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Faecal microbiota transplant has moved from fringe curiosity to one of the most studied therapies in gastroenterology. What the evidence actually says in 2026: cure rates above 90 per cent in recurrent C. difficile, antibiotic-FMT combination protocols for ulcerative colitis, a modest but real signal in IBS, and a rapidly expanding frontier in depression, bipolar disorder, and autism — alongside the multi-modal, multi-donor Shore protocol that reflects where the science has l

IBS is still too often dismissed as a diagnosis of exclusion treated with a pamphlet, an antispasmodic, and a low-FODMAP handout. In reality it is a biologically driven condition sitting at the intersection of the microbiome, diet, the gut-brain axis, visceral hypersensitivity, and psychology. This is the full map — from excluding serious disease through symptom relief, dietary and microbiome work, to faecal transplant and the cellular frontier of confocal endomicroscopy.

Reflux is one of the most common complaints in gastroenterology and one of the most misunderstood. Not all reflux is acid, not all reflux causes heartburn, and not all reflux responds to the first PPI prescribed. This is a deep but readable guide to the full spectrum of reflux disease — severity grades, Barrett's oesophagus, bile and non-acid reflux, motility disorders, and the diagnostic and treatment toolkit from lifestyle through vonoprazan to anti-reflux surgery.

Bowel cancer is one of the most common cancers in Australia and one of the most preventable. The difference between a routine screening test and a preventable death is often a single well-timed colonoscopy. This is a clear, evidence-based guide to who should be screened, with what test, and how often — from average risk through to strong family history, previous polyps, and inflammatory bowel disease.

The gut and the brain are in constant conversation, exchanging signals every second of your life along four distinct biological highways. Understanding that dialogue — how it works, what it says, and what happens when it is disrupted — is becoming essential to modern medicine. This is a detailed but accessible tour of the gut-brain axis, for patients and clinicians who want the real science, clearly explained.

Can a faecal microbiota transplant stabilise a mood disorder that has resisted every combination of psychiatric medication? The early evidence — and a growing body of compelling case reports — suggests that in carefully selected patients, the answer may be yes. For patients with severe treatment-resistant bipolar depression, FMT is no longer a theoretical curiosity. Delivered in the right clinical framework, it can meaningfully reduce antidepressant burden and restore mood st

For patients who have failed two, three or even four rounds of H. pylori eradication, a new class of acid-suppressing drug is quietly rewriting the treatment algorithm. Vonoprazan-based bismuth quadruple therapy is delivering cure rates above 92% in real-world populations with heavy antibiotic resistance — and achieving rescue success where every previous regimen has failed. For a carcinogen long regarded as one of the hardest to eradicate, this is a genuine paradigm shift.

The burning, the bloating, the uncomfortable fullness that descends with every meal — these are the hallmarks of dyspepsia, a word derived from the Greek for "bad digestion." For millions of Australians, these upper gut symptoms are a daily reality. Most assume they have reflux, reach for an antacid, and never look deeper. But for a significant proportion of people — perhaps as many as one in ten adults — the symptoms are not explained by reflux, ulcers, or any visible abnorm

Your skin is the body's largest organ and, in many ways, its most honest. When something is wrong internally, the skin often broadcasts it — in the form of acne, rosacea, eczema, psoriasis, or a dull, inflamed complexion that no topical cream seems to fix. Dermatologists attribute these conditions to genetics, hormones, sun damage, or stress. And while those factors matter, an increasingly compelling body of evidence points to a deeper, often overlooked driver: the state of y

You return from an exotic holiday with sun-kissed skin and wonderful memories—but also with a persistent rumble in your stomach that just won't settle. Three weeks post-travel, you're still managing loose stools, bloating, or unusual food intolerances that weren't there before you left. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Traveller's diarrhoea is one of the most common health complaints among international travellers, affecting up to 40% of those visiting developing re

Experiencing persistent heartburn or reflux on Sydney's North Shore? Dr Jeffrey Tu is a specialist gastroenterologist at Mater Private Hospital, Wollstonecraft, providing expert GORD diagnosis and treatment for patients in Roseville, Chatswood, Lindfield and all North Shore suburbs.

Dr Jeffrey Tu offers colonoscopy and bowel cancer screening at Mater Private Hospital, Wollstonecraft – conveniently located for patients in Roseville, Chatswood, Lindfield, Gordon and all North Shore Sydney suburbs. Book via GP referral.

Every year, thousands of Australians are reassured that there is nothing seriously wrong with their bowel. The cramping, diarrhoea, bloating, and urgency disrupting their daily lives are often attributed to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This is a functional condition that is uncomfortable but not dangerous. For many, this reassurance is accurate and appropriate. However, for a significant number of patients, the symptoms labelled as IBS may actually indicate the early or ac

You had a food poisoning episode overseas — perhaps in Bali, Vietnam, or India. Or a bout of Giardia picked up from a contaminated water source on a camping trip. Or perhaps it was Dientamoeba fragilis, the gut parasite that took months to diagnose and weeks to treat with targeted antibiotic therapy. Whatever the cause, your doctor confirmed the infection has cleared. The pathology results are negative. The parasites are gone. And yet, weeks or months later, you are still blo

Every time you take an antibiotic, you are doing something both remarkable and destructive. You are deploying one of medicine's most powerful tools — a molecule engineered to kill bacteria — and it does its job indiscriminately. The infection that brought you to the doctor is targeted, yes. But so is the vast, complex community of beneficial microorganisms living throughout your digestive tract. A single course of antibiotics can wipe out up to 30 percent of your gut microbio

When your stomach drops before a big presentation, or you feel butterflies when nervous, you are experiencing what scientists now understand to be a deeply sophisticated two-way communication network between your gut and your brain. This is not a metaphor. The gut-brain axis is one of the most active areas of research in modern medicine, and what is emerging is remarkable: the trillions of microorganisms living in your digestive tract are doing far more than helping you diges

If someone told you that the most important organ in your body was not your heart or your brain, but the trillions of microorganisms living inside your intestines, you might be sceptical. But the science is increasingly clear: the gut microbiome is not just involved in digestion. It is a central regulator of immunity, metabolism, mood, and long-term disease risk. Understanding it — and knowing when it needs help — is one of the most important things you can do for your health

When you take an antibiotic tablet for a gut infection, you might reasonably assume that the medication goes directly to where the infection is. The reality is very different. Oral antibiotics are absorbed through the stomach and small intestine into the bloodstream. They are distributed throughout the entire body, metabolised by the liver, and only a fraction of the original dose ultimately reaches the colon — where the parasites actually live. This pharmacokinetic reality e

Your abdomen expands like a balloon after every meal. You look six months pregnant by dinner time, regardless of what you eat. The gas is relentless, the cramping unpredictable, and your bowel habits swing between diarrhoea and constipation without any discernible pattern. You have tried the low-FODMAP diet, probiotics, digestive enzymes, and every supplement your naturopath recommended. Nothing has made a lasting difference. If this sounds familiar, there is a strong chance

If you have been treated for Helicobacter pylori and it did not work — if you took two weeks of antibiotics, endured the side effects, retested, and were told the infection is still there — you are part of a growing population of patients facing one of the most challenging problems in modern gastroenterology: antibiotic-resistant H. pylori. You are not alone. Eradication failure rates for standard first-line therapy have climbed steadily over the past decade, and in some Aust