Question 1

Is stool microbiome (bacteria) testing helpful?

Accepted Answer

Other than looking for traditional enteric pathogens such as salmonella or giardia, assessing the balance of bacteria with a stool specimen provides little to no practical information that would guide therapy.  The real concerning area of the microbiome is within the small intestine and stool specimens from the rectum do not provide information about the small intestine.nnUnfortunately, there is no way to get repeated accurate tests on the bacterial species growing within the small intestine outside of an intensive research setting.

Question 2

Is stool microbiome (bacteria) testing helpful?

Accepted Answer

Other than looking for traditional enteric pathogens such as salmonella or giardia, assessing the balance of bacteria with a stool specimen provides little to no practical information that would guide therapy.  The real concerning area of the microbiome is within the small intestine and stool specimens from the rectum do not provide information about the small intestine.nnUnfortunately, there is no way to get repeated accurate tests on the bacterial species growing within the small intestine outside of an intensive research setting.