies.
It's not that they are dismissing the use of poo in Health , it is important right now. There is one reason that you should be insisting you send you poo off in an envelope.
The one test using your poop that is vital in preventing Bowel Cancer and Bowel Diseases is the Free Bowel Screening Tests you should have from age 60 ( or earlier with a family history of the disease) to test for blood and Cancer cell DNA in your stools . These tests , just like Cervical Smears , Breast Scans, and Prostate checks really do save lives , and excuse me for being blunt but you are being a complete ninny if you ignore or put off having them.
But, if you are short of money , as most of us can be with all the extra costs of coping with a Chronic Illness , but still desperate to find a way to get answers , these poop tests aren't going to help you in the way giving your GP a polite but stern kick up the bum will.
Hope this was helpful to those considering these tests , and all this toilet talk didn't put you off your cuppa , hugs , Auntie Bee xxx
Artificially sweetened beverages
