"There is a perception among consumers that these products will give them a real medical diagnosis and a way to treat an 'unbalanced' microbiome,"
"There is no scientifically agreed-upon definition of a 'healthy' microbiome; the microbiome is dynamic and changes frequently; there is no clinical proof that these products work; and no standardization in the processes involved."
For consumers—who often suffer from diseases such as
inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or
bacterial vaginosis (BV)—that means shelling out a lot of money for a test without a guarantee of useful or actionable medical information—and then often further investing in what companies tell them will help improve their microbiome, such as
nutritional supplements including probiotics and prebiotics, or special diets. None of these interventions have been clinically validated or had their claims evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
"In addition to the cost, these tests could do real harm by convincing a person to delay medical care and substitute supplements for prescription medications,"
