Here’s the scoop!
- A 38-year-old woman with a history of trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder) had a 15cm hairball removed from her stomach.
- She was suffering from nausea, vomiting, and a swollen abdomen, as well as dramatic weight loss.
- The woman was diagnosed with Rapunzel Syndrome, a rare condition caused by hair accumulation in the digestive tract due to hair-pulling and consumption.
A 38-year-old woman from the US who suffered from trichotillomania, a hair-pulling disorder, had a massive hairball removed from her stomach after experiencing nausea, vomiting, and a swollen abdomen. According to the British Medical Journal, the woman had lost 15 pounds in eight months and had a second hairball lodged in her bowel. She was diagnosed with Rapunzel Syndrome, an uncommon condition that has only been documented 88 times in medical literature.
Rapunzel Syndrome is named after the long-haired fairy tale character and can lead to severe complications when hair becomes lodged in the digestive tract. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, altered bowel habits, abdominal distension, and weight loss, while complications can be potentially fatal, such as bowel obstruction, perforation, bleeding, anemia, weight loss, and appendicitis.
After undergoing surgery to remove the hairballs, the woman was advised to seek psychological therapy and treated for malnutrition, which included a recommendation to eat protein-rich food such as eggs and chicken breast and take an iron supplement daily, source said.
Source: independent.co.uk
Leave a Reply